Amidst Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, the European Union has stood strong in solidarity, offering vital assistance to Ukraine’s cultural and creative sectors. This publication highlights EU initiatives and collaborations that aid in mitigating the conflict’s impact on culture. From strategic projects responding to the crisis, to specialised training for cultural heritage professionals, this compilation showcases the EU’s commitment to fostering resilience. Explore how these endeavours contribute to Ukraine’s cultural recovery and envision a post-conflict future.
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is an attack on fundamental rights and basic values of freedom, democracy, and self-determination, on which cultural expression and cooperation are based. In addition to these intrinsic values, cultural expression and access to culture are also crucial to help one deal with traumatic events, build individual and collective resilience, as well as a perspective for a post-war future.
The European Union has stood beside Ukraine since the start of the war and is committed to supporting the Ukrainian culture and creative sectors. These have been critically impacted by the Russian war of aggression, with cultural heritage being damaged and destroyed, and culture professionals not being able to operate and reach out to their national and international audience.
To address this situation, the European Union has mobilised financial resources under its Creative Europe programme to contribute to alleviating the consequences the war against Ukraine is having on its cultural and creative sectors and help build the basis of its future recovery. Creative Europe is the EU flagship programme to protect and promote Europe’s cultural diversity. It is the first time that funding under this programme has been dedicated to a specific country, which is further evidence of EU’s commitment to supporting Ukrainian culture and creative sectors.
This publication offers insights into the assistance provided by various EU services and funding initiatives.
This list of projects is not exhaustive but serves as a representative sample of the support the EU provides to Ukraine’s cultural and creative sectors. There will be more actions supporting Ukraine in the future. For instance, the European Union has just kicked-off a pilot project to set up a European Heritage Hub, which will mobilise additional resources to address the Ukrainian crisis through a heritage-focused approach.
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