NEMO – Northern European Mobility Opportunity

What is NEMO? – Aims of the Open Call

As near neighbours, the Nordic countries, the UK and Ireland constitute a shared international space with fertile ground for creative collaborations.

However, several developments in recent years, including the pandemic, growing economic uncertainty, and the UK’s exit from the European Union, have contributed to making international working across the region more difficult. The call therefore builds on a reciprocal wish to broaden the possibilities for practitioners across the Northern European cultural scene.

The shared aims of this programme are to:

• Foster international collaboration.
• Develop artistic networks across the region.
• Encourage more artists and arts practitioners to work confidently with international partners.

Who is it for?

The focus of the call is on individual artists and arts practitioners who are in the early stages of their artistic careers, reflecting our shared experience that this group has a particular need for additional support and opportunity in the current climate.

Artists and arts practitioners based in the Nordic countries (Denmark, the Faroe Islands, Finland, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, and the Åland Islands), as well as those in the UK (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) and Ireland, are eligible to apply.

Artists and arts practitioners in the Nordic countries can apply to develop a partnership or collaboration (e.g. with individuals, groups, or organisations) in one of the five nations comprising the UK and Ireland – and vice versa. All parties involved in the application must have clearly agreed on the scope of the partnership before the application is submitted.

We want to ensure that opportunities are open to all. We particularly welcome applications that reflect the full diversity of identities and communities across all partner countries.

Who can apply? – Eligibility criteria

These are the criteria for applicants to be eligible to apply:

• You are an individual artist or arts practitioner resident in one of the Nordic countries, in one of the four nations of the UK, or in Ireland.
• You want to work with one or more artist(s), arts practitioner(s), or an organisation that is based outside your country of residence and in one of the other eligible partner countries outlined above (artists in Nordic countries can apply to work with a partner in the UK or Ireland and vice versa).
• You can only be involved in one application to this fund.
• You have a bank account in your country of residence.
• You have a background and track record of working as an artist or arts practitioner and can provide a CV which shows this.
• You have had limited opportunities to work internationally so far in your career – this could even be your first step towards working overseas.
• You are applying for a new partnership or collaboration.
• You have approached the person with whom you want to work and can provide a letter to prove this.
• You can complete your collaboration within one year of receiving an award.

Who cannot apply?

• Organisations cannot apply – Only individuals can apply; however, organisations may be included in granted initiatives.
• Individuals with an established track record of working internationally – this fund is for artists and arts practitioners in the early years of their career.
• Individuals not based in, or not intending to work with, the eligible partner countries.
• Students in full-time education (undergraduate or postgraduate).
• Individuals planning to attend residencies abroad.
• Artists’ collectives involving multiple individual artists.

What you can spend your grant on

The call’s total budget would make possible up to 30 grants of up to DKK 75,000. As this is a limited sum, we expect applications to have a focus on the early stages of partnership and collaboration. For example:

• Travel for partnership development and/or research and development rather than co-production costs.
• Exchange of knowledge, know-how and experience.
• Mentorships e.g. exchange of working methods, traditions, processes.
• Capacity building e.g. strengthening of skills, resources, structures (in order to work internationally?)
• Creation of / Design of a small-scale pilot for a future collaboration.

Applications can be for physical, digital or hybrid activity in response to the programme aims. Expenditure should be on travel, accommodation and allowances for time spent. We do not require any performative artistic output from your award but if you wish, you can spend some of your budget on research and development in preparation for such activity at a later stage.We welcome applications for partnership activities which take into consideration the environmental impact of their plans.

What you cannot spend your grant on

• Capital expenditure – such as buying equipment.
• Activity that starts before you receive a grant.
• Costs that are already covered by other sources of funding.
• Activities that generate a profit.

Application process and mandatory materials

Applications are managed through the Nordic Culture Fund’s application portal. Applications will only be accepted through the online portal (paper applications cannot be accepted).

Through the application portal, an online form will be available which must be submitted by the applicant before the deadline, together with a CV for the applicant and a letter of invitation from your chosen partner.

The application form will ask some short questions about:

• Why you have chosen your partner and what they will bring to your collaboration.

• What you hope to achieve if you are given an award.

• What the impact would be on your ongoing practice.

• Potential for future developments and broader regional benefits.

It will also ask you to submit a timeline for key activities and a basic budget breakdown. Here you should list the costs for travel, accommodation, expenses, fees for artists’ time, and so on. Grants will be paid in Danish Kroner, so we will ask you to submit your budget in DKK. An exchange rate will be fixed before the portal opens, and the application form will provide the information necessary for you to make any conversions from your own currency.

Personal access costs can be in addition to your activity budget and may exceed the upper application limit of DKK 75,000 (approx. EUR 10,000). Personal access costs are costs relating to your own access needs and/or any access needs of the artist you are directly working with to deliver the activity and/or to manage your grant. Additional access costs can be up to 10% of the applied amount. Please contact us if you need further help or guidance in applying for these.

Decision-making process and assessment criteria

All applications will be received online by the Nordic Culture Fund and will go through an initial eligibility check. In the event that we receive a higher number of applications than anticipated, we reserve the right to introduce an additional sifting stage.

Staff from the partner arts agencies and experts from the Nordic Culture Fund will select up to 100 applications which, in their judgement, are most likely to strongly meet the fund’s criteria. These applications will proceed to a decision-making panel consisting of members from all partner organisations.

The decision-making panel will consider a balanced portfolio of applicants, taking into consideration the representation of applicants across the full diversity of identities and communities in all partner countries, as well as a balance of art forms and geography.

Applications will be assessed against the following criteria:

CRITERIA 1 – Significance for artists and arts practitioners in the initial years of the career

• Does it respond to your specific current needs or challenges?
• Does the collaboration benefit you as an individual artist and arts prac-titioner in the initial years of your artistic career, and your need for support and opportunities in the current climate?

CRITERIA 2 – Project structure – clarity of activities, timeline and budget

• Is the amount requested and the breakdown of costs reasonable for the activity taking place?
• Does the timeline seem practical?
• Is it clear what is taking place, when and with whom? – Are the activities described likely to have the effect or outcomes desired?

CRITERIA 3 – The partnership – quality of reciprocal engagement

• Does the application show how this is a new or different approach to international collaboration across the UK, Ireland and the Nordics?
• Is there a rationale for the selection of partners (their skills, practice, experience) and will the makeup of the partnership help achieve what the project sets out to do?
• Is the partnership mutual? Will all partners see benefit in the activity?
• Are there interesting possibilities for how the relationships between the partners could develop?

CRITERIA 4 – Potential for future developments and broader regional benefits

• Does the proposal outline the potential impact of the activity for each of the partners? This may include artistic practice, future collaborative opportunities, increased international profile or reaching new markets and audiences
• Does the application contribute to broadening the possibilities for practitioners across the Northern European cultural scene?
• Are there plans to share the learning and experiences with the wider creative sector?

Due to the number of applications we are likely to receive and the limited capacity of our panel, we will be able to offer only limited feedback to unsuccessful applicants (in the form of four possible rejection reasons related to the aims of the fund). We are unable to offer tailored feedback on unsuccessful applications to this programme and there will be no appeals process.

What happens next for successful applicants?

You will be contacted by the Nordic Culture Fund to inform you that you are being offered an award. A grant agreement will follow, and when the project ends, you will be asked to write a report on the outcome of your partnership, in accordance with the Nordic Culture Fund’s guidelines for the final report and accounts. It is also mandatory to submit a solemn declaration confirming that the funding has been used for the purpose described in the application.

If you have agreed to participate in the programme evaluation, you will be contacted by a member of the evaluation team after your project is complete.

What if I have a question?

You can contact the following programme leads in your country of residence:

Arts Council England

Nicola Smyth – Senior Manager International

Nicola.smyth@artscouncil.org.uk

Arts Council Ireland

Davide Terlingo – Head of International Arts

international@artscouncil.ie

Arts Council Northern Ireland

Siobhan Molloy – Arts Development Officer (Venues, Festivals and International)

smolloy@artscouncil-ni.org

Arts Council Wales

Zélie Flach – Senior European Officer

Zelie.Flach@wai.org.uk

Creative Scotland

Kate Deans – International Officer

kate.deans@creativescotland.com

Nordic Culture Fund

Søren Merrild Staun – Senior Adviser

sorsta@norden.org

Technical issues

If you experience any technical issues, please contact Søren Merrild Staun at the Nordic Culture Fund.