ACP-EU Culture Programme – Caribbean: Creative Caribbean Creative – An Ecosystemof “Play” for Growth and Development

ST. GEORGE’S, GRENADA, MAY 26, 2022 –The Grenada National Commission for UNESCO is pleased to inform of the launch of Creative Caribbean, which is a new grant facility for the cultural and creative sector in 15 countries in the Caribbean. 

This regional support programme is part of the ACP-EU Culture Programme financed by the 11th European Development Fund and implemented globally by the Organization of African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) States. In the Caribbean region, the project is being implemented by the UNESCO Cluster Office for the Caribbean, the University of the West Indies and the CARICOM Secretariat.

This funding will help successful applicants develop projects and initiatives to grow more globally competitive businesses, strengthen the enabling environment that supports the sector in relation to policy, planning, incentives and legislation and facilitate increased training and capacity building. It is anticipated that the funding will enable established creatives to scale their operations and assist export-ready creatives to expand into new markets, including strengthening capacity to access and use digital marketing and distribution platforms.

Grant Schemes

Grant applications are invited to strengthen the creative and cultural industry under the following grant schemes:

1. Festival Development and Marketplace, Work Placement & Knowledge Transfer (awards up to USD 179,000)
2. Artist Mobility – artist residencies (awards up to USD $17,000)
3. Product Development and Content Production (awards up to USD $29,000)
4. Small Grants for Professional Associations (awards up to USD 19,000) 

Eligible activities: Festival development and marketplace, work placement & knowledge transfer, artist mobility, product development and content production, small grants for professional associations. Eligible Entity/Categories of Persons: Existing cultural festivals, professional associations, other registered CCI entities.

• Small Grants for Emerging Creative Content Originator (awards up to USD $19,000)

Eligible activities: product/service development, activation of new skills, networks or market access, development of technological platforms, enhanced marketing,

Eligible Entity/ Categories of Persons: Emerging creative and cultural content originators, which fall into the following categories:

• Persons actively practicing for between one and five years with or without formal              background training

o Established creative and cultural content originators, who produce curricula and content for children, adolescents, youth and at-risk or vulnerable groups o Women

• Scaling Grants for Export-Ready Creatives (awards up to USD 29,000)

Eligible Activities: Product/service development, activation of new skills, networks, market intelligence or market access, development of technological platforms, enhanced marketing.

Eligible Entity/ Categories of Persons: Established and/or export ready CCIs

• CCI Festival Business Exchange Networks and Fora (awards up to USD 35,000)

Two (2) grant awards for Festival Business Fora via the industry grant scheme through an open call.

Stakeholder network meetings will also be held during these events.

Eligible Activities: Regional festival, development of content or business or support tools.

Eligible Entity/Categories of Persons: Secondary/tertiary institutions, government ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs), national or regional examining bodies; registered organisations, entities and individuals (OEIs) and those with a proven track record in CCI projects.

Project Duration

Project implementation should not exceed 18 months.

Number of Applications

Applicants are allowed to submit applications for a maximum of two (2) schemes under this call.

Ineligible Activities – General Conditions

1. Events of a religious or political nature
2. Projects related to sponsorship
3. Projects to raise funds for the lead partner or co-applicant(s)
4. Projects aimed solely at raising the profile of the lead partner or co-applicant(s)
5. Actions consisting solely or mainly of financing the participation of individuals in workshops, seminars, conferences and congresses
6. Actions consisting solely or mainly of financing individual scholarships for studies, research or training
7. Actions aimed at raising funds or promoting the visibility of the applicant or his partner/partners;
8. Actions constituting discrimination against individuals or groups on the basis of their race, color, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, fortune, birth or any other status
9. Actions directly or indirectly supporting political parties or actions of a propaganda, proselytizing or pornographic nature or actions contrary to the policies of CARICOM, The UWI, UNESCO, OCAPS and the European Union

Eligible Applicants – General conditions

Entities eligible for financial support must meet the following criteria:

1. Be a legal person;
2. Be established over the last three (3) years in one of the 14 CARICOM Member States that are beneficiaries of this project and the Dominican Republic (see Eligible Countries);
3. Have directly implemented, during the last three years, at least one project in the cultural and creative sector, for at least 50% of the amount of the grant requested;
4. Be directly responsible for the preparation and management of the activities being funded.

Eligible Countries

Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Dominica, the Dominican Republic, Grenada,

Guyana, Haiti, Jamaica, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname,

Trinidad and Tobago

Eligible Direct Costs

The grant will cover “eligible costs” only.

Eligible costs are the real costs that the grant beneficiary incurs. Eligible costs must meet the following criteria:

1. They are incurred during the duration of the project.
2. They are indicated in the estimated overall budget of the project.
3. They are incurred by and necessary for the implementation of the action, which is the subject of the grant.
4. They are identifiable and verifiable and recorded in the accounting systems of the beneficiary.
5. They comply with the requirements of applicable tax and social legislation.
6. They are reasonable, justified and comply with the principle of sound financial management, in particular regarding economy and efficiency.

Eligible Direct Costs may also include:

1. Staff costs linked to implementation of the project, only eligible for grants over $95,000 USD
2. Travel costs for networking meetings, training and peer-to-peer activities, conferences, etc.
3. Daily subsistence allowances, within the ceilings set by the European Union
4. Professional fees of experts directly involved in implementing the project
5. The cost of purchasing equipment needed to perform the action (limited to a maximum of 10% of the total project budget)
6. The cost of supplies and materials, provided they are identifiable and assigned to the project
7. Costs directly related to project implementation requirements (information dissemination, translation, documentation, printing and distributing leaflets, and other visibility activities etc.)
8. Rental of venues and equipment related to the project

Eligible Indirect Costs

Eligible indirect costs are overheads incurred in connection with the beneficiaries’ operating and general activities: they are not fully attributed to implementation of the project but are at least partially connected to it (e.g. costs related to infrastructure, legal advice, documentation, IT, office supplies, communication, etc.). These costs are limited up to the maximum of 7% of the total eligible costs.

Ineligible Costs

The following costs are not eligible:

1. debt and debt service charges (interest); provisions for losses, debts or possible future debts
2. costs declared by the beneficiary(ies) in the framework of another action or programme receiving a grant financed from the European Union 
3. purchase of land or buildings
4. foreign exchange conversion losses
5. loans to third parties
6. contributions in kind (with the exception of voluntary work)
7. performance bonuses included in staff costs
8. purchase of vehicles

CRITERIA

Organizations will be assessed on:

1. proven track record in festival development & marketplace, artist mobility, product development and content production; or managing professional associations; 
2. or experience in successfully organizing and evaluating large public events for maximum impact;
3. or is a marketable, innovative talent that can be brought to market readiness within the time frame; 
4. or has a cultural or creative product/service whose development can achieve market readiness within the time frame, while intersecting with one or more industries; 
5. proven capacity to meet project objectives, results and activities. 
6. linkages with other industries including tourism, heritage management, environmental sustainability and commerce among other relevant industries.

Criteria for financial support

1. Organization, Entity or Individual (OEI) registered within the 15 CARICOM Member States eligible for this Call (see Eligible Countries), over the last three years with CCI as a primary focus
2. Established OEI registered or who is a citizen of eligible CARICOM Member States, with a track record in CCI or other CCI sector-specific linkages
3. Have directly implemented, over the last three years, at least one project in the CCI sector, for at least 50% of the amount of the award
4. Proven capacity to be directly responsible for the preparation, administration and management of the activities being funded, including financial reporting (budgets, invoices, timesheets etc.)
5. Proven capacity to provide a minimum of 10% co-financing except for the Small Grants for Emerging Creative Content Originators and Scaling Grants for Export-Ready Creatives that require a minimum of 15% co-financing. The CCI Festival Business Exchange Networks Grant does not require co-financing.

GUIDELINES FOR APPLICATION

How to Apply and the Procedures to Follow

Application forms

1. Applications must be submitted in English in accordance with the guidelines for the call. Any error or
2. major discrepancy related to the points listed in the instructions for the Call or any major inconsistency
3. in the application (e.g., if the amounts in the budget worksheets are inconsistent) may lead to the rejection of the application.
4. Clarifications will only be requested when information provided is unclear and thus prevents the grant evaluation committee from conducting an objective assessment.
5. Hand-written applications will not be accepted.

Sustainability/ Commercial Viability

1. This criterion evaluates the ability of the company to sustain the project post Creative Caribbean financing.
2. This includes an assessment of the strategies proposed to ensure project sustainability and/or scaling-up of its impact, the sustainability of the enterprise and perpetuation of the action and/or its impacts.

Budget this criterion evaluates the project budget with particular regard to:

1. activities being adequately set out in the budget;
2. the accuracy and consistency of estimated costs;
3. estimated costs aligned with the projected outcomes;
4. indication of a clear funding strategy, setting out evidence of confirmed or potential additional funding sources and co-financing.

Please note that only the grant application form and the annexes, which need to be filled in (budget and logical framework) will be evaluated. It is therefore of utmost importance that these documents contain ALL the relevant information concerning your project.

How to Apply

• Applications must be submitted electronically using the online application form provided. Applicants can submit questions about the call and application procedure within a three-week period (See Grant Call Timetable below) from the publication date of the call.
  • Youth (18-34) and women are especially encouraged to apply.

Deadline for Submitting Applications

Creative Caribbean opened applications on April 21, 2022. Applications must be submitted via the online application form no later than June 16, 2022, by 23:59 h/11:59 pm EST. Any applications submitted after the deadline will be rejected.

You can apply for an Environment Grant here: https://en.unesco.org/creative–caribbean/enablinggrant 

Then you will select the Grant Scheme, which you are interested in and complete the application form as well as upload the requisite documents.