Nordic Culture Fund is revising its programmes – changes to application deadlines in the autumn

A new phase in the Fund’s strategic work

The Nordic Culture Fund’s new strategy, Culture Drives the Future Nordics, sets the direction for the Fund’s work through 2030. It is grounded in the understanding that art and culture are vital drivers of societal development, democratic dialogue, and Nordic collaboration in a rapidly changing world.

To turn these ambitions into practice, the Fund has adopted a set of overarching principles. These include activating culture as a force for societal change, combining Nordic relevance with a global perspective, embedding diversity from the outset, creating space for risk-taking and experimentation, fostering learning across initiatives, and ensuring transparent and accessible processes.

As part of implementing the strategy, the Fund is now revising its overall grant architecture – the framework that brings together its programmes, funding schemes, and partnership-based initiatives. The aim is to create greater coherence across the portfolio and strengthen the Fund’s ability to respond strategically, collaboratively, and over the long term to the evolving needs and opportunities of the arts and cultural sector in the Nordic region and beyond.

Towards a more holistic approach

The development work is based on a thorough review of the Fund’s existing programmes and ways of working. It also draws on insights from the strategy process, the evaluation of the thematic initiative Globus, and experiences from the Fund’s partnership activities. Taken together, these insights highlight the need for a more systemic and holistic approach to cultural funding – one that can support experimental collaborations, the realisation of specific projects, and longer-term capacity building.

Looking ahead, the Fund aims to contribute to the development of the structures, methods, and collaborations that the cultural sector will need in the years to come. This includes creating space for shared learning and using funding more strategically to strengthen a dynamic, resilient, and sustainable cultural ecosystem.

Changed deadlines in the autumn

As part of this development process, the application deadlines for Opstart and Project Funding will be adjusted this autumn.

The Fund will provide regular updates throughout the process and share further information about the revised programmes, eligibility criteria, and future funding opportunities as they become available.

In the meantime, you can learn more about the Fund’s strategy and the overarching principles that guide the ongoing development of its programmes and funding framework.