News from the Swiss Cultural Programme

The “Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans” (SCP), which the Arts Council of Switzerland Pro Helvetia is implementing in accordance with a mandate received from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), enters a new and final phase, starting on January 1st, 2008. From now on, the programme will focus on the Western Balkan region with Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo and reinforce its regional approach. The programme is designed for a 5-years period and will be concluded in 2012.
The offices in Sofia and Bucharest have been closed by December 2007 as a consequence of the EU-integration of Bulgaria and Romania. The office in Kiev, Ukraine, will be closed by the end of 2008.

From July 2008 on, the “Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans” will be managed from a new regional office in Sarajevo – with local offices in Belgrade and Skopje (until end of 2009), Tirana (until end of 2010) and Pristina (until end of 2011).

The overall goal of the Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans is to contribute to the promotion of democracy and freedom of expression, to conflict resolution and the respect of minorities. It focuses on regional projects, with intercultural and interethnic cooperation, stressing youth and structures for broad cultural participation. Good governance and equity (gender, generations, and minorities) have to be taken into account by all cultural projects addressed to SCP.

SCP in the Western Balkans works with two action-lines, regional cooperation projects and small actions. Future cooperation projects will be regional, i.e. involve at least two countries of the programme. The new concept for regional cooperation projects and the respective criteria and procedures will be announced on the websites of SCP by June 2008. As for the small actions, they will continue following the actual procedures, with some minor modifications. The action line is to be phased out gradually – in accordance to the closure of the local offices - in the different programme countries. For further information consult our website.


About Us

The Swiss Cultural Programme is a joint programme of two Swiss partners:

· The Arts Council of Switzerland PRO HELVETIA is a foundation under public law and was founded in 1939, at the time with the main objective to preserve cultural identity. In its mandate based on the Federal Law 1965, promoting of cultural activities and creativity in Switzerland , fostering of cultural exchange between the different linguistic and cultural regions and enhancing cultural relations abroad became equivalent objectives of the foundation. Today, PRO HELVETIA puts a particular emphasis on the promotion of contemporary artistic creation, cultural exchange and the dialogue of cultures.

· The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC is part of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Its mandate is based on the Federal Law on International Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid enacted of 1976, and on a federal decree of 1995 on cooperation with the countries of Eastern Europe . SDC concentrates its long-term cooperation and development efforts on a limited number of key countries. Its main goal is to support its partner countries in their political, economic and social transition process.

In 1999, the Arts Council of Switzerland PRO HELVETIA received a special mandate from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC in order to realize a cultural programme in South East Europe and the Ukraine.

The overall objectives of the programme are defined in the “Article on the Promotion of Culture”, issued by the Swiss Government in 1998:

“Education, science and culture provide a substantial contribution to the reliability of the social and economic transformation process. Support will be granted to institutions and organizations, which are able to emphasize the variety, independence and performance of culture. Switzerland supports groups of independent cultural workers in order to facilitate their subsistence in a changing economic and social environment.”

The programme established offices in Albania (Tirana), Bulgaria (Sofia), Bosnia-Herzegovina (Sarajevo), Macedonia (Skopje), Romania (Bucharest), Serbia and Montenegro (Belgrade) and Ukraine (Kiev).

Our Vision

The Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans works on the basis of the following assumptions:

· Cultural identity and cultural self-consciousness have become, in our age of globalisation, more crucial than ever
· Culture fosters identity through diversity
· Culture makes a substantial contribution to the social and economic transition process. The dialectic relationship between change and conservation, between openness and isolation and between the modern and the traditional is a core concern of arts and culture
· Culture can tackle important questions of our society with artistic means and put forward new issues and social challenges
· Culture contributes to the strengthening of the civil society
· Cultural activities bring people together and provide shared experiences
· Culture engages its partners in an equal partnership


 “Culture is not one of life’s luxuries, it is life itself.” (Principles of SDC Cultural Policy)


What do we support?

The Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans focuses on the support of independent groups of artists and institutions. It provides financial and technical assistance in the realization of cultural projects and initiatives. The project-partners are strengthened in their capacities to organize activities and realize artistic productions and contribute to a diversified, lively and innovative cultural scene within the countries cultural context. The exchange and promotion of cultural values and artistic potential promote openness and fosters identity. Sustainability and independence of cultural organizations is improved.

The Programme implements two lines of action on a partnership approach in order to foster capacity-building and sustainability of its partners and beneficiaries:

Small actions are short-term projects, realized by local partner organizations and artists, to whom subsidiary project-specific contributions are granted to facilitate the development and implementation of cultural projects in a changing economic and social environment.

Cooperation projects are projects with a mid-term timescale and a broader range of activities, goals and beneficiaries. These projects are planned jointly with a local partner organisation and strive for significant impact on the countries cultural situation. If required, technical and organizational assistance is provided. Such projects can be planned and implemented in conjunction with other specialised local and/or Swiss organisations and experts.




How do we work?

In each country, a local advisory board has been elected which takes the decisions on the small actions. The cooperation projects are developed in cooperation with the Programme and decided upon by a joint body Pro Helvetia/SDC in Switzerland.
The board takes its decisions based on the newly developed regional working guidelines, which serve as a text of reference and working instrument for the local offices and boards of SCP in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. The regional working guidelines replace the existing country-specific concepts. They are based on a review of the small-actions of SCP in all programme countries, on the cultural context monitoring by the local boards and on the regional seminar with all local stakeholders (offices and boards) of SCP as well as representatives from SDC headquarters and Pro Helvetia head office held in March 2006 in Sinaia (Romania).