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1. Reducing obstacles to young people's access to culture

2. Disseminating information on cultural opportunities

3. Knowledge of cultural heritage amongst young people

Reducing obstacles to young people's access to culture

There are several programmes organised by top level authorities that facilitate young people’s access to cultural environment.

The first programme is 'Art and Culture for children and youth', which is the title of the open call for proposals. The call’s aim was to overcome young people’s obstacles to the access to cultural and artistic contents as well as to encourage their participation in cultural community life. The competent authority is the Ministry of Culture and Media and programme is funded through European Social Fund under the Operational Programme "Effective Human Resources". The call was closed in 2017 and ministerial decisions on project financing (Odluke o financiranju) were made in 2018 and 2019 within 3 groups:

• Group A:  6 projects were awarded a total of 2,968,221 HRK;
• Group B:  12 projects were awarded a total of 7,500,000 HRK;
• Group C:  11 projects were awarded a total of 7,500,000 HRK.

The maximum duration of the project is 24 months and therefore the outcomes of this program will not be known in the next period.

The open call for proposals for programmes that enable access to cultural contents for persons with disabilities and children and youth with developmental disabilities in Republic of Croatia for 2020 is a national policy organised and funded by the Ministry of Culture and Media. According to the list of awarded projects (Popis odobrenih programa) the total amount of award was 1,564,438 HRK but there is no information on how many projects targeted youth with disabilities. Same situation is and awarded project (Popis odobrenih programa) for 2021. According to the list the total amount of award was 1,743,300.00 HRK.

The Ministry of Culture and Media opened the ongoing Call in 2020 through the European Social Fund. The Art and Culture Online (Umjetnost i kultura online) call is aimed at increasing the social inclusion of people under the age of 25 and over the age of 54 by participating in cultural and artistic activities via the Internet. The call finance activities for the preparation and implementation of online participatory artistic and cultural activities aimed at social inclusion of members of target groups. According to the list of last awarded projects in November 2021 (Odluka o financiranju) all 6 projects have children and youth (up to 25 years) in focus (Popis ugovora). The vast majority of previous projects are also aimed at young people.

Disseminating information on cultural opportunities

A Backpack (full of) culture is a national complementary programme of support to the elementary and high school curriculum related to art and culture which will be implemented in Croatian schools by experts (writers, fine artists as well as theatre, music and dance artists). The programme provides children and youth with access and brings them closer to art and culture, develops their aesthetic culture and in general makes children and youth sensitive to the field of art and culture. The pupils will be trained for a positive approach to all types of art and culture.

A Backpack (full of) culture is a joint initiative of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Croatia and the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia and a joint investment by the area of education and the area of culture at state level. The programme is financed by the state budget.

Knowledge of cultural heritage amongst young people

There are no policies, programmes projects and initiatives organised or funded by top level authorities to support young people's discovery and appreciation of the cultural and artistic heritage of European countries.