GSS EU Science Funding Gateway

Although the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic as far as economic losses and jobs are concerned cannot be fully predicted yet, international organisations, such as the UNESCO, ICOM, NeMO and OECD provide already recommendations for measures to be put in place. Furthermore, national authorities have started allocating recovery funds that could also benefit the cultural institutions’ sector. However, these measures are only partial, short-term solutions and do not solve the sector’s structural financing issues. Signals from the sector indicate that in particular smaller, local museums without (or with limited) structural governmental funding, suffer disproportionally.

Therefore, R&I proposals under this topic should explore ways to mitigate the challenges that museums, other cultural institutions and the entire ecosystem around them are facing nowadays, including the social and economic impact of the coronavirus pandemic. They should provide methods and models to sustainably finance cultural institutions, while ensuring equal and wide access to culture, heritage and cultural goods. Emphasis should be put on the role of local museums and new ways of participatory cultural management to help museums and other cultural institutions become fully embedded in cities’ life, taking also into account the differences between metropolis and small towns. Proposals are encouraged to include close interaction with local, regional and national communities and authorities, as well as cooperation with research institutions and the cultural and creative stakeholders to attract and engage the public and in particular young people.