Creating a spirit of dialogue

Project idea design toolkit

Co-funded by
Contents
About this toolkit
How to use the toolkit
Explore the previous pilot projects
Steps towards your project idea
1. What is the need?
2. How to address the need?
3. Who brings in what?
4. What do you commit to?
5. How to organise?
Working on your idea
How to apply
Contact
About this toolkit
You have decided (or are still thinking?) to take part in European Spaces of Culture, initiated by the European
Parliament and implemented by EUNIC, to test and implement innovative collaboration models between
European and local partner organisations outside the EU.

By participating in the project you have the chance to bring forward the EU’s strategic approach to international
cultural relations. Find the third European Spaces of Culture Call for Ideas on europeanspacesofculture.eu.

This toolkit guides you through some of the main aspects of your project design in preparation for the Call for
Ideas. It offers five main guiding questions which we recommend should be discussed and answered jointly by
all collaborating partners, including thinking exercises and templates to help you develop your partnership and
project.

Examples from previous and current projects in China, Ethiopia, Peru, Sri Lanka, Tanzania and USA are offered
to help you identify the local need for your project.
How to use the toolkit
The toolkit offers guiding questions and possibly useful methods and Maybe you would like to invite an
exercises to find an answer to these questions. Your answers to these external facilitator to help you with
questions will feed directly into your concept note of the Call for Ideas. the discussions? Consider pooling
your resources already at this stage
in your project design to make that
The toolkit includes templates that can be downloaded from the happen.
EUNIC Resource Centre or used on Miro.com. To use the templates
on Miro: Remember, this is a joint exercise
1. Click on the relevant Miro link in the toolkit for all partners concerned, so
include them all from the start!
2. Click the “export this board” icon at the top of the board:
3. Save the board as template
4. Go to your main Miro dashboard and look for the template

Pro-tips before you start

Make use of Consider Carefully read Start your Consult the

Think big and
each other’s external the Call for application EUNIC office
outside the box
strengths advice Ideas early for advice
Explore the previous pilot projects
 Steps toward your project idea

1. WHAT IS THE NEED? 2. HOW TO ADDRESS
Explore the local THE NEED?
context and its needs Determine where a
and challenges multinational collaboration
comes in
3. WHO BRINGS 4. WHAT DO YOU 5. HOW TO ORGANISE?
IN WHAT? COMMIT TO? Jointly agree on how to
Discuss what each partner Communicate openly and structure and organise
brings to the table share thoughts on the partnership
partnership

FIND
the sweet spot:
your idea
1. What is the need?
Back to
the steps

Your project should fill a gap that isn’t addressed so far – there
should be a real need for your project. Finding this gap does
not mean you found your project idea yet, but it is the first step
towards formulating your idea – you found the ”why”!

Ask yourself… Methods

What kind of local pressing needs can you identify? Organise joint Online? Try Miro, sign
What obstacles for developments and changes do you see? brainstorm sessions up and copy the
What is lacking in/what are the needs of (civil) society ? with your local partners template. PDF here
What are local limitations and challenges?
What kind of missed opportunities do you see? Collect as many Conduct interviews with
What are the specific target groups and what are their specific voices as possible: as many stakeholders
needs? Start a survey or social and different experts as
media campaign possible

Leads to
Definition of the local need will lead you to your vision and mission. And it will explain the relevance to the local context.
1. What is the need?
Examples from European Spaces of Culture pilot projects
Emerged from a time of authoritarian
regimes in Ethiopia, art and culture is
confined into closed spaces like galleries
and bars. There are no cultural activities on
the streets of Addis Ababa.
Ethiopia – Tibeb Be Adebabay
Read more
The recent history of conflict in Sri Lanka
leaves fundamental need for civic
openness, secular spirit and creative
experimentation.
Sri Lanka – Colomboscope: Of Language
and Multitudinal Belonging
Read more
Back to
the steps
The overwhelming cluster of tech
companies in Silicon Valley define big parts
of culture and daily life while at the same
time not being linked to cultural
organisations and their discussions on
society.
USA – The Grid
Read more
1. What is the need?
Examples from European Spaces of Culture pilot projects
Afro-descendant peoples in Latin America
represent a group whose human rights
must be promoted and protected, given the
social and economic inequality in which
many of their communities live, which puts
at risk their cultural richness.
Peru – AfrOeste
Read more
Disability is still a sensitive topic in China,
often seen in a medical context of patient
and treatment. Opportunities for people
with disabilities, including artists, to prosper
and access education, culture, and society
are limited.
China – Diverse as We Are
Read more
Back to
the steps
The poor cultural infrastructure and
education on contemporary art, is depriving
artists from accessing their local audience
and audiences from enjoying art, and
artists need recognition, access to markets
and international exposure.
Tanzania – Umoja
Read more
2. How to address the need?
Back to
the steps

Now that you have identified a real gap – or maybe even

different gaps! – you can think about which problem might be
best addressed by such a multinational, multi-institutional and
multidisciplinary collaboration.

Ask yourself… Methods

How can such a big collaboration of stakeholders from EUD, Continue joint brainstorm Templates:
EUNIC members and local partner organisations address the pain / sessions with your local partners. PDF
solve this problem? Do a “How might we” exercise: Miro
What problem might only be tackled by such a big collaboration? turn challenges into common
What then are our common goals, objectives and target groups? opportunities.
What can our collective impact be?

Leads to
Determining why a need you identified should be tackled by many collaborating organisations, will lead you to
your goals and objectives as well as your target groups.
2. How to address the need?
Back to
the steps

Examples from European Spaces of Culture pilot projects

To address the issue of cultural identity To get recognition from tech companies in
The European (diplomatic) institutions were
beyond ethnicities, Europe was an Silicon Valley the number of cultural
vital to get the required permissions for a
interesting partner with regards to open organisations had to be big and varied and
cultural festival in public spaces and
borders, joint policies, and its theme “Unity had to represent a whole network rather
combine forces to work together with the
in diversity. than an individual organisation.
local project management team.
Sri Lanka – Colomboscope: Of Language USA – The Grid
Ethiopia – Tibeb Be Adebabay
and Multitudinal Belonging

Read more Read more Read more

2. How to address the need?
Back to
the steps

Examples from European Spaces of Culture pilot projects

Implementation of a network of exchange,
promotion and learning of the
contemporary creative arts of Afro-
descendant people in different American
countries.
Peru - AfrOeste
Since inclusion in Europe is more present
on the socio-political agenda, DAWA aims
to connect Europe and China by providing
more diverse contents and encounters and
empower diverse groups of artists.
China - Diverse as We Are
Umoja will strengthen bonds between
contemporary and urban artists from
Tanzania, EA and EU in the fields of dance,
music and visual art via a gender-balanced
residency.
Tanzania - Umoja

Read more Read more Read more

3. Who brings in what?
Back to
the steps

You know now why a multi-stakeholder partnership is needed

to address the issue at hand. In such a collaboration,
everybody brings something to the table that contributes to
achieving the goals and objectives.

Ask yourself… Methods

Do you understand each other’s position, values and mission? Do a “Staff your project” Templates:
Which partner has which expertise? exercise: PDF
What can you offer and what are you interested to get from the • Conduct and visualise a Miro
other partners? mapping of all partners’
Who has innovative ideas to bring to the table? expertise and
Are there other potential partners out there to be included, and complementarities
even convinced? • Find out what is missing and
where to find it

Leads to
Mapping and collecting resources and expertise you have in your collaboration will set out the roles in the
partnership set-up and can lead to a draft work plan with activities and timeline
EXERCISE: STAFF YOUR PROJECT
Find printable template here

1. Who are our partners? 2. What is their expertise? 3. What do we still need?

4. What other potential partners could

provide this?

14
Fair Collaboration in cultural
Back to
the steps

relations
This is the perfect moment to reflect on fairness when collaboration
with multiple stakeholders. What does fair collaboration in cultural
relations mean, and what could it look like for EUNIC members
working with local partner organisations worldwide?

Not a toolkit! Fair collaboration in Fairness checker for managing

cultural relations: A reflAction
To this end, you can find here the result of a commission from
EUNIC to a team of six experts with diverse profiles and
backgrounds to develop a set of user-centred tools for EUNIC
members and colleagues working in the field of cultural relations.
collaboration projects
Find here a practical guide designed around
the project management cycle that allows
self and group reflection when embarking on
a collaborative project or programme.

Not a toolkit! is an invitation to reflect and to act. It is composed by

a number of components which should not be seen as a static set
of tools, but as boundless, where further knowledge, insights and
better practice can be steered.
4. What do you commit to?
Back to
the steps

To be honest, you won’t invest much of your time and your

resources in this joint project if it isn’t connected with your
own mission. Share your thoughts and potential worries with
the other partners.

Ask yourself… Methods

What is the additional value of this project for me? Compare the project’s aims and Templates:
What is my intrinsic motivation to participate and to make it vision with your organisation’s – PDF
work? find common areas Miro
Will I be supported by my line manager / my headquarters?
What am I committing to contribute? Engage in open conversation Templates:
Will all partners contribute equally? with your partners: Do a “What PDF
Is there a joint vision, mission and goal or is the project serving do I need from you?” exercise Miro
one organisation more than others?

Leads to
This will help you to establish open communication between all partners towards understanding of the
respective needs and restrictions and will set out the roles in the partnership set-up.
 EXERCISES: WHAT DO YOU COMMIT TO?
Find printable template here

“Aims and visions” “What do I need from you?”

Identify your own aims and visions and those of the Tell your partners what you need from them
project and find common areas by drawing lines
Own Project
Partner 1 Partner 2 Partner 3

Visions
Partner 1 >

Partner 2 >
Aims
Partner 3 >
5. How to organise?
Back to
the steps

The interesting but also potentially challenging thing about

such a collaboration is that there is no explicit leadership
structure in place. It is highly recommended to establish a joint
agreement about how you want to run this project.

Ask yourself… Methods

What is everybody’s role? Use mapping of partners’ Do a “Roadmap to
Who is in charge of what? complementarities (“Staff Success” exercise
How will decisions be taken? your Project”) to set up (external source)
Who takes the lead in the programming of which part? roles and tasks
Who makes sure that things get delivered? Set up governance
How often do we meet? Do a “Who Do When” structure, such as
What kind of management structure should we set up? exercise: redefine the Steering Committee
What are our codes of conduct? different roles and tasks and
set your timeframe: PDF / Formalise as much
Miro as you can
Leads to
The establishment of your collaboration model, will answer the question of the partnership set-up.
EXERCISE: HOW TO ORGANISE?
Find printable template here

“WHO/DO/WHEN” How often do we meet?

Partners fill in what they will contribute or can
recommend one of the partners to take over a task

WHO DO WHEN What is our governance structure?

How do we take decisions?

How do we communicate as a team?

Working on your idea
Back to
the steps

Following these steps will have identified the context you are working
in, the challenges and opportunities at hand, your partnerships and
ultimately will bring you closer to your idea and concept note to be
presented. While further developing, you must keep a number of
things in mind. Different tools are at your disposal to develop the idea.

Ask yourself constantly… Methods

Is this clear? Formulate an elevator pitch for your project
Is this innovative? and regularly get feedback from partners and
Is this relevant? audiences with different perspectives.
Is this feasible?
Is this still a joint effort? Organise feedback sessions and co-creation
Do we need other partners or expertise? sessions with partners, stakeholders, target
Are we on track? groups (external sources)

Hold regular meetings with all partners,

offline or online.

Develop a Theory of Change for your project

(external source)
How to apply
Find the Call for
Ideas and all
relevant
documents here

The following documents need to be submitted

Concept note, completed in English

Estimated balanced budget, completed in English and drawn up in EUR
Support letters from all identified project partners
Submit to spacesofculture@eunicglobal.eu by 19 June 2022, 23:59 CEST
Contact

Please contact the team at EUNIC: Join us!

robert.kieft@eunicglobal.eu
Open Spaces consultation hours: Every Thursday
roxane.schavoir@eunicglobal.eu
at 4-5 pm CET and every Friday at 10-11 am CET,
on Wonder.me
For communications questions:
franziska.stambke@eunicglobal.eu

europeanspacesofculture.eu