Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans

The "Swiss Cultural Programme South East Europe and Ukraine" (SCP), which the Arts Council of Switzerland Pro Helvetia is implementing in accordance with a mandate received from the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), enters a new and final phase, starting on January 1st, 2008. From now on, the programme will focus on the Western Balkan region with Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia and Kosovo and reinforce its regional approach. The programme is designed for a 5-years period and will be concluded in 2012.

The offices in Sofia and Bucharest have been closed by December 2007 as a consequence of the EU-integration of Bulgaria and Romania. The office in Kiev, Ukraine, will be closed by the end of 2008.  

From July 2008 on, the "Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans" will be managed from a new regional office in Sarajevo - with local offices in Belgrade and Skopje (until end of 2009), Tirana (until end of 2010) and Pristina (until end of 2011).

The overall goal of the Swiss Cultural Programme in the Western Balkans is to contribute to the promotion of democracy and freedom of expression, to conflict resolution and the respect of minorities. It focuses on regional projects, with intercultural and interethnic cooperation, stressing youth and structures for broad cultural participation. Good governance and equity (gender, generations, minorities) have to be taken into account by all cultural projects addressed to SCP.

SCP in the Western Balkans works with two action-lines, regional cooperation projects and small actions. Future cooperation projects will be regional, i.e. involve at least two countries of the programme. The new concept for regional cooperation projects and the respective criteria and procedures will be announced on the websites of SCP by June 2008. As for the small actions, they will continue following the actual procedures, with some minor modifications. The action line is to be phased out gradually - in accordance to the closure of the local offices - in the different programme countries. For further information consult our website.

How do we work?

Locally established National Advisory Board has been elected which takes the decisions on the Small actions.

The Board takes its decisions based on Regional Working Guidelines, which serve as a text of reference and working instrument for the local offices and boards of Swiss Cultural Programme in Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia and Serbia. The Regional Working Guidelines replace the former Country-specific Concepts. They are based on a review of the Small-actions of SCP in all Programme countries, on the cultural context monitoring by the local boards and on the regional seminar with all local stakeholders (offices and boards) of SCP as well as representatives from SDC headquarters and Pro Helvetia head office held in 2006 in Sinaia (Romania).
For further information and procedures of application, please contact the local offices directly.

Please note: Only projects carried out by citizens from the respective key countries or their participation in cultural events abroad are applicable.

The Programme's strategic and overall operational management is based in Switzerland. The Programme Direction, the administrative and financial management are based in Pro Helvetia in Zürich. For the coordination within the Programme and the accompanying of the local offices, a Regional Programme Coordination is posted in Belgrade.

Swiss Cultural Programme Serbia

The Swiss Cultural Programme Yugoslavia / Serbia and Montenegro was initiated in 2000 and implemented by the PRO HELVETIA offices in Zurich and in Skopje, Macedonia until the local office was opened in Belgrade in October 2002.
The SCP office in Belgrade was covering Serbia and Montenegro in the period 2002-2006. Starting with 2007, only Regional small actions from Montenegro are eligible for funding by SCP.

Scope of activities

Support of the Programme is directed towards Serbian art and culture professionals (artists, managers, curators, critiques, theoreticians, etc) in search for a genuine idiom enhancing development of the local cultural scene, promoting its identity and strong participation in the European artists' dialogue, in order to bolster the progress of the society in Serbia.

For International exchange projects Switzerland - Balkans please refer to the corresponding section.

Regional Programme Priorities

The Regional Programme priorities are valid for all countries of the Programme and serve as a general thematic framework for identifying and selecting Cooperation projects, Small actions and Regional small actions and SCP initiatives.

A project is eligible if it meets at least one regional priority by aiming to:

• Build the professional capacity of artists or cultural organizations, especially young or emerging practitioners;
• Develop cultural debate within society;
• Support innovative cultural creation; or
• Extend equal opportunities and human rights by supporting cultural diversity.

A project is also eligible if it additionally to one of the above regional priorities meets the country priority as follows:

• Access to and promotion of culture through partnership

Action lines

Defined priorities are being continuously supported through the both Programme lines of action:

Small actions are considered to be one-time events: exhibitions, publications, stage productions, concerts, etc, but also durable research or process-based projects in the field of art theory and practice, mobility grants, etc. Realization of such projects should contribute in a direct way to the progress of the defined regional and/or national priority areas as well as to fulfilling the overall objectives and the vision of the Programme. The creation of a new social context by cultural means is also in the scope of the Programme.

Yearly budget of 100'000 CHF per office is allocated for the support to Small actions.

Small actions are applied for through a standardized application procedure. For all details as well as to download the Application form please see the page Applications.
If the project corresponds to the criteria of the Programme, it will be considered and a grant decided by the National Advisory Board. The Board consists of four prominent local experts and one representative from the SDC and meets 2 times per year. Therefore it is necessary for the interested applicants to submit projects some time prior to the deadlines (find under News). The decision of the Board is final.


Exchange with Swiss artists lies under the different departments of Pro Helvetia in Zurich, while the promotion of Swiss art and culture is under the scope of activities of the Embassy of Switzerland in the country.


For exchange with Swiss artists please see page Exchange projects