ENHANCING CULTURAL EXPERIENCE THROUGH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF EEA GRANTS. A CASE STUDY ON ROMANIAN-ICELANDIC COOPERATION

Abstract

The aim of this article is to raise awareness about the cultural impact of the international projects sponsored by the grants of the European Economic Area, by means of a comprehensive case study on the relations between an eligible entity from Romania, i.e. the European Foundation for Urban Culture, based in Cluj-Napoca, and the Edinborg Cultural Center from Ísafjörður, Iceland. Our focus first lies on the description of the EEA Grants programme, with facts pertaining to its evolution and implementation framework, only to concentrate then on Romanian funding opportunities in this respect, and the major cultural areas that have been assisted by the aforementioned mechanism. As a case study, we have made use of qualitative research methods, including interviews, in situ inquiries and document analyses, stemming from two projects implemented by a Romanian and an Icelandic cultural organisation, having yielded best practice examples, one of which aims to pave the way for future EEA applications, following an experience exchange conducted in Ísafjörður by the two authors of the present article, in April 2016.