The Open Call Youth culture is part of the subsidy programme Making Culture Together and implements the Youth Culture Boost. With this initiative, the government aims to stimulate cultural participation among young people, who missed out on cultural activities during the COVID period.

The subsidy supports initiatives that actively engage young people, aged 12 to 27, in arts and heritage activities. These activities aim to make culture as accessible as possible with, for, and by young people.

Please note: this Open Call has been extended until 30 November 2024. Additionally, the available budget has been increased by €4,246,500, bringing the total subsidy ceiling to €8,646,500.

General

Do you have a plan for artistic and/or heritage activities that actively involve young people? Do the activities contribute to strengthening their cultural development and take place outside the G4 municipalities, G40 city network, and the province of Zeeland*?

Are you collaborating with partners from the cultural and social sectors, and do you want to strengthen this partnership? If so, feel free to read on.

Who can apply?

You are eligible to apply if you are based in the Kingdom of the Netherlands and are:

• An organisation in the cultural or social sector
• A freelance professional in the cultural or social sector

Collaborative partners may also include self-organised groups without legal entity status in the cultural or social sector (e.g., neighbourhood committees, youth collectives, heritage communities), as well as educational institutions if the activities are extracurricular. Note: these collaborative partners cannot apply themselves.

Municipalities or institutions with a provincial, government-funded mandate to support the cultural sector are not eligible to apply. However, they can act as collaborative partners, provided that their activities are not funded through the subsidy application.

What can you apply for?

You can apply for a project involving artistic and/or heritage activities for and by young people, where the cultural and social sectors work closely together. The activities are accessible and aim to encourage cultural participation among young people and strengthen their cultural development.

Wondering if your project qualifies for funding? Send an email to samencultuurmaken@cultuurparticipatie.nl, and an advisor will get in touch with you.

What does the fund consider?

To help you with your application, we have created a sample application form, a budget template, and a collaboration agreement template. You are required to use the Fund’s budget template. For the collaboration, you may also use your own document.

Interested in applying? Make sure to read the subsidy scheme and full details. You can find all the documents mentioned here in the grey box under ‘documents’.

Please note: all documents are available for download in Dutch only.

Here is a summary of the criteria we use to assess your application:

• Content quality of the activities | What is the objective, what approach is used, and are young people involved in the design and execution?
• Organisational quality | What are the qualities of the organisers, and is there a realistic schedule and budget?
• Development within the project and the contribution of collaboration | How are you working on the development and sustainability of the activities? Is there an equitable partnership, is the expertise of each partner utilised effectively, and how is the division of roles structured?

Good to know

• Do you not yet have an account in Mijn Fonds? Create one quickly, as this process takes a few working days.
• Make sure you have all documents ready before the application period opens.
• Applications are processed in the order they are received.
• You will collaborate with LKCA in sharing, developing, and monitoring knowledge in the national knowledge-sharing project; this involves 2-3 knowledge sessions per year and filling out the project monitor.
• You must apply the three cultural codes, as outlined in Article 1.10 of the subsidy scheme.

Have you never applied for a subsidy before? The video ‘Hoe vraag je subsidie aan’ will guide you.

Consultation hour

Do you have further questions? Select an advisor for their contact details, or call 030 - 233 60 30—they’ll be happy to assist you. Every Thursday, we hold a telephone consultation from 3 pm to 5 pm (European/Amsterdam time).