The work of the Cultural Contact Point Sweden (Kulturkontakt Sverige) is carried out within two different organizations - Statens kulturråd (Swedish Arts Council) and Riksantikvarieämbetet (National Heritage Board).

The main objective for the Cultural Contact Point (CCP) is to promote the EU framework programme Culture which runs from 2007 to 2013. Culture (as the third generation of framework for Culture) was launched in december 2006. The latest information on the programme can always be found at the European Commissions's website for Culture.

The main objective of CCP Sweden is to increase the knowledge and awareness among Swedish cultural operators on the prospects for culture in the European Union programmes. That entails not only the cultural program, but also the cultural dimension of support policies as a whole, thus including the opportunity to apply for cultural projects within other programmes like Structural funds, Education and Research programmes, and programmes for External relations.

Activities

The main activities of Cultural Contact Point Sweden are to:

Information on EU and cultural matters is also presented at the web sites of the two offices (see below for the addresses).

Cooperation

CCP Sweden cooperates with other Swedish EU Institutions at national and regional level, the most important being NUTEK (Swedish National Board for Industrial and Technical Development), in charge of Structural Funds.

Many cultural operators in different regions have discovered the opportunities offered by the structural funds. This is a pleasant and encouraging sign as Sweden is often considered culturally centralized, with few activities in rural and sparsely populated areas. In this context it is only natural for CCP Sweden to intensify its efforts to guide potential applicants among different EU-programmes.

The organizations of CCP Sweden

Statens kulturråd (Swedish Arts Council), founded 1974, is a governmental agency with the general assignment to effect the policies for culture laid out by the Government and the Parliament. The Council's areas of responsibility are drama, dance, music, literature, public libraries, cultural periodicals, museums, exhibitions and art (eg painting, sculpture, graphics, work in various media). The assignment comprises allocating national-government funds to cultural operators in these areas. The Council also makes investigations and effects other work at the government's request.

One of the more important tasks is to evaluate national cultural efforts and to offer a basis for decisions about future budgets. The Council also gathers and disseminates information relevant to cultural matters and policies. Most of this, of course, is available only in Swedish. A publication in English, "Swedish Cultural Policy", offers a summary or snapshot of the Council's general area of responsibility. The Council has about 70 full-time employees.

Riksantikvarieämbetet (Swedish National Heritage Board) is a governmental agency responsible for the overall supervision of cultural heritage conservation and preservation, which includes cooperation with other governmental agencies responsible for the built environment like the Swedish Board of Agriculture, the Swedish Road Administration and Swedish Environmental Protection Agency. The national Heritage Board is responsible for development work and supervises the interests of the sector in general. The history of the National Heritage Board goes back to the 17th century. Sweden passed its first Law on Ancient Monuments in 1666. In 1667 an antiquarian institute was inaugurated at Uppsala for research in antiquities.

Today the Board works to the goal of ensuring that the cultural heritage and cultural environment are given a prominent role in planning for the community. It is responsible for the application of the law on ancient and historic monuments and distributes government grants for the conservation of buildings. Another task is to gather, compile and distribute information and knowledge about the cultural environment and cultural heritage. This includes picture, library and archive services, marketing, internal and external communication, publishing and IT operations.

The Board also provide expert and scientific services in the areas of cultural heritage and the development of building. One aim is to build up the technological and practical knowledge needed for conservation of the cultural heritage. To provide support and advice to government, institutions and individual members of the public on conservation-linked matters are another task, and also to carry out conservation work as well as conduct and perform archaeological excavations.

For further information please contact:

Swedish Arts Council (Statens kulturråd)
Telefon: 08-519 264 00 Fax: 08-519 264 99 email: kulturradet@kulturradet.se

or:

Swedish National Heritage Board
(Riksantikvarieämbetet) P.O. Box 5405 S-114 84 Stockholm Sweden email: riksant@raa.se Fax: +46-8-519 18 079

Contact:

Monica Lindqvist - Swedish Arts Council (Statens kulturråd) Phone: +46-8-519 264 15
Karin Altenberg - Swedish National Heritage Board (Riksantikvarieämbetet) Phone: +46-8-5191 8570

See also:
European Union