A micro-grant competition to support local initiatives to engage the public in effective heritage management was announced on March 17, 2020 by the project team "Heritage for Development: Increasing Public Participation in the Preservation and Use of the Heritage Potential of Local Communities"

The maximum size of the microgrant is 50 thousand hryvnias. Microgrant is provided in the form of direct payment (purchase) by the organizer of the competition of property, works and services on the basis of direct contracts with their suppliers with the subsequent transfer of such property, works and services to CSO-acquirs for the implementation of their projects.

The competition is aimed at specific CSOs, representatives of which participated in the Heritage Interpretation Workshop for CSOs of Ukraine (December 12-15, 2019, Yaremche, Ivano-Frankivsk region) and prepared plans for the interpretation of the heritage of specific communities with public participation.

The conditions for participation in the competition are registration of a CSO under the legislation of Ukraine as a legal entity in the form of a public association (public organization, public union) or a charitable organization; experience of activity - not less than one year and inclusion in the Register of Non-Profit Institutions and Organizations (non-profitability sign 0032 or 0036).

Projects for which microgrants are provided must be implemented in territorial communities of villages, towns, cities (including ATC) with a population of up to 50 thousand residents of any regions of Ukraine (except for the occupied territories of the Autonomous Republic of Crimea, certain districts of Donetsk and Luhansk regions).

Within the framework of the provided microgrants, it is planned to support specific measures to involve community residents in the interpretation of cultural heritage. In particular, but not exclusively, the following may be supported:

• • organization of public events, such as public talks, festivals, educational events, etc.;
• • crowdfunding campaigns (creation of videos, production of promotional materials, etc.);
• • creation of means of interpretation with the participation of creative groups of local residents and other interested parties (development / production of stands, thematic benches, photo zones, costumes for amateur theaters and performances, guide uniforms, etc.).

The following activities cannot be financed within the framework of this competition:

• • projects of a political nature (activities of political parties, individual people's deputies of Ukraine, village, settlement, city mayors, deputies of local councils) or election campaigns;
• • commercial projects aimed at making a profit;
• • salaries/payment for services of representatives of the project implementing organization;
• • activities/expenses incurred by the CSO before receiving the microgrant or after the end of the project implementation period;
• • covering administrative expenses of the CSO and their expenses for paying for utility services;
• • payment of penalties (penalties), administrative fines, compensation for damage (losses).

The maximum size of a microgrant is 50 thousand hryvnias. Microgrant is provided in the form of direct payment (purchase) by the organizer of the competition of property, works and services on the basis of direct contracts with their suppliers with the subsequent transfer of such property, works and services to CSO-acquirs for the implementation of their projects.

To participate in the competition, CSOs must send their applications to the following address by April 17, 2020: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

• a completed project proposal;
• a project budget in Excel format;
• a cover letter from the CSO regarding its intention to participate in this competition;
• a letter from the local government of the relevant territorial community regarding support for the project;
• letters of confirmation regarding participation in the project implementation from other legal entities, individual entrepreneurs and public organizations that are planned to be involved in its implementation;
• a certificate from the State Inspectorate of Public Administration on the inclusion of the CSO in the register of non-profit institutions and organizations.

The deadline for submitting proposals is April 17, 2020.

Based on the results of the evaluation of applications, the competition committee will select from 5 to 10 projects that have scored the highest number of points. The results of the competition will be announced after April 23, 2020. The implementation of supported projects must begin no earlier than May 4, 2020 and end no later than September 11, 2020 on the basis of micro-grant agreements concluded with the winners of the competition.

The micro-grant competition is held within the framework of the project “Heritage for Development: Increasing Public Participation in the Preservation and Use of the Heritage Potential of Local Communities”, which is implemented by the Agency for the Development of Private Initiatives with co-financing from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED). The goal of the project is to increase the level of activity and involvement of civil society and CSOs in Ukraine in the development and implementation of policies on the management of the cultural heritage of local communities. The project partners are the Charitable Foundation "Creative Center CCC" and the Tourist Association of Ivano-Frankivsk Region.

The application and terms of the competition can be viewed and downloaded at the Google Drive link.

More information about the project is available at https://bit.ly/2Q7V0eh.