On November 21, 2023, the presentation of the Union program was held in Karlovac, organized by Europe Direct Karlovac, the Creative Europe Desk - Culture at the Ministry of Culture and Media, the National Contact Point of the Union Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Program at the Office for Associations of the Government of the Republic of Croatia . The director of the Public Institution of the Regional Development Agency of the Karlovac County, Sandra Cindrić, gave an introductory address to all present, and the workshop program itself was divided into two parts

This was followed by the presentation of the CERV program - Citizens, equality, rights and values, where Saša Šegrt, advisor in the Office for Associations of the Government of the Republic of Croatia, pointed out that it is the largest program in the history of the European Union intended to promote and protect the values of democracy, the rule of law, fundamental rights, equality, equality, the fight against all forms of violence and discrimination, transparency and good governance, and the Union's program Creative Europe - sub-program Culture was presented by Morana Bigač Leš. Through the presentation of both mentioned programs, their main features were highlighted, as well as current information about the currently open and upcoming Public Calls in 2024. Gabrijela Mamić from LAB852 presented the MusicVille project, which is financed through the Creative Europe program in partnership with Slovenia, Croatia and Austria, and is also implemented in Karlovac County. It aims to transform the classical European musical form of Opera into a new, innovative and creative collaboration inspired by environmental awareness, nature, local crafts and tradition.

In the second part, we were introduced to the Funding and Tender Opportunities (FTOP) portal, and heard practical advice for the successful preparation of project proposals, as well as examples of good practice.

The event was attended by representatives of civil society organizations, public law bodies, institutions operating in cultural and creative activities, and other interested potential applicants.

Finally, we invite you to follow the web pages:

For the CERV program:

- website www.cerv.hr and subpage of the Office for Associations of the Government of the Republic of Croatia - https://bit.ly/3fcz9hn
- FB page Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values program - CERV Croatia - https://bit.ly/3K5Pdja
Funding & tender opportunities portal - https://bit.ly/33c1ZvQ / / https://bit.ly/31OTSoc / / https://bit.ly/3Fm2tN0

For the Creative Europe - Culture program:
- web DKE - Culture https://bit.ly/3K7ddlN
- FB Creative Europe Desk - Culture Office Croatia https://bit.ly/3zPQhCR
Funding & tender opportunities portal https://bit.ly/3I0Lq4z

On November 14, 2023, the European Commission approved 171 new projects across Europe LIFE Programme for environment and climate action za okoliš i klimatsku politikuworth more than €396 millionThanks to the programme's co-funding requirements, it will mobilise a total investment of more than €722 millionwhich represents a 28,5 % increase compared to last year. Projects from almost all EU countries will benefit from EU support under the following sub-programmes: nature and biodiversity; circular economy and quality of life; climate change mitigation and adaptation; and clean energy transition.

LIFE projects contribute to reaching the European Green Deal's broad range of climate, energy and environmental goals, including the EU's aim to become climate-neutral by 2050. They support biodiversity and nature restoration, improve the quality of life of Europeans by reducing pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, increase circularity in the economy and climate resilience, and accelerate the transition to clean energy across Europe.

At a glance: new projects under the €396 million of EU funding

Nature and biodiversity

The 29 nature and biodiversity projects nature and biodiversity projectswith a total budget close to €211 million (of which the EU will contribute around €140 million)will restore freshwater, marine and coastal ecosystems, and habitats; improve the conservation status of birds, insects, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals; enhance governance; and support the implementation and compliance with relevant EU legislation such as the Birds Directives and the Habitats te Biodiversity Strategy for 2030Doing so, they will equally contribute to the EU's implementation of the Kunming/Montreal Global Biodiversity Agreement..

 

Circular economy and quality of life

LIFE projects will mobilise over €298 million of which the EU will provide over €94 million to contribute circular economy and improve the quality of life..

A total of 36 projekata bit će usmjereno na potrošnju vode, električni otpad, kemikalije, onečišćenje zraka i onečišćenje bukom kako bi se poboljšala kvaliteta života građana EU-a i razvile tehnologije za potporu akcijskom planu za kružno gospodarstvo.

 

Ublažavanje klimatskih promjena i prilagodba tim promjenama

A total of 34 projects worth about €110 million (in which the EU will provides around EUR 65 million) will contribute to climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and climate governance and information related to climate change impacts.

 

Clean energy transition

67 projects with a total budget of more than €102 million (of which the EU provides around €97 million)will improve market and regulatory conditions in the EU for the clean energy transition, notably promoting and rolling out energy efficiency and small-scale renewable energy solutions

 

Background

Over its 31 years of existence the LIFE Programme LIFE Programme has co-financed more than 6 000 environmental and climate action projects across the EU and associated countries. These 171 announced projects were selected from more than 751 applications submitted in the LIFE 2022 call for proposals, published in May 2022.

The European Commission has increased funding for the LIFE Programme by almost 60% for the 2021 - 2027 period, bringing it to €5.43 billion. The grants financed under the LIFE Programme are managed by CINEA - European Climate Infrastructure and Environment Executive Agency.

 

More information:

Project summaries

LIFE Programme for environment and climate action

Europe Direct Karlovac, Desk Creative Europe Culture at the Ministry of Culture and Media the National Contact Point of the Union Programme Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values at the Office for Cooperation with NGOs of the Government of the Republic of Croatia are organising the presentation of the Union programme in Karlovac, which will be held on Tuesday, 21st November 2023 at 10am in the Illyrian Hall of the City Library “Ivan Goran Kovačić” in Karlovac (1 Ljudevit Šestić Street).

In the morning, the first part, the Creative Europe Programme – Culture sub-programmethe only Union mechanism to support the cultural and creative sectors, and the CERV programme – Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values,the largest programme in the history of the European Union to promote and protect the values of democracy, the rule of law, fundamental rights, equality, equality, the fight against all forms of violence and discrimination, transparency and good governance, will be jointly presented. The presentation will include acquaintance with the opportunities offered by these programmes, current information on currently open and upcoming calls and initiatives within the programmes themselves, and navigation through Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal (FTOP), the Union’s central portal for applying projects to Union programmes.

The participants will then, depending on their interest, be divided into two groups that will in parallel process the elaboration of project ideas and the corresponding project documentation. It will be an opportunity to learn about examples of good practice, so that those present can better understand what kind of projects can be supported under these programmes, consisting of getting acquainted with the project documentation for each programme.

The event is intended for civil society organisations, LAGs, schools and other educational institutions, local self-government units and other organisations and institutions active in the cultural and creative sectors and/or dealing with local community development, the promotion of human rights, the rule of law and the topics of protection against violence and discrimination.

For the event, it is necessary to fill in the application form and express interest in working in one of the groups in the second part of the workshop.

 

WORKSHOP PROGRAMME

09:45 - 10:00 Registation

10:00 - 10:10 Introducing of Europe Direct Karlovac

10:10 - 11:00 Overview of the Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values Programme (CERV), Saša Šegrt, Government Office for Cooperation with NGOs, National Contact Point of the Programme Saša Šegrt,

Ured za udruge Vlade RH, Nacionalna kontakt točka programa

11:00 - 11:45 An overview of important information on Creative Europe – Culture;

                                               Anera Stopfer, Desk Creative Europe-culture, Ministry of Culture and Media

11:45 – 12:00 Getting acquainted with the portal Funding and Tender Opportunities (FTOP)

12:15 - 12:30 Questions and Answers

12:00 - 13:00 Lunch

 Split participants in two groups according to registration in CERV/Creative Europe workshop

13:00 - 13:15 Key terms of the CERV/KE programme

13:15 – 14:00 Elaboration of project ideas - exercise, working in a group

14:00 – 14:15 Coffee break

Presentation of project ideas, analysis and comments & practical tips for

successful preparation of the project proposals

15:00 - 15:15 Questions and Answers; end of the workshop