SI Creative Partnerships Programme

• Seed funding can be granted for preparing or planning a Creative Partnerships cooperation project (see below).
• You must complete the seed project within 12 months from the starting date.
• You can apply for up to SEK 200,000.

Please note that a completed seed project does not automatically guarantee further funding for a cooperation project. It is not a requirement to carry out a seed project first before applying for a cooperation project.

A cooperation project should:

• aim to strengthen democracy, human rights and/or freedom of expression in one or more of the programme’s target countries.
• aim to strengthen the professional capacity of people who are in a position to bring about change in the organisations or sectors they work in.
• involve the project partners in knowledge exchange, network building and/or the development of innovative methods.
• be sustainable. This means that the methods and results of the projects live on and continue to be used after the project has formally ended.
• be firmly rooted in the target country(s) and reflect needs which have been identified and formulated locally.

You can apply for up to SEK 2 million for a project which must be completed within 24 months of the grant being awarded.

The overall goal of Creative Partnerships is to strengthen democracy, human rights and freedom of expression in the programme’s target countries.

Creative Partnerships also has specific programme objectives for the different regions covered by the programme. These in turn are related to Swedish national strategies for these regions.

Creative Partnerships Africa and MENA is financed in accordance with Sweden’s Strategy for capacity development, partnership and methods that support the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development.

The projects we support in this region should contribute to one or more of the following sustainable development goals/targets.

Sustainable Development Goal 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels.

• 16.3 Promote the rule of law and ensure equal access to justice for all.
• 16.5 Reduce corruption and bribery.
• 16.7 Ensure responsive, inclusive, participatory and representative decision-making.
• 16.10 Ensure public access to information and protect fundamental freedoms.

Creative Partnerships Eastern Partnership countries, Western Balkans & Türkiye is financed in accordance with two national strategies: Strategy for Sweden’s reform cooperation with Eastern Europe (not available in English) and Strategy for Sweden’s reform cooperation with the Western Balkans and Turkey. The goal of these strategies is to strengthen democracy, the rule of law and sustainable development and to achieve a closer alignment with the values of the European Union.

We grant funding to projects which specifically contribute to one or more of the following programme objectives:

• Better democratic governance and greater respect for human rights and the rule of law.
• Improved conditions for accountability, increased transparency and reduced corruption.
• Better prospects for a gender-equal society.

The programme’s target groups are agents of change, opinion makers or drivers of democratic development in the target country. These can be influential leaders in civil society, the business sector, education, culture, the media or public administration. They must be people who are in a position to bring about change in the organisations or sectors they work in.

Final beneficiaries are groups and/or individuals in the target countries who are directly and positively affected by the project.

Examples of final beneficiaries are women, children and youth as well as minority groups in especially vulnerable positions such as LGBTQ individuals or people with disabilities.

See the timeline above for step-by-step application instructions.

Yes. We can simultaneously grant you at most one (1) seed project and one (1) cooperation project.

NB: if you already have an ongoing project (seed or cooperation) see FAQ 11 below.

Yes. You can apply to more than one of our programme regions. We can simultaneously grant you at most one (1) seed project and one (1) cooperation project per region.

NB: if you have an ongoing project (seed or cooperation) please see FAQ 11 below.

You can apply for a project which involves countries in the following regions:

• Africa and MENA
• Western Balkans & Türkiye and Eastern Partnership

The following conditions apply to other combinations (eg MENA and Eastern Partnership):

• You must submit a separate application per region.
• Each application must have its own main partner organisation in the country or region concerned.
• The programme objectives vary from one region to another, so make sure you adapt each separate application to the objectives for that specific region.
• The total amount you apply for may not exceed SEK 2 million.

NB: if you have an ongoing project (seed or cooperation) please see FAQ 11 below.

Yes

If you want to apply for a project in a different programme region: yes

The following applies if you want to apply for a new project in the same region:

• You have an ongoing seed project and you want to scale it up by applying for a cooperation project: You are welcome to submit a new application. However, you must have completed the seed project before we make our funding decisions. That means that you must send in your final report for the seed project by 15 March. NB: this deadline applies irrespective of the deadline for submitting your final report in your contract with SI.
• You have an ongoing Creative Force collaborative project and you want to apply for a new cooperation project in the new programme: You are welcome to submit a new application. However, you must have completed the Creative Force project before we make our funding decisions. That means that you must send in your final report for the collaborative project by 15 March. NB: this deadline applies irrespective of the deadline for submitting your final report in your contract with SI.
• You have an ongoing seed project and you want to apply for a new seed project: You are welcome to submit a new application. We will pay special attention to your organisational capacity when we assess your application.
• You have an ongoing collaborative project and you want to apply for a new seed project: You are welcome to submit a new application. We will pay special attention to your organisational capacity when we assess your application.

No

Unfortunately not, but you are welcome consult our project database for information about previous projects in your field.

• Link to project database

Contact the following to order a Certificate of Registration (registreringsbevis):

• If you are a company (including enskild firma): Bolagsverket
• If you are a non-profit association (ideella föreningar): Skatteverket
• If you are a foundation (stiftelser): Länsstyrelsen
• If you are a public sector organisation: SCB

Link to our assessment criteria

No. You cannot apply separately for expenses of this kind. They can, however, be included in the budget of a Creative Partnership project.

A Creative Partnerships grant can be used to add separate, complementary activities to an ongoing project. A CPP grant may not be used simply for integral costs which another funding source cannot cover.

We pay the grant to the Swedish applicant organisation. The procedure differs slightly depending on which type of funding we have granted you:

Seed Funding
You will receive all the money in one payment when you have returned the signed Agreement to us.

Cooperation projects lasting max 18 months 

• We will pay 80 per cent of the grant when we have received the signed Agreement from you.
• We will pay the remaining 20 per cent at the end of the project when we have received and approved your written report, financial report and audit.

Cooperation projects lasting longer than 18 months 

• We will pay 50 per cent of the grant when we have received the signed Agreement from you.
• We will pay a further 30 per cent when we have received and approved your interim report.
• You will be paid the final 20 per cent when we have received and approved your final written report, financial report and audit.

If you need to make any changes during the course of the project you must contact the Swedish Institute in advance:

• Changes to project activities: fill in Revised activity plan and send it to [email protected].
• Changes to the budget: fill in Revised budget form and send it to [email protected].

If you want to transfer part of the grant to your project partner in order to cover planned project costs in advance you must draw up a transfer agreement between you and the partner.

Please note that if you make this type of transfer we require a separate local audit of this money at the end of the project. To ensure that the cost of the audit is reasonable in relation to the amount you have been granted, you may only make such a transfer if you have a cooperation project (not seed funding) and for sums of at least SEK 200,000.

We do not require a transfer agreement or a local audit if you transfer funds to your project partner for expenses after they have arisen – on condition that your partner can supply you with invoices or receipts for these costs.

You must report back to us at the end of the project by filling in a questionnaire. You access the questionnaire via our reporting tool. A link to the reporting tool can be found below. Please note that you can pause the questionnaire at any time. When you do this you will receive a unique link that you can use to resume the your report later.

In addition to the questionnaire you must also send us a financial report and certification of financial report. The  Instructions for financial reporting will help you with the financial report.

You will find the deadline for your final report in your Agreement with the Swedish Institute.

• Template for the financial report (all regions)
• Template for certification of financial report (all regions)

Send the signed financial report and certification of financial report to [email protected].

Link to the reporting tool.

You must report back to us at the end of the project by filling in a questionnaire. You access the questionnaire via our reporting tool. A link to the reporting tool can be found below. Please note that you can pause the questionnaire at any time. When you do this you will receive a unique link that you can use to resume the your report later.

You must also send us a financial report and an audit. Please read the Instructions for financial reporting and Audit Instructions.

Make sure you send the following to your auditor: 1) audit instructions, 2) your Agreement with SI, and 3) the project’s agreed budget (the latest version if there have been approved changes during the project).

You will find the deadline for your final report in your Agreement with the Swedish Institute.

• Template for the financial report (all regions)

Send the signed financial report and audit to [email protected].

Link to the reporting tool.

Step 1: You must send us an interim report by the deadline given in your Agreement. After this we will pay the next installment of the grant. Use the following forms for your interim report:

• Interim report
• Interim financial report
• Certification of financial report

Email these documents to [email protected].

Step 2: You must report back to us at the end of the project by filling in a questionnaire. You access the questionnaire via our reporting tool. A link to the reporting tool can be found below. Please note that you can pause the questionnaire at any time. When you do this you will receive a unique link that you can use to resume the your report later.

In addition to the questionnaire you must also send us a financial report and an audit. Please read the Instructions for financial reporting and Audit Instructions.

Make sure you send the following to your auditor: 1) audit instructions, 2) your Agreement with SI, and 3) the project’s agreed budget (the latest version if there have been approved changes during the project).

You will find the deadline for final reporting in your Agreement with the Swedish Institute.

• Template for the financial report (all regions)

Send the signed financial report and audit to [email protected].

Link to the reporting tool.

We do not need an audit if we have granted you seed funding.

If you have received funding for a cooperation project you must send us an audit carried out by a qualified, external auditor as part of your final reporting (see FAQs 22 and 23 above).

Read these detailed Audit Instructions and send them to your auditor.

You must repay the Swedish Institute.

Do not make any repayment until we have approved your final report. We will then send you payment instructions.