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Overall Activity
Cultural Bridges Programme
The EU-Turkey Civil Society Dialogue was launched with a Commission Communication
in June 2005 with the aim of improving mutual knowledge and encouraging a debate
on perceptions regarding society and political issues. The primary goal of this
dialogue is to create a medium where concerns and sensitivities can be discussed
in a frank and open manner both in Turkey and in the EU.
Culture and the development of intercultural exchanges play a crucial role within
the Civil Society Dialogue. For many years, the EU member states’ cultural offices/institutes
and their Turkish partners have been building bridges on a bilateral basis. The
EC Delegation and the Turkish Government would like to use the common expertise
accumulated by them by inviting these cultural entities to join the Civil Society
Dialogue.
Their common knowledge about intercultural dialogue and how to reach out to different
cultures would be a significant contribution to this initiative. In this way, the
EU-Turkey Civil Society Dialogue would take a new dimension through a “Cultural
Bridges” programme building upon the common expertise of the EU cultural centres
in Turkey and their Turkish partners.
The Cultural Bridges programme is mainly targeting the cultural
institutes of the EU member states and their Turkish and European partners. It provides
direct grants to those wishing to engage in multi-partners, joint cultural activities
with the aim of establishing a permanent dialogue and partnership between cultural
actors in Turkey and the EU. Given the fact that some member states are not represented
with cultural institutes in Turkey, they may cooperate either with partner organisations
or team up with other EU member states.
While designing projects, it should be kept in mind that the specific aim of this
programme is to improve the Civil Society Dialogue through the medium of cultural
activities and to ensure the cooperation of the cultural actors and operators from
both sides to work towards this end. Therefore, a lasting and sustainable EU-Turkey
dialogue and partnership focused on cultural aspects lies at the heart of the Cultural
Bridges programme.
The European Commission and the Turkish Government has called for expressions of
interest from the EU member states’ cultural centres and their Turkish partners
to participate in the programme.
In this context, all aspects of the contemporary arts have been covered: music,
performing arts, plastic and visual arts, literature, as well as cultural information
activities. In addition, the Cultural Bridges programme has also contributed to
the effort of Turkey and the EU to prepare for “Istanbul 2010 European Capital of
Culture”.
An indicative amount of up to € 6 million has been reserved for the Cultural Bridges
programme from Turkey’s pre-accession assistance. In addition, a technical assistance
team was put in place for the promotion of the overall programme as well as a result
oriented evaluation.
The European Commission and the Turkish Government have launched a variety of support
schemes to sustain the dialogue between Turkish and European civil society organizations.
In 2006, grant schemes worth of €4.33 million were launched providing support to
approximately 70 dialogue projects currently under implementation. Another four
calls for proposal targeting universities, youth, professional organizations, and
municipalities were launched in April 2007 with total EC support of approximately
€20 million.
Culture and the development of intercultural exchanges play a crucial role in the
Civil Society Dialogue. Since 2002, the European Commission supported cultural and
local information initiatives in Turkey through the ‘European Horizons and Mosaic
Programmes’. In 2006, in line with the spirit of Civil Society Dialogue, the ‘Culture
in Action’ programme with a total support of €1.45 million was launched to enable
cross-border cooperation between Turkish NGOs and their EU partners operating in
the cultural, arts and information campaign sectors.
The EU Member States are already active in promoting mutual exchanges including
mobility programmes, scholarships, media development, financial support to NGO development,
exchanges between professional organizations, school links and so on. In addition,
cultural relations between the EU Member States and Turkey are particularly intense
and, in some cases, benefit from the establishment of Member States’ cultural institutes
in Turkey.
This programme seeks to directly involve the EU Member States in the EU-Turkey Civil
Society Dialogue via their cultural institutes by building upon their existing expertise
and experience. The involvement of the cultural institutes is the most promising
arrangement to help build cultural bridges between Turkey and the EU in an efficient
and substantive manner. With their wide network and wide range of experiences, the
cultural institutes are uniquely well placed to promote intercultural dialogue in
Turkey and vice versa. They are also in a position to contribute to a high degree
of visibility to the cultural dimension of the EU-Turkey Civil Society.
Dialogue will significantly strengthen the cultural field of this initiative as
well as increasing its overall public awareness/recognition that is still lacking.
The project has been drawn up in consultation with the EU Member States and their
cultural institutes present in Turkey. The institutes have indicated their interest
in playing a more active role in the Civil Society Dialogue. The projects will thus
at the same time encourage these key stakeholders’ ownership of the dialogue initiative.
The activities foreseen in this project nevertheless have a pilot character: depending
on the results, actions that are more promising may be considered under future programmes
based on experience gained. While designing the projects, it should be kept in mind
that the specific aim of this programme is to improve the Civil Society Dialogue
through cultural activities and to ensure the cooperation of the cultural actors
and operators from both sides to work towards this end. Therefore, a lasting and
sustainable EU-Turkey dialogue and partnership focused on culture is at the heart
of the Cultural Bridges Programme.
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