Cross-border and European cooperation
As the only region in France with a common border with four countries (Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Switzerland), the Grand Est region is a veritable laboratory of European cooperation. This geographical positioning opens up perspectives in the cultural field, both for professionals, allowing them to be part of cross-border partnerships, as well as for audiences, who benefit from a wider offer and can be interested in other aesthetics, to other cultures.
DRAC Grand Est participates in theinternational action the Ministry of Culture by integrating the cross-border and European dimension into its overall action. It participates in existing cooperation bodies, promotes exchanges between professionals and encourages greater circulation of works and artists.
Institutional cooperation
The DRAC participates in the following cross-border cooperation bodies:
- l'Cultural Space of the Greater Region which brings together the cultural administrations of Grand Est, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, the German Länder of Saarland and Rhineland-Palatinate and Wallonia (French and German-speaking communities of Belgium).
- the Culture Forum of the Upper Rhine Conference which brings together the cultural administrations of the Great East, the German Länder of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate and the Swiss cantons of Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Aargau, Solothurn and Jura.
These two bodies are intended to inform, advise and connect cultural actors on both sides of the border.
Since 1er January 2020, a Cross-border cultural fund - Upper Rhine was established. It aims to develop the cross-border dimension of cultural events.
Contact : Clara Nieden, Project Manager for Cross-Border and European Cooperation - clara.nieden[at]culture.gouv.fr
Support Programs and Funds
- INTERREG
The European Union is proposing a programme to support INTERREG cross border cooperation.
This program is broken down by territory and responds to a strategy developed for this territory.
In the Grand Est region, three programmes with different objectives allow funding for certain cultural projects:
- Interreg V A Grande Rregion (Lorraine, Saarland, Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Wallonia)
- Interreg V A Upper Rhine (Alsace, Baden-Württemberg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Basel-Stadt, Basel-Landschaft, Aargau, Solothurn, Jura)
- Interreg V A France-Wallonia (Champagne-Ardenne, Nord-Pas de Calais, Picardie, Flanders, Hainaut, Namur and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg)
- Creative Europe and other European programmes
Creative Europe is a European programme dedicated to cooperation in the field of culture and media.
For more information, the contact points in France on this program can offer support in the project setting:
Acting as Creative Europe France Bureau, with the support of the Ministry of Culture, the Relay Culture Europe provides information on the Europe Creative programme, its developments, current and future calls and accompanies the structures in setting up their European project. It also offers a one-stop-shop for information on other European funds open to culture, which have been identified in a map "Actions in the field of Cultural Heritage - European Union" to download below:
Creative Europe 2021-2027
Creative Europe, the European Union’s programme supporting the cultural and creative sectors has been increased by 50% over the previous programme.
The Creative Europe programme will invest in actions to strengthen cultural diversity and respond to the needs and challenges of the cultural and creative sectors. Its innovations will contribute to the recovery of these sectors, allowing them to intensify their efforts to become more digital, greener, more resilient and more inclusive.
It has two main objectives: to preserve, develop and promote cultural and linguistic heritage and diversity and to increase the competitiveness and economic potential of the cultural and creative sectors, in particular the audiovisual sector.
It consists of three components:
- Culture: covering all sectors of culture and creation (with the exception of the audiovisual and film sectors
- Media: covering the audiovisual and film sectors
- Cross-cutting: facilitating collaboration between creative sectors and covering the news media sector
More information and on the website
Culture Relay Europe Tel. + 33 (0)1 53 40 95 10 - infos[@]europecreativefrance.eu
The Relais Culture Europe has a branch office in Strasbourg:
Europe Creative Strasbourg Office - tel. + 33 (0)3 68 98 72 93 - mail[@]strasbourg.eu
Call for cooperation projects
The Cooperation call for the Culture strand of the Creative Europe programme has been published.
Project deadline: March 31, 2022
This call is open to structures from all cultural and creative sectors who wish to experiment, in collaboration with other Europeans, projects promoting the creation and circulation of works and artists in Europe today, and innovative approaches in the sector.
For the heritage, architecture and cultural tourism sectors, several opportunities are possible for all stakeholders (museums, sites, schools, universities, cultural centres, etc.). The Cooperation call allows us to work on cross-cutting priorities (audience, inclusion, sustainability, digital and international)and, on the other hand, to work on priorities specific to these sectors such as capacity building for professionals, digital, risk management, digitization, mediation, or promotion.
More information on the call for projects
European funds: directory of Grand Est managers
At the initiative of the DRAC Grand Est, the Grand Est Region and the Europe Creative Strasbourg office, a table identifying resource persons for cultural actors on the various European programmes was produced.
This table gives an initial overview of European schemes that can be mobilised according to the type of project and the type of actor. It was carried out in May 2019 and does not voluntarily include certain devices (FSE type) already largely exhausted. This table will be updated regularly, particularly with a view to the next 2021-2027 programming.
Download the table of contacts in the Great East: European funds
Grand Est DRAC Contact: Clara Nieden (clara.nieden@culture.gouv.fr/ 03 88 15 56 86)
- Franco-German support fund
There are several Franco-German support funds in the cultural field, supported by the Ministry of Culture.
Transfabrik Franco-German fund
The Franco-German Transfabrik Fund for Performing Arts encourages artistic creation projects between France and Germany, through a financial contribution in co-production, in the fields of contemporary dance, contemporary theatre, new circus, street arts, object theatre and puppetry.
French-German Perspektive fund
The Franco-German Perspektive Fund for Contemporary Art and Architecture promotes, from the conception to the dissemination of contemporary works, the internationalization of the artistic scene by financially supporting professional meetings, seminars and workshops in France and Germany.
Franco-German Fund for Contemporary Music "Impuls neue musik" (France, Germany, Switzerland)
The Franco-German fund "Impuls neue musik" aims to give a boost to contemporary French, German and Swiss music by promoting long-term exchanges between these two worlds of music through the financing of commissioned works.
Artist mobility
On the move (OTM) is a European information network on mobility programmes in Europe and around the world.
With the support of the Ministry of Culture, it produces guides for artists and cultural structures.
- Guide to funding opportunities for cultural mobility - France
- Guide to Private Foundations in France, Art + Culture + International Financing<
- Circus and Street Arts Mobility Guide #1 - Asia and Europe
- Call for applications "PARI!!: a journey of support and reflection on the international scene French Institute and On the move (closing March 10, 2022)
The PARI course! aims at enabling the initiation or redeployment of an international strategy of structures in performing arts/ music (companies, groups, collectives, ensembles, etc.) and organizations in visual arts (networks, federations, places of residence, etc.) around five main axes: artistic mobility, networking, cultural cooperation, transmission and dissemination.
The main idea of this program is to consider the International in its entirety and in its internal and external development potentials for accompanied structures.
Since 2018, PARI! has accompanied 42 companies/ collectives or groups (theatre/ dance and music) and 16 visual arts structures and involved more than 50 contacts from France and internationally.
2022 marks a new turning point in the IRAP! program with this first open call until March 10, 2022.
Erasmus+ programme
Erasmus+ supports a wide range of actions and activities in the fields of education, training, youth and sport. The programme aims to give students, trainees, staff and generally young people under 30 with or without a diploma the opportunity to stay abroad to strengthen their skills and increase their employability.
In order to encourage cultural actors to mobilise the Erasmus+ programme for their mobility or European cooperation projects, the Ministry of Culture set up a network of Erasmus+ developers in 2019, to serve as a relay of information and support for cultural project promoters. DRAC Grand Est has partnered.
Employment centre
The Employment Centre and the Public Employment Services of Germany, Belgium, Sweden and Switzerland have partnered, within the framework of EURES, to produce a guide to mobility in Europe for performing arts professionals. A guide to mobility in Europe and a fact sheet for Germany, Belgium and Switzerland are available on this website.
Mobility of foreign artists to France: "Mobiculture"
The Ministry of Culture supports "Mobiculture", a resource centre specialising in the reception of foreign artists and cultural professionals. It offers its expertise and accompanies the places of diffusion or exhibition, artistic teams, producers for the reception of artists or professionals of the foreign culture.
Calls for projects and calls for applications
Cross-border cultural fund "Upper Rhine"
Application deadline: all year