A new Horizon for the cultural & creative sector: More opportunity, less paperwork
You know the EU feels they’ve done something right when they renew a programme for another 7-year cycle. Case in point, Horizon 2020—the EU’s flagship research programme—lives on in the new Horizon 2021-2027, or Horizon Europe.
This says something, because despite being one of the world’s largest and most successful multinational research programmes—with a budget of €80 billion—Horizon 2020 was not always the easiest source for cultural and creative organisations to get funding from. On the one hand, the remit of cultural projects under the programme was somewhat constrained, focusing mainly on cultural heritage. On the other, procedures that had in principle been streamlined remained hefty, complex and resulted in low success rates, prompting cultural and creative sector (CCS) professionals to overwhelmingly rely on other major programmes such as Creative Europe.
The good news is that the newly launched Horizon Europe programme is aiming for calls that are not only bigger and better, but also less procedurally complex for applicants. While it’s still early days for this flagship programme, we can look at the framework put in place and analyse the new dynamics between the CCS and this just-launched €95.5 billion funding source.
“The newly launched Horizon Europe programme is aiming for calls that are not only bigger and better, but also less procedurally complex for applicants.”
Getting to know Horizon Europe
In many ways, Horizon Europe picks up right where its predecessor left off: funding excellence-driven research and innovation in Europe and beyond. The programme is geared not just at making Europe the first digitally enabled, circular, climate-neutral and sustainable economy, but also at creating a more resilient, inclusive and democratic European society.
At first glance, as a cultural or creative organisation looking to get European financing for your project, it may seem challenging to pinpoint where you fit into Horizon Europe’s vision and agenda; the latter is extensive, covering topics as ambitious and far-reaching as conquering cancer, achieving UN SDGs and transitioning to a green and digital future.
But amidst these global challenges, we only need to look a little closer to see the CCS has not been left behind. Beyond ensuring that there will be plenty of funding available for arts and cultural projects, Horizon Europe also acknowledges that the CCS is “a driver of sustainable innovation”. In other words, the sector has a role to play in helping Horizon Europe achieve its overarching aims.
Horizon Europe & the CCS
We already mentioned that Horizon Europe’s framework is vast and hard to navigate. There are pillars, clusters, destinations, missions… you get the idea. So let’s zoom in on what’s most relevant to the CCS, namely Cluster 2 (also known as the Culture, Creativity and Inclusive Society sub-programme under Pillar 2) and the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), supported and regulated under the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (Pillar 3).
Cluster 2
On a high level, Cluster 2 wants to increase societal resilience and provide evidence-based policy options for an inclusive, green and digital recovery for Europe. It’s also looking for projects that raise our understanding of the ongoing transformations happening in European society, economy and culture. On a more concrete level, Cluster 2 is dedicating its €2.28 billion budget to research projects in three key areas relevant to the cultural and creative sector.
First, a big point of focus will be boosting democracy through citizen participation—a topic that nicely complements the Commission’s recently launched European media and democracy action plans. In this area, we highlight that there will be opportunities in Media for democracy, an action that focuses on achieving a “robust, independent and transparent media landscape ensuring a plurality of views”, as well as in Politics and the impact of online social networks and new media, where calls will look for projects researching the changes on democratic processes brought about by new technologies.
Second, funding will be available for innovative research to address ongoing challenges in protecting European Cultural Heritage. This will be the more familiar funding avenue to CCS professionals as it made up the bulk of available CCS funding under the previous Horizon. What is different this time is that this section now addresses the entire cultural and creative sector, not just heritage. Other than the preservation of museums and other cultural structures, the calls will cover projects on music, film, gaming, social networks and emerging technologies. This broadening of the definition of European cultural heritage undoubtedly constitutes a huge leap forward in the EU’s approach to protecting it.
Lastly, calls will be introduced around Social and Economic Transformations, i.e., projects that address transformations in European societies, such as digitalisation, inequality and poverty. These issues—made even more urgent by the COVID-19 pandemic—present some of our greatest ongoing societal and economic challenges. As a sector with a crucial role in rehabilitating post-COVID societies through culture and creativity, the CCS should see this programme area as a great opportunity to contribute to building a more equitable and resilient European society.
Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs)
Regulated under the generously budgeted Institute for Innovation and Technology (€3 billion), KICs stimulate the innovation ecosystem by supporting partnerships between universities, research centres and private businesses, especially SMEs.
Acknowledging that the CCS has “a high growth potential, many grass-roots initiatives and strong citizen appeal”, policymakers have set the cultural and creative industries as the first field of priority in developing new KICs. Calls for proposals are due out this year, and a new cultural KIC will be launched in 2022.
The opportunities are clearly manifold, with more diversity in planned calls that should be of interest to the cultural and creative sector, also beyond Cluster 2 (for example, under Cluster 4, Digital, industry and space). On top of that, the EU has taken feedback from Horizon 2020 on board to simplify the procedures around accessing new Horizon funding, with a number of modifications to the overall application framework.
“Policymakers have set the cultural and creative industries as the first field of priority in developing new KICs.”
Changes to the application process
The application process aims to be competitive, fair and transparent, and easy to access. For an overview of what’s changing on the procedural level, here’s a fairly comprehensive guide on participating in the new Horizon programme. In the meantime, we’ll highlight a few key changes that will come as welcome news to CCS organisations:
Applications have been reduced and simplified with fast-tracked web forms.
Projects must comply with Open Access practices from the start, encouraging knowledge and tool sharing.
Gender mainstreaming is now a requirement for project plans, which is good progress towards achieving gender balance in research.
Key Impact Pathways will set a stronger focus on results.
The evaluation process has been revised to include blind evaluations and a right-to-react.
The last one is important because it allows applicants to tweak applications during the early phases of evaluation. Such flexibility is essential in raising success rates for worthy applications that would have otherwise been rejected on relatively minor issues.
Our take-away and recommendations
What policymakers have achieved with the new Horizon framework is undoubtedly impressive. The CCS will be spurred by the wider and more diverse range of calls to better meet the growing societal challenges we face, while the streamlined, modernised application process will attract a broader slice of the research community, including those previously marginalised. This will greatly benefit the European R&I landscape over the next decade.
At least that’s the plan.
There are concerns over the prescriptive structure of the new calls. They argue that leeway for creativity and interpretation in new project applications has been significantly reduced. In an effort to simplify the process by narrowly defining each call, Horizon Europe may be running the risk of hindering the scope of future projects.
What this means on the practical level is that cultural and creative organisations could find their plans and ideas constrained so as to fit with the priorities set by policymakers. This approach also imposes a heavy administrative and organisational commitment that could discourage the very stakeholders Horizon Europe is hoping to attract.
The true picture will only emerge once the programme begins to award funding and then seeing project results. Events are already being organised to formally introduce the process and help CCS professionals on how to prepare a successful proposal in Horizon Europe. In the meantime, here are a few things to keep in mind before you head into the process of securing Horizon Europe funding.
What can CCS organisations do to get funded by Horizon Europe?
First and foremost, keep in mind that detailed calls are not always a bad thing. If the connection between the envisioned project and your organisation seems tenuous, it probably is. But on the plus side, when the description fits your own long-term organisational strategy well, it means your application will have a far higher chance of success.
Next, Horizon projects are known for being difficult to secure but high in reward once you get them. (Most calls under Cluster 2, for example, fall in the range of €1.5 to €4 million per project.) So, far from being discouraged by the sheer choice of calls and pathways on offer, focus instead on the opportunity for growth if you succeed, including building an international network, exchanging best practices among partners and sharing expertise.
And lastly, collaboration is key. Like its predecessor, Horizon Europe will continue to favour multidisciplinary, synergistic project partnerships that are fit-for-purpose. Cultural and creative organisations have an important role in innovating and making a societal impact, but they must do so with partners and coordinators that have the relevant knowledge and expertise to take on Horizon projects.
The same goes for the application process: collaborating with expert EU project fundraisers and grant writers can help you find the best angle to approach the call, structure your project in relation to the call, and write the application.
Despite all the improvements, accessing Horizon funding may still seem like a steep hill to climb for CCS applicants. But if you know where to look, have a clear idea of your project in mind, and move forward strategically with the right partners, Horizon Europe definitely has the funding and support framework to help your cultural and creative project succeed.
Bella Schuster joined TrueMotion as a junior consultant in February 2021. Combining her passion for culture and her experience in EU policy research, she helps innovative partners develop their projects and write their grants.
