Members of the Intercultural Cities (ICC) Programme can now apply for inter-city grants.

The grants aim at assisting Intercultural Cities (ICC) Programme members (exclusively) to implement innovative projects and try out new methodologies in the field of intercultural inclusion, following a whole-of-society approach, and including aspects related to active citizenship and participation, valuing diversity, promoting equality and countering discrimination. Only joint applications of two or more ICC members (local or regional authorities) will be accepted.

Through this approach, the ICC Programme aims at fostering cooperation between local/regional authorities within or across national borders. Ultimately, the aim is to advance intercultural inclusion in members’ communities, while creating deliverables and outputs which can be widely applied across the ICC network, in either English or French.

The terms of the call and all relevant documents have been shared via email with members.

Members are free to submit applications until 14 April 2025 at 20:00 (CET).

Answers to all questions asked during the application process will be posted below.

Question 1: Can you please advise us whether there are any stipulations regarding the proportion of an outline budget that can be allocated to staff time? Is there a ratio that grantees need to respect in terms of activity/staff budget?

There are no specific limitations or stipulations regarding the proportion of the outline budget that can be allocated to staff time. Therefore, grantees are not required to adhere to a predetermined ratio between the activity and staff budget.

 Question 2: What kind of communication activities can be financed within a grant?

The call for proposal indicates, in article IV.2, that the project proposal may include, but is not limited to, the following communication actions: awareness raising (except for communication campaigns) and the production, dissemination and impact evaluation of communication materials. The exception of the communication campaign is linked to the use of the Council of Europe logo and article 9.3 and article 9.5 of the grant agreement. The grantee can produce publicity materials clearly stating that it was produced “with funding from the Council of Europe” and display the logo but all communication items are subject to approval with the contact point of the Council of Europe, to not create any confusion regarding the identification of the Action as an activity of the Grantee and ownership of the equipment and items by the grantee.

To ensure a consistent use of the Council of Europe logo, its use in communication campaigns outside those of the Council of Europe itself, are limited.

Actions eligible under the grant may be the production of visibility materials for the implementation of the grant, layout of communication materials and deliverables, communication on the grantee website, or organisation of public event to raise awareness on the grant actions.