Mobility funding

The Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme for Culture strengthens artistic and cultural cooperation in the Nordic region and Baltic states. The programme focuses on increasing the exchange of knowledge, contacts, presence and interest in Nordic and Baltic art and culture. The Nordic-Baltic Mobility Programme comprises three forms of funding: Mobility funding, Network funding and Funding for artist residenceies.

Read our information to funding recipients regarding the coronavirus here

Which activities are funded?

The Mobility funding provides individual applicants access to contacts, skills and knowledge from different parts of the region. Funding may also be used to present artistic and cultural productions and to increase interest in Nordic and Baltic art and culture.

Mobility funding is intended for the travel and/or stay of professional artists or cultural workers within Nordic and/or Baltic countries. That is: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden and the Åland Islands.

The purpose for the journey may be, for example:

• cooperation with colleagues in one of the Nordic or Baltic countries
• a special performance
• exhibitions
• participation in conferences, meetings and workshops
• research

You cannot apply for funding for:

• travel solely within the same country/area
• travel to or from countries outside the Nordic region/Baltic states.
• travel as part of the applicant’s degree programme
• corporate or business travel
• travel for employees of public administration – for example, state authorities, municipalities, regions or equivalent.
• activities that have already been completed. At the earliest, activities that are supported by the programme may begin 8 weeks after the application deadline.

Mobility funding for artists traveling to residencies is normally not prioritized.  This is due to the fact that the programme supports residency activities though a separate module (Funding for artist residencies). However, not all residencies are covered by this module. As the primary purpose of the Mobility funding is to strengthen artistic and cultural cooperation between professionals, the module might consider applications for travel to a residency if the main purpose of the journey is to collaborate with other artists.

Students are not granted mobility funding as a part of their degree. However, in some cases, working artists and cultural workers may apply for funding if the purpose of the travel is not linked directly to their studies, but is a part of the artist’s continued professional career.

Finances

Mobility funding can be applied for travel and/or stays for up to 14 days. The amount of the funding is based on a fixed travel cost and/or fixed compensation per day, which is calculated based on the duration and destination of the stay.

The stay may exceed 14 days, but the mobility funding will not cover more than 14 days.

You cannot apply for additional funding for production costs or similar. You can only submit one application per application round.

The online application system automatically calculates the applied amount based on the selected destination and travel dates.

Who can apply?

Only artists and other professionals in the arts and culture field (such as curators, producers, literary translators, cultural editors or researchers) within all fields of culture and art can apply for funding.

“Professional” means that the applicant has documented experience of working within the field of art and culture and/or have completed an education in art or culture.

Mobility funding can only be granted for individuals. You cannot apply funding on behalf of another person. If you are applying as part of a small group traveling together for the same project, all members of the group must submit individual applications. You state the names of the other group members in the application form.

Therefore, the user account which you create in our application system can only be registered as an individual applicant to apply for Mobility funding.

In order to apply for mobility funding, the applicant must reside in the Nordic region (Denmark, Finland, the Faroe Islands, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, the Åland Islands) or Baltic countries (Estonia, Latvia or Lithuania). However, it is not necessary for the applicant to have Nordic or Baltic nationality.

You will have to attach an invitation or letter of intent, to the application. It should state who is invited, and by whom. Moreover, an invitation letter can also state what the applicant is being offered by the inviting organization/institution/group/etc.

Please note that the language of the programme is English. Both the application and the invitation, or the letter of intent, must be submitted in English.

Multiple destinations
Applications may contain multiple destinations in case of a continuous travel, i.e., traveling to several countries during one journey connected to the same project to allow more sustainable ways of traveling.

One application cannot cover separate journeys on separate occasions. Also, the journey should always end in the same country as it started from. If you are planning to visit more than one destination, you need to submit invitation letters from partners at each destination.

Support is not granted for touring.

Disabled applicants
Additional mobility support can be provided to artists and cultural professionals who need to be accompanied by an assistant.

How is an application assessed?

The assessment is conducted based on the aforementioned criteria and depending on how well the application has managed to convey the following:

Cooperation opportunities
The journey contributes to meetings and contacts and promotes new collaborations and initiatives.

Quality and content
The assessment takes into account the quality of the applicant’s artistic career and previous assignments,  the travelers purpose for the journey and how the applicant intends to achieve his/her objectives. The applications are also considered in terms of contributing to knowledge of new art forms and expressions.

The Nordic-Baltic dimension
In this context the Nordic-Baltic dimension means that the travel:

• promotes and increases contacts, communication and activities between the Nordic and/or Baltic countries
• strengthens the Nordic-Baltic presence in cultural life in the Nordic region and Baltic states
• strengthens understanding of similarities and differences between the Nordic and Baltic countries
• increases knowledge of the Nordic and Baltic artists and their work

To view an FAQ about our programmes, please click here.

Please note that the language of the programme is English and that applications and reports must be submitted in English.

The application deadline is 15:59, Finnish time. Granted projects may begin 8 weeks after the application deadline within the mobility funding programme.

Application rounds:
11.01.2021 – 08.02.2021 15:59
01.03.2021 – 31.03.2021 15:59
01.09.2021 – 30.09.2021 15:59

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