SI Creative Partnerships Programme

The Swedish Institute is pleased to launch a new initiative, the Creative Partnerships Programme, which will grant funding to Swedish organisations and their international partners in civil society, culture and the media. The programme will support projects which aim to promote democracy, human rights and freedom of expression.

Democracy, freedom of expression & human rights

Available for 29 countries.

See all countries

Albania, Algeria, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Egypt, Ethiopia, Georgia, Iraq, Jordan, Kenya, Kosovo, Lebanon, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Palestine, Rwanda, Serbia, Syria, Tanzania, Tunisia, Türkiye, Uganda, Ukraine, Zambia, Zimbabwe

Credits: Aline Lessner/imagebank.sweden.se

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Overview How to apply FAQ

Overview

What is the SI Creative Partnerships Programme?

Creative Partnerships is a new initiative which replaces the Creative Force programme. It is open to Swedish organisations and their partners in our target countries. Projects funded by the programme should help to create better conditions for democratic development and respect for human rights and freedom of expression in the countries covered by the programme.

Which countries are included?

Creative Partnerships is open to projects in the following countries (by region):

Africa: Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia, Zimbabwe
Eastern Europe: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine. Important: we will not grant funding to projects with Belarus which involve the state, regional or municipal sectors.
MENA: Algeria, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Palestine, Syria, Tunisia
Western Balkans & Türkiye: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Türkiye

Projects should be carried out mainly in the target country(s). However, in countries where the political situation makes this impossible, project activities may take place in Sweden or a third country.

Who can apply?

Swedish organisations (legal entities) from civil society and the public or private sectors. You must apply with a partner in one or more of the target countries listed above.
Your organisation must be registered as a legal entity in Sweden.
Your organisation must have been registered in Sweden for at least two years.
Your project partner may represent civil society or the public or private sectors in the target country. Formal or informal cultural actors, networks of journalists or other types of media organisation also qualify as partners.

Who are the programme’s target groups?

The target group of your project should be agents of change, opinion makers and drivers of democratic development in the target country. These can be influential leaders in civil society, the business sector, education, culture, the media and public administration. They should specifically be people who are in a position to bring about change in the organisations or sectors they work in.

Your project’s target group can be found:

in your partner organisation in the target country.
in other organisations/networks which participate in the project.

Is my project suitable for the programme?

Creative Partnerships awards funding to projects which:

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.
are sustainable. This means that the methods and results of the projects live on and continue to be used after the project has formally ended.
are firmly rooted in the partner country and reflect needs which have been identified and formulated locally rather than by the Swedish partner.
do not have a profit motive.

There are two types of funding

Seed funding

This type of grant is available for preparing or planning a cooperation project (see below). You and your international partner(s) can apply for up to SEK 200,000 for a project which you must complete within 12 months from the starting date.

Cooperation projects

This type of grant is available for larger projects which aim to bring about an exchange of knowledge with the partner organisation and/or the wider target group or strengthen their professional capacity. You and your international partner(s) can apply for up to SEK 2 million for a project which you must complete within 24 months from the starting date.

How to apply

1. Call for applications opens - 20 Dec 2022

2. Write your application - 20 Dec 2022 - 15 Feb 2023

You write your application directly in our online application portal, see link further down. There you will find a form where you register and then write the application. You can save and then return to your application as many times as you need.

In addition you must submit a number of mandatory attachments. Make sure they are all correct and complete before you submit your application. Below you will find links to the templates you must use:

Activity plan (same template for seed and cooperation projects)
Budget seed funding
Budget cooperation projects
Memorandum of Understanding (same template for seed and cooperation projects)

You must also send proof of the following:

Authorised signatory for the Swedish organisation
The Swedish applicant organisation’s Swedish bank account (not necessary if you have Swedish plusgiro/bankgiro).
The Swedish applicant organisation’s registration number.
If you have a “enskild firma” we need to see that you have “F-skattbevis”.

You will find more information about this in the application portal under Checklist. See also FAQ 14 below.

The templates for the mandatory attachments are in English. You and your project partner should write the application together in Swedish or English. Choose the language which is easiest for both of you.

If you are interested in seeing all the application questions without going into the portal, you can find them here in this test application for cooperation projects.

Link to the application portal

3. Submit your application - 20 Dec 2022 - 15 Feb 2023

When your application is ready in the portal and you have uploaded the mandatory attachments (see Step 2) you can submit the application. The deadline is 23.59 (Swedish time) on 15 February 2023. Make sure you start in good time; the portal stops accepting applications at 23.59. We cannot accept applications submitted by email.

If you have filled in anything incorrectly or have missed something the portal will indicate this when you click on submit.

When you have submitted the application, an email will be sent automatically to the email address you gave in the portal. This is the address we will use to communicate with you. If you do not receive an email within 10 minutes, check your spam. We may need to get in touch with questions about your application. If you do not reply, your application may be disqualified. We would therefore encourage you to add the Swedish Institute to your contacts to make sure that emails do not end up as spam.

4. Has your application been successful? - 2 May 2023 - 5 May 2023

FAQ

If you have any questions, please refer first to the FAQs below. If you do not find the answer there, you can contact us at creativepartnerships(at)si.se.

1. What is seed funding?
- 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.
2. What is 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 partner country 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.
3. What are the programme objectives of Creative Partnerships?
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 Europe, Western Balkans and Turkey 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.
4. What are the programme's target groups?

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.
5. What is a final beneficiary?

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.
6. What is the application process?
7. Can I submit more than one application to the same programme region?
8. Can I submit applications to more than one programme region?
9. Can I submit an application for a project that involves countries in more than one programme region?
Yes you can, but please note the following:
- You must submit a separate application per region.
- Each application must have its own main partner organisation in the country 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.
NB: if you have an ongoing project (seed or cooperation) please see FAQ 11 below.
10. I have completed a Creative Force seed project. Can I apply to scale up to a cooperation project in the new programme?
11. Can I be granted funding from Creative Partnerships if I have an ongoing Creative Force or Young Voices Initiative project?
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 28 February. NB: this deadline applies irrespective of the deadline for submitting your final report in your contract with SI.
- You have an ongoing Young Voices Initiative or 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 collaborative project before we make our funding decisions. That means that you must send in your final report for the collaborative project by 28 February. 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.
12. Can I apply for funding if my organisation is not registered in Sweden?
13. Can you help me find a project partner?
Unfortunately not, but you are welcome to use our social media channels to identify a partner.
14. How do I obtain proof of my (Swedish) organisation's registration number or my F-tax status?
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
15. How do you assess applications?
16. I am going to participate in a conference, meeting or other activity in one of the programme countries. Can I apply for a grant to cover my travel costs?
17. Can I apply for funding for an ongoing project which is already being funded from another source?

Data Protection

The Swedish Institute (SI) is a public agency. As such, all applications received by SI are in the public domain. When you apply to Creative Partnerships we require you to give the name and contact details of the responsible person at the Swedish applicant organisation and at the chief international partners. We use this information to process your application. If we then grant you funding we will occasionally use this information for publicity, analysis or monitoring purposes. This information may also be shared with staff at Sweden’s diplomatic missions in relevant countries. Read our Privacy Policy.