Micro project fund of the partnership conception Baden-Württemberg & France – Landesverband BW

Micro-project fund of the partnership concept Baden-Württemberg & France starts

State Councilor Erler: Land supports small initiatives to strengthen exchanges and collaboration with France

State Secretary Baumann: Even small funds make a difference

“I am very pleased that we have created the opportunity through the partnership concept for Baden-Württemberg & France to support many small initiatives that promote the exchange between people on both sides of the Rhine”, emphasized State Councilor Gisela Erler on Thursday (November 26, 2020). “Smaller initiatives are particularly important if you want to achieve something big, for example in the cultural sector or in town twinning.”

With a micro-project fund, the state would like to strengthen the diverse encounters and exchanges in Baden-Württemberg-French cooperation and particularly promote smaller projects. The state is making a total of 300,000 euros available for this until 2021. The micro-project fund is aimed at initiatives in all areas of life that are related to the diverse fields of action of the Baden-Württemberg & France partnership concept. These can be initiatives in the field of town twinning, in the health sector, but also in the areas of language, culture, economy, science, environment and energy, safety and vocational training.

In the cross-border citizens’ dialogues and expert discussions that the state held in preparation for the conception, the citizens and the cross-border experts emphasized very clearly how essential the opportunity for encounters and mutual exchange are, said the State Councilor. “We took this concern very seriously and therefore campaigned for this type of funding,” said Erler.
The micro-project fund is aimed in particular at smaller initiatives and therefore starts with a grant of 500 euros. Not only direct encounters are promoted, but also digital exchange and other innovative media formats and forms of communication. “Whether in the transport sector, in business and science or in civil society and the cultural sector – Baden-Württemberg-French relations thrive on the commitment and passion of the people on both sides of the Rhine,” emphasized the State Councilor.

“Especially in the current pandemic, it is important for us to continue to encourage cross-border actors to seek exchange. If we do not continue to work on our projects, common plans and ideas, a lot will be lost in this pandemic time, ”said Erler. Therefore it is currently important to strengthen the neighborhood with this funding instrument.

“Often, even a small amount of money makes a difference on site,” said State Secretary Dr. Andre Baumann, who is responsible for cross-border cooperation with France together with State Councilor Erler. Therefore, applicants could, for example, apply for the costs of interpreting a specialist conference, renting a room for a cultural event, travel expenses for exchanges with the partner community or the like via the micro-project fund, says Dr. Baumann continues. “We would like to expressly encourage smaller civil society actors as well as experts of all kinds and support the numerous ideas so that our cooperation with our French neighbors can continue to generate lively, innovative and enriching impulses for the border region but also for Europe in the future.”

Background information:
The micro-project fund is a measure of the Baden-Württemberg & France partnership concept (formerly: France concept) of the state. With the partnership concept for Baden-Württemberg & France, a cross-departmental strategy was developed for the first time, which bundled, structured and analyzed the country’s considerable France activities in a complex process. The aim is to align the activities and projects more strategically overall and to emphatically strengthen the quality of the cooperation through targeted new impulses, to further develop it and raise it to a qualitatively higher level.

For the first time, the concept outlines a long-term, cross-departmental strategic approach. In ten thematically different fields of action, short, medium and long-term goals and measures are defined in order to gradually advance the cooperation in the coming years.

These approximately 40 goals and 100 measures were developed in a dialogue and work process lasting around two years, together with the departments and over 600 citizens and experts from Baden-Württemberg and France.

With the package of measures, Baden-Württemberg underlines its prominent role in German-French cooperation and underpins this with considerable funds. A total of 15,376,600 euros are available for 29 specific measures between 2020 and 2023.

Applications can be submitted continuously and should be sent to the State Ministry of Baden-Württemberg at least three weeks before the start of the project.

Funding guidelines with further information on how to apply

Microproject Fund application form

Additional information also under this Link.

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