Conservation and Revitalisation of Cultural and Natural Heritage

Programme Summary

Why is the programme needed? Latvia’s rich diversity of cultural heritage is recognised both within and outside of Latvia. According to data provided by the State Inspection for Heritage Protection, there are 8,559 listed state-protected cultural monuments in the country. Although these monuments have been identified, there is a pressing need to restore and conserve a significant number of them in order to safeguard them for future generations and contribute to economic growth, creation of jobs and increased social inclusion. There is also a growing need to address the challenges facing the contemporary arts and culture sectors regarding the mobility of cultural players, the development of their capacity and the promotion of intercultural dialogue. What will the programme achieve? By supporting various activities in the culture sector, the programme contributes to stimulating economic development, job creation, social inclusion, and raising greater awareness about the importance of good heritage care. In this regard the programme ties in with the Europe 2020 Strategy and the aims set out by the European Commission for the EU’s Creative Europe 2014-2020 programme. How will it be achieved? The programme will: • Support five pre-defined projects aimed to protect cultural heritage, especially art nouveau and wooden cultural heritage and projects approved within the Small Grand Scheme ‘Conservation of Cultural Heritage’. It will contribute to the restoration and conservation of at least five wooden architecture cultural heritage sites and one art nouveau architecture cultural heritage site; • Ensure access to cultural heritage: at least 115,000 visitors per year will visit the restored buildings and this will contribute to raising the wider public’s greater awareness about the importance of good heritage care; • Stimulate professional cooperation projects facilitating mobility and intercultural dialogue. Promote cross-border and bilateral cultural cooperation and stimulate capacity development in this area by the exchange of knowledge and best practices between cultural players in Latvia and the donor states. How will bilateral relations be strengthened? The programme has a strong focus on strengthening bilateral relations, for example by providing support for partner search for donor partnership projects prior to the preparation of a project application and through support for networking, exchange, sharing and transfer of knowledge, technology, experience and best practices. The Norwegian Directorate for Cultural Heritage and the Arts Council Norway are the Donor Programme Partners (DPPs). There is a Small Grant Scheme for cultural exchange offering the possibility to apply for grants ranging between €25,000 and €100,000. The Bilateral fund and the Small Grant Scheme ‘Cultural Exchange’ as well as the pre-defined projects and the Small Grant Scheme ‘Conservation of Cultural Heritage’ will foster the development and the strengthening of the bilateral relations between Latvia and the donor states. What are the partnership opportunities? There is support for partner search activities and the development of partner projects. Bilateral cooperation and exchanges will gear-up the exchange of knowledge and best practices between cultural players in Latvia and the beneficiary states in this area, and this is expected to contribute to accelerated learning. Who can apply for funding under this programme? Eligible applicants under the Small Grant Scheme ‘Conservation of Cultural Heritage’ are: municipalities that own or state institutions that own, possess or use a cultural monument and that will be able to demonstrate at the time of application that the monument will be in their ownership, possession or use for a period of five years following the completion of the project. Eligible applicants under the Small Grant Scheme ‘Cultural Exchange’ are: state and municipal authorities, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) registered in the register of associations and foundations of the Republic of Latvia whose core sphere of activity is culture.