EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL OF THE INSTITUTIONS FROM WESTERN POMERANIA AND FOREPOMERANIA OPERATING IN THE CULTURE SECTOR IN RESPECT OF TAKING PART IN

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1 EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL OF THE INSTITUTIONS FROM WESTERN POMERANIA AND FOREPOMERANIA OPERATING IN THE CULTURE SECTOR IN RESPECT OF TAKING PART IN TRANSNATIONAL ACTIONS RAPORT Szczecin 2015

2 The report was prepared under the project entitled Trans-Opera - Increasing local culture and social operators trans-border capacity with opera, funded by the European Trans-Border European Cooperation South Baltic Programme

3 I. INTRODUCTION 5 II. THE TERRITORY COVERED BY ANALYSIS 7 II.1 Zachodniopomorskie province 7 II.2 Land of Mecklenburg Vorpommern 9 II.3 Cross- border connections 11 III. EXAMPLES OF TRANSNATIONAL CULTURAL PROJECTS OF THE INSTITUTIONS FROM ZACHODNIOPOMORSKIE PROVINCE AND MEKLEMBURG- VORPOMMERN 13 III.1 Together we stand strong central Pomeranian museums jointly create exhibitions, which continuously promote Pomeranian culture 13 III.2 Revitalization of European Culture Route in South Baltic Area Pomeranian Way of Saint James 14 III.3 German-Polish Center of Music Schools Stargard Szczeciński/ hanseatic city of Stralsund maintenance and preservation of cultural heritage 16 III.4 VII International Choir Festival Szczecin III.5 Festival of Musical Fascinations Karlino III.6 German-Polish meetings festival KUKUKA (KUnst, KUltur, KAjute) 19 IV. STATISTICS REGARDING THE REALIZATION OF POLISH-GERMAN PARTNER PROJECTS WITH SUPPORT OF EU FUNDS 20 IV.1 South Baltic Programme 20 IV.2 Programme Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg Poland (standard projects) 23 IV.3 Programme Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg Poland (small projects) 25 V. TRANSNATIONAL COOPERATION IN THE EYES OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF LOCAL ENTITIES 27 3

4 VI. SWOT ANALYSIS OF LOCAL ENTITIES IN TERMS OF TRANS- BORDER POTENTIAL 35 VII. CONCLUSIONS AND SUMMARY 37 4

5 I. INTRODUCTION The report was prepared in connection with the implementation of the project entitled Trans-Opera - Increasing local culture and social operators trans-border capacity with opera, funded by the European Trans-Border European Cooperation South Baltic Programme as a partnership between Opera na Zamku /Castle Opera/ in Szczecin (Poland) and the Theater of Vorpommern (Germany). The aim of the project was to prepare a concept for a greater enterprise for both institutions, which, thanks to the funds from the South Baltic Programme shall help the local entities from the cultural sector of Western Pomerania to increase their potential for trans-border cooperation. As part of the main project foreseen for years it has been assumed to create a model of trans-border cooperation between the opera theatres and the local entities from the cultural sector and prepare the tools enabling local participants to take part in the preparation of opera performances. As a result, both the potential for transnational cooperation by small companies as well as the access to the opera art in smaller towns shall increase. In order for the main project to be prepared as well as possible and meet the needs of local communities, which are the main target group of the project, an initiative under the instrument "seed money" as part of the South Baltic Programme was taken. The initiative of the Castle Opera in Szczecin and the Theater of Vorpommern forseen in the period from July to October 2015 assumed an analysis of the potential of local institutions working in the cultural sector of Zachodniopomorskie Province and the State of Mecklenburg Vorpommern and preparation of the main project concept taking into account the identified problems and the strengths of local entities from the region. The area of Mecklenburg- Vorpommern was included in the analysis as a whole, despite the fact that only the northern districts are situated in the qualified area of South Baltic Programme and This results from two factors - firstly, many statistics are available only from the Land level, and secondly - because of the very low population density and a similar economic level of the Land districts, the value of the extended analysis will be greater. The report is a formal analysis of the potential of West Pomeranian local entities from the cultural sector for transnational activities in cooperation with foreign institutions and artists/ specialists. Both the existing data on completed trans-border projects as well as the study results carried out under the initiative were used to prepare the report. 5

6 The cultural institutions selected at random, local governments (as the organizers of cultural activities) and non-governmental organizations from the cultural sector were invited to take part in the survey, which helped to assess their potential for trans-border cooperation. In case of companies actively cooperating with foreign institutions/ artists an attempt was made to obtain data regarding the most frequent types of initiatives and expectations for the future activity. However, the institutions representatives without international experience or with little achievements in this regard were asked about the reasons for not entering into such actions and possibilities of support in this area. The report constitutes not only a support for the Castle Opera in Szczecin and the Theater of Vorpommern to prepare the main design concept but also a guide for local entities while preparing projects that establish cooperation with foreign companies. For this purpose the report takes into consideration the most interesting practices in the field of culture in transborder projects and information about institutions that took part in surveys and meetings as well as completed foreign projects in the past. Thus, with help of this report, the entities located on both sides of the Polish-German border will receive information about the institutions that are equally interested in joint international initiatives. 6

7 II. THE TERRITORY COVERED BY ANALYSIS Due to the area of influence of the institutions partners implementing the preparation project under the instrument "seed money", an analysis of the potential of transnational local institutions from the cultural sector was carried out in the following areas: - Zachodniopomorskie province (Poland) - land of Mecklenburg Vorpommern (Germany) II.1 Zachodniopomorskie province As far as the area is concerned, Zachodniopomorskie province is one of the largest Polish provinces, covering an area of nearly 23 thousand square kilometers. In 2013, the region was occupied by almost 1.72 million people, nearly 70% of which lived in urban areas. According to the forecasts, the region will be gradually desolated in the years to come- there will be approx. 1.5% fewer people by 2020, and in 35 years time a decline in relation to the current population will reach as much as 15%. In 2013 there were 105 women per 100 men in this area. Most residents are in production age (almost 40%) and the fewest residents are in preproduction age (17.6%). The number of people in immobile or post-production age is even much higher than people in pre-production age. These two groups together account for over 40% of the population. This demonstrates the progressive aging of the population - it concerns to a lesser extent the residents of rural areas where the number of people under the age of 18 is higher than the people in post-production age. The seat of the province and its largest center is Szczecin, inhabited by more than 407 thousand people as of the end of The second largest town in the region is Koszalin, located in the eastern part of the region, inhabited by nearly 110 thousand people. The other important regional centers also include Stargard Szczeciński, Kołobrzeg, Szczecinek and Świnoujscie, which, inhabited by approx. 41 thousand people, covers an area more than twice as big as Koszalin. Except for the three cities with poviat rights (Szczecin, Koszalin, Świnoujście) there are also 18 poviats in the province, which cover together 62 cities and are inhabited by approx. 67% of the population of the province. 7

8 Fig. 1 Administration division of Zachodniopomorskie province As far as the cultural sector is concerned, there were 8 theaters and musical institutions, 28 museums and museum branches, 20 permanent cinemas and 10 art galleries as of In 2014, for 1 library in the province there were people, which is a better result than the national average (4 100). On the other hand, for inhabitants of the province there were on average nearly volumes of books (the Polish average is less than 3 400). However, the reading activity of the population was worse than that in the country on average there were 150 readers of libraries per 1000 inhabitants in 2014 (in Poland 164), and 1 reader borrowed on average 17.4 volumes annually (in Poland on average the average was 18.3). In the same year, in the whole province area there were 349 objects such as: a cultural center, a community center/ club - their number has increased by almost 18% since

9 The events organized by cultural centers gained a similar attraction to the rest of the country, i.e. for 1 inhabitant of the region there was on average 1 person attending the cultural centers events in The involvement of the citizens in the events organized by cultural institutions operating professionally on stage was worse - in 2014 for 1000 inhabitants of the province there were approx. 258 participants, while the national average was about 319. Such a situation took place despite a good access for this type of events, which is better than the average in the country - in 2014 for 1 seat in the theater/ musical institution in Zachodniopomorskie province there were almost 424 inhabitants, whilst for the whole country the rate was approx On the other hand it was harder to get a seat at the cinema - in Zachodniopomorskie province there were approx. 166 inhabitants for 1 seat, whilst the average for the country in 2014 amounted to approx. 144 people - this also resulted in the number of viewers - in the same year for inhabitants of the region there were 972 spectators, while the average for Poland exceeded people. II.2 Land of Mecklenburg Vorpommern The state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is the least populated region in Germany (approx. 70 people/ 1 sq.km) and one of the least populated federal states in Germany (smaller population have only the states of Bremen and Saarland, which are a dozen times smaller in terms of area). The population of approx.1.6 million people in majority live in towns of up to 20 thousand residents (over 63% of the population), while slightly more than 1/3 of the people live in 9 major cities of the region. In 2014 there were 103 women for 100 men in this area. The population of this state is considered as aging society- as early as in 1990 Mecklenburg- Vorpommern had approx. 300 thousand more people, and in recent years the working population has accounted for only slightly more than 40% of the land s population. The state capital is Schwerin, which has the poviat rights and constitutes the second most populous city in the region (approx. 90 thousand inhabitants). The biggest urban center of the land is Rostock (having also the poviat rights) with approx. 200 thousand. people, which is more than 12% of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern s population. 9

10 Other important urban centers also include Neubrandenburg, Stralsund, Greifswald and Wismar, consisting of 40 to 60 thousand people. Apart from the towns of Parchim and Güstrow they constitute the seats of 6 poviats. Fig. 2 Administration division of the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern In 2012 in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern there were 108 libraries, whilst for 1,000 residents there were on average 79 regular library-goers. Despite a small group of library users, their readers should be regarded as extremely active - each reader borrowed an average of 36 items annually. By contrast, the residents as well as the tourists visiting the region often went to local museums. In 2011, 222 museum-like facilities, which held a total of 324 exhibitions, were visited by more than 3.47 million people - the average number of visits to museums per capita was lower only than the corresponding figures in Berlin, Bremen and Saxony. The theaters in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern are also attended in great numbers - in 2010 they gathered more than 615 thousand performance viewers, of which nearly 90 thousand watched opera/ ballet shows, over 56 thousand watched musicals/ operettas, almost 128 thousand attended performances for children and young people, and more than 152 thousand watched theater plays. 10

11 II.3 Cross- border connections The regions of Zachodniopomorskie province and the State of Mecklenburg- Vorpommern are connected not only by the same border but also by history, culture and economic dependence. From a historic point of view, both regions were part of Western Pomerania area (Vorpommern), also known in Poland as Pomerania West of the Oder River. From the eleventh century for nearly 500 years the area belonged to the Duchy of Pomerania - dependent subsequently on Poland, Denmark, Saxony, Brandenburg and the Holy Roman Empire. Further history of the area was initially associated with Sweden and later on solely with the ancestors of the state of Germany - the Kingdom of Prussia, the German Empire. Most of the current Western Pomerania region belongs now to Germany, partially creating the state of Mecklenburg - Vorpommern (poviats: Vorpommern-Greifswald, Vorpommern-Rügen and Mecklenburgische Seenplatte), whereas a small part of the region belongs to Poland (Szczecin, Świnoujście, poviats Gryfino, Police, Goleniów and Kamień). The capital of Western Pomerania was Szczecin, which is today the largest city in the area. The common history and traditions made the representatives of the region on both sides of the border define the continuous cooperation in the 90s of the twentieth century, that is, long before Poland entered the European Union. Euroregion Pomerania was set up in It aims at promoting international cooperation between the countries that comprise its territories. Euroregion comprises i.a. German poviats Vorpommern-Greifswald and Vorpommern-Rügen as well as 98 communes/ poviats from Zachodniopomorskie province. In accordance with the agreement between the members of the team of local governments, the aim of Euroregion Pomerania was to take joint actions for balanced and sustainable development of the region and closer acquaintance between the citizens from both sides of the border. Its attention include: economic cooperation, transfer of technology, professional trainings, exchange of youth and professional groups, cultural cooperation, environmental protection, improvement of forest and agriculture management, border and trans-border infrastructure, construction of a comprehensive system of information, coordination of transborder area development and planning, cooperation during fires and natural disasters. 11

12 Due to the fact that Poland was not an EU member at the time when Euroregion was established, for the purpose of joint trans-border projects the funds were used from PHARE CBC, which was then the biggest annual program supporting Polish integration with the European structures. After Poland entered the European Union, it was possible to take advantage of larger programs, available only to EU countries. From 2004 to 2006, Euroregion members could benefit from Interreg IIIA: Republic of Poland (Zachodniopomorskie province) - Mecklenburg- Vorpommern/ Brandenburg, and between 2007 and 2013 Interreg IVA, covering the same area. The above program was foreseen to be continued in the following years: The coastal location of both regions made it possible to benefit also from the South Baltic Programme, which also covers the eastern Polish Pomerania and some parts of Lithuania, Sweden and Denmark. Financial support for this area was available between 2007 and 2013 and will also continue in the following years: Regardless of Euroregion and European Union Programmes, there is also the Southern Baltic Sea Parliamentary Forum, whose goal is to find common interests and priorities for the development of South Baltic Sea. These forums that have been taking place since 2003 are attended by chairmen of Regional Assemblies of Zachodniopomorskie and Pomorskie Provinces as well as the Presidents of the Parliaments of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Schleswig-Holstein subsequently joined by Kaliningrad Regional Duma, Regional Assembly of Warmia and Mazury Province and the Council of the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg. The existence of numerous programmes and formations, which integrate the areas of Zachodniopomorskie Province and the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, shows a strong need for community cooperation between the two countries. Each of the defined tools in the area of interest relies on common activities associated with culture as well the cultivation of common traditions. However, in this respect it is difficult to talk about cooperation, unless it involves local communities and small companies that are able to reach particular social groups. As a matter of fact, it is the local communities that give examples of small trans-border parts of cooperation between the two countries - many residents commute every day to work crossing the Polish-German border, they have a family in a foreign, but neighbouring country, do their shopping or spend their free time with a foreign neighbor. 12

13 Heavy border traffic in this area generated by Polish and German residents was already observed before Poland entered the EU, so the quality of joint actions of local companies in this area can be particularly fruitful. III. EXAMPLES OF TRANSNATIONAL CULTURAL PROJECTS OF THE INSTITUTIONS FROM ZACHODNIOPOMORSKIE PROVINCE AND MEKLEMBURG-VORPOMMERN A great number of tools and programmes supporting Polish and German entities from Pomerania region with respect to joint enterprises enables the institutions with a high organizational potential to prepare interesting initiatives very often together with their foreign partners. However, due to the fact that large institutions projects, because of their potential, usually outclass small projects submitted by small businesses in terms of quality, Small Projects Funds are also organized. Under these initiatives, the amounts of financial support are smaller, but this increases the likelihood for small institutions to acquire financing. As part of this chapter there will be three examples of large and three examples of small culture-related projects, carried out jointly by the institutions from Zachodniopomorskie province and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. III.1 Together we stand strong central Pomeranian museums jointly create exhibitions, which continuously promote Pomeranian culture From 2009 to 2013 under the Operational Programme Objective 3 Territorial Cooperation Trans-border cooperation of the countries Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg and Poland (Zachodniopomorskie province) a joint project of the National Museum in Szczecin and Pommersches Landesmuseum Greifswald was carried out. The objective of the project was to increase the knowledge of joint cultural heritage among the inhabitants of Pomerania, which has contributed to building and cementing regional awareness that has trans-border dimension, and thus to the process of border integration. In 13

14 addition, the project contributed to the intensification of contacts and trans-border cooperation in the field of culture. As part of continuation of the cooperation between the museums that was already in progress, two permanent exhibitions were created: - "The Golden Age of Pomerania. Art at the court of the Pomeranian dukes in the sixteenth and seventeenth century" (in Szczecin) - "History of Pomerania. From the seventeenth to the nineteenth century. "(in Greifswald). It was a pioneer project, which foresaw a joint creation of permanent exhibition dedicated to the region of Pomerania. The publications accompanying the exhibitions were also created (including the album promoting cultural heritage of Pomerania) as well as audio guides (Polish-English-German). In addition to the promotion of common heritage, both institutions gained a modern interior museum design, affecting the improvement of the infrastructure of their facilities in a favorable way. Modern communication solutions were also used and specialized walking tracks and sightseeing scenarios were created for the purpose of a particular recipient. The project s value exceeded 615 thousand EUR, and the EU funds amounted to more than thousand EUR. The effects of the project are a perfect example of how to promote the common cultural and historical heritage on the one hand, and use the co-operation for simultaneous modernization and enrichment of cultural institutions infrastructure on both sides of the border on the other hand. III.2 Revitalization of European Culture Route in South Baltic Area Pomeranian Way of Saint James Between the years 2011 to 2013 the self- government of Zachodniopomorskie Province, the Foundation of Szczecin as well as the University named after Ernst-Moritz-Arndt in Greifswald together with the Pomeranian and Lithuanian self-governments and other organizations from Poland, Russia, Lithuania and Germany carried out a project aimed at creation of a new tourist product - reactivated culture route - Pomeranian Way of Saint James. 14

15 The purposes of this trans-border project, co-financed by European Territorial Cooperation Programme South Baltic , included: - use of cultural heritage and the creation of South-Baltic route connected with a wider European network - creation of the conditions necessary for further extension of the route eastwards - connection of the road in information and cultural aspects with a wider European network that already exists - increase of awareness and attractiveness of tourist and pilgrimage product among the local residents and the potential target groups - promotion and product use tests by community groups previously not engaged in tourism - creation of the environment associated and involved in the promotion and operation of the Way of Saint James As part of the project: - the general concept of the Way of Saint James along the coast of the Baltic Sea was prepared - the operation plan was developed and implemented to create a route in each region involved, the available infrastructure and related places of cultural heritage was inventoried; the exact course of the route was determined and marked by road signs - the trainings related to tourism branch were carried out for local and regional entities (in terms of realizations of small investments and the needs for disabled and the elderly people) - marketing tools for the promotion of routes were prepared - pilot tour guides along the route were implemented with the participation of disabled people and journalists. The trans-border cooperation relied in transfer of know-how and tests of transferred knowledge and experience in various national conditions. The budget of the project amounted to over 1,255 million EUR, of which the EU funds amounted to more than 1 million EUR. The project is a good example of trans-border cooperation between large local governments (regional/ poviat) and research centers as well as small entities (churches, tourist organizations, foundations). Presented example of the network project shows that trans-border partnership does not have to be based only on mutual financial support and common investments, but also on knowledge exchange, trainings for less experienced institutions and implementation of know-how in new areas. 15

16 III.3 German-Polish Center of Music Schools Stargard Szczeciński/ hanseatic city of Stralsund maintenance and preservation of cultural heritage Between the years 2010 to 2014 the self-government of Hanseatic City of Stralsund and the First and Second Level National Music School in Stargard implemented a joint investment project within the INTERREG IVA Programme Objective 3 Territorial Cooperation Trans- Border cooperation between Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg and Zachodniopomorskie province A long-term cooperation between both institutions made their representatives undertake joint activities aimed at improving housing conditions and creating for their students not only optimal opportunities for learning, but also for conducting joint workshops, trainings, supplementary courses, chamber music concerts, exchanges and conferences. A major burden of the investment concerned the renovation of the Landständehaus, which is to serve as the new seat of the Music School in Stralsund. The object was extended by a new building, connected to the repaired glass connector, which can also be used as a courtyard. In case of the Polish school the historic building was renovated, the second building from the 80 s was extended outwardly and upwardly and altered, and the restoration and maintenance works were carried out on the facade of the Gothic brickhouse of the historic building. Both the Polish and the German school have been comprehensively fitted up both with furniture and equipment, as well as the instruments and multimedia equipment. The directors of both schools appreciated the contribution of its foreign partner, giving concert halls names after the cities - in Stargard the hall bears the name of "Stralsund" and in Stralsund the hall bears the name - "Stargard Szczeciński". The repairs and reconstructions of the schools helped to strengthen the cooperation between the schools even further thanks to the idea of a joint investment plan the schools gained not only better housing conditions for the educational and artistic activities integrating Polish and German youth, but also for the statute activities. The total value of the projects amounted to over 5.9 million EUR, including EU funds- less than 4.9 million EUR. 16

17 III.4 VII International Choir Festival Szczecin 2010 The seventh International Choir Festival - Szczecin 2010 was held between 21 and 23 May, 2010 under the honorary patronage of the Minister of Culture and National Heritage of Poland, Bogdan Zdrojewski and the Minister of Culture from Germany, Bernd Neumann. The beginnings of the tradition of the International Choir Festival dates back to October When the International Choir Festival Szczecin-Berlin took place in the Castle of Pomeranian Dukes. The artistic and organizational success of this event allowed to bring to life the International Choir Festival with a wide, open formula, which was first held in 1998 under high patronage of Polish and German foreign ministers. 48 choirs from Denmark, Germany, Norway, Russia, Sweden, Ukraine, Italy and Poland participated in the event. As early as after the first edition, Szczecin festival gained a high reputation by contributing to its wide popularity in many European countries. Subsequent festivals in 2002, 2004, 2006 and 2008 finally reinforced the position of the Castle of Pomeranian Dukes and also Szczecin as a center of choral music, playing a significant role in the Polish and European musical culture. The seventh edition of the festival was attended by 26 choirs ie. approx. 900 singers from ie. Puerto Rico, Italy, Sweden, Japan, Germany, Ukraine and Poland. The choir bands took part in 10 concerts in Szczecin, including Philharmonic Hall, the Castle and the Cathedral, additionally in Goleniów and Lipiany and in Pasewalk and Prenzlau on the German side. The seventh edition was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of Trans-border Cooperation Programme Poland - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg and the state budget. The budget of the project (in accordance with the financing agreement) amounted to EUR (European Regional Development Fund EUR, own contribution EUR). The project implementation allowed for continuation of a long tradition of the international choir festival with a leading role of Polish and German artists. Thanks to the funds, performances of choirs could be admired not only in Szczecin, but also in smaller towns of Zachodniopomorskie province and western areas of Germany. 17

18 III.5 Festival of Musical Fascinations Karlino 2012 On August 2012 Karlín held "Festival of Musical Fascinations", which was organized by commune Karlino. It was the eighth edition of the annual event. The town was visited by guests from almost all over Europe. The participants of the festival included i.a. the bands from Sweden, Latvia, Germany, Belarus, Poland and Estonia. However, the main target group were children from Karlino and its partner cities - Dargun and Wolgast. A common feature of all the participants of the event was love for music and dance, which was manifested in every possible form. Musical Fascinations were intended to integrate children and young people from different countries in a friendly spirit and make them aware of beauty of their own culture and teach them to recognize and admire the diversity of cultural values of their European colleagues. The aim of the festival was to make it possible to show vocal, instrumental and dancing talents and confront the achievements and exchange of experience, or musical integration with Polish culture. The festival also aimed at developing children s and young people s artistic skills and promoting various forms of creative activity through direct contact with dance and music. The project is an excellent example of how it is possible to build an international music festival, bringing together young people from other countries, on the basis of cooperation between Polish and German partner cities, which initially assumed only the exchange of artistic youth. The festival was co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund within the framework of Trans- Border Cooperation Programme Poland - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg, The total project cost was EUR and the funding from the European Regional Development Fund amounted to EUR. 18

19 III.6 German-Polish meetings festival KUKUKA (KUnst, KUltur, KAjute) In 2014, a German institution - HOP Transnationales Netzwerk Odermündung e.v. in partnership with the Association Space Time Identity in Szczecin developed jointly the German-Polish festival on the waters of Szczecin Lagoon (23-31 May 2014). The concerts, performances, exhibitions, workshops, discussions and tourist attractions, bringing together Polish and German artists as well as local people and tourists, enabled cultural stimulation of the border area. Within the framework of mobile festival, among other things, the following events were organized: a literary collage with Polish-German writer, Bridget Helbig, dancing performance in Greifswald with Fine Kwiatkowski and Willehad Grafenhorstem, a film event in Peenemunde, organized by Opernale ev together with the witnesses of "Solidarity" time, finished with musical celebration "Wind of Freedom" discussion "Art for democracy - democracy in Art" held at Klempenow castle with representatives of the Academy of Art in Szczecin and artist Benno Plassmann from the castle Bröllin, perception or photography workshops in Wiettzow and Ückermünde, the concert connected with bagpipe workshops in Trzebież, film presentations and a piano concert in Wolin and finally a great happening named "Island of many meetings" held in the border belt on the beach in Świnoujście. In total, the northern Polish - German border belt held over 30 events. The aim of the project was to create a common space for real partnership in the border belt, which, by rejecting the boundaries, can become a "center, not a backwater, against the official positions in politics that have not noticed it yet." The project was to contribute to the continuation of the regional process, involving the creation of favorable conditions for the settlement of artists, and at the same time the creation of new jobs. The festival also enabled activation of the local community, which, through return to the roots (e.g. bagpipe workshops) became more aware of its identity. The idea of the festival is also closely connected to the concept of KUKUKA, so called republic created by artists, which is to serve the potential development of the region around Szczecin Lagoon. 19

20 The budget of the project amounted to more than EUR, including funds from Trans-border Cooperation Programme Poland - Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg : over 8.6 thousand EUR. IV. STATISTICS REGARDING THE REALIZATION OF POLISH- GERMAN PARTNER PROJECTS WITH SUPPORT OF EU FUNDS Thanks to the fact that Poland became a member of the European Union, the projects financed by EU became one of the most recognizable initiatives of trans-border cooperation undertaken by Polish and German entities. Bearing in mind the fact that information regarding such projects is easily accessible, the statistics were developed showing activity of local entities from Zachodniopomorskie province in the field of culture with trans-border projects subject to EU funds. IV.1 South Baltic Programme South Baltic Programme has been so far carried out only under one financial perspective ( ). Despite the fact the program was not addressed only to the entities from the Zachodniopomorskie province and the northern poviats of Mecklenburg - Vorpommern (beneficiaries also included the institutions from Pomorskie and Warmia-Mazury provinces in Poland and the Baltic regions: Denmark, Sweden and Lithuania), it is worth analyzing its realization in terms of the activity of West Pomeranian entities. The analysis will allow to present the activity and competitiveness of the institutions from this area in Europe in comparison to the other regions. 17 culture- related projects were implemented under the Programme in the years Depending on the subject matter, they concerned Action 2.3 of the Programme - Sustainable use of natural resources and cultural heritage for regional development and Action initiatives of local communities. 20

21 The leaders of seven of these projects were the entities from Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and two of them from Zachodniopomorskie province. Only 5 out of 17 culture-related projects were implemented without the participation of the institutions from both regions, while 9 projects were implemented with the participation of entities from both regions. It is worth noting that the culture-related activity of Polish and German institutions under this program was particularly high, since only one out of 17 projects was implemented without the participation of Polish institutions and only 4 projects were realized without the participation of German entities. Fig. 3 Cultural projects implemented by the institutions from Zachodniopomorskie province and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern under South Baltic Programme against the background of all completed projects Description Number of projects Value of projects (in EUR) Value share (in %) in total allocation for cultural projects Joint projects of the institutions from Zachodniopomorskie province and Mecklenburg- Vorpommern, including: ,34 67,45% The leader being the Polish insitution ,00 0,24% The leader being the German insitution ,67 42,21% The insitutions were only partners ,67 25,01% All the projects, In which the leader was the institution from Zachodniopomorskie province ,00 9,08% All the projects, in which the partner was the institution ,34 67,22% from Zachodniopomorskie province IN TOTAL the projects with participation of ,34 76,29% the insitution from Zachodniopomorskie province All the projects, in which the leader was the institution from Meklenburg-Vorpommern ,67 44,18% All the projects, in which the partner was the institution ,00 36,57% from Meklenburg-Vorpommern IN TOTAL the projects with participation of the institution ,67 80,75% from Meklenburg-Vorpommern - Source: own work (remark: the data include planned, but unsettled budgets of the projects submitted within the framework of receipt no. 10 for so called seed money projects as of the day the report was submitted The above table shows the activity of the entities operating in the field of culture from Zachodniopomorskie province and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern against the background of the whole cultural area of South Baltic Programme As seen, the entities of these regions had a significant part in the enterprises of the whole program - more than 80% of the money spent on culture (more than 11 million) was allocated on projects realized by German 21

22 entities, and more than 76% - by entities from Zachodniopomorskie province. German entities were at the same time more active, being the leader of seven enterprises. When it comes to the joint projects of the entities from Zachodniopomorskie province and Vorpommern, German institutions were usually the leaders of such projects - Polish institution was the leader in only one case (project, within the framework of which this report was developed). The institutions from Zachodniopomorskie province rarely played the roles of leaders also in the other projects, often realizing only a fraction of the project activities. The below map shows the locations of the entities from the studied area, which implemented projects under the South Baltic Programme in the field of cultural ideas. Fig. 4 Locations of the entities from Zachodniopomorskie province and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern having the role of leaders/ partners in the projects within the framework of South Baltic Programme Source: own work Despite the fact that the number of projects participated by Polish and German entities is similar, the institutions in the area of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern derived from 7 towns, and in Zachodniopomorskie province they came only from three towns. 22

23 This can prove that small entities have both little experience and knowledge regarding transborder projects and many important functions of the region have been centralized. It is worth noting that the projects under the Programme were realized by as many as 7 different institutions from Szczecin, 3 from Stralsund and 5 from Rostock. When it comes to the types of the institutions, which applied to the Programme from the studied region, the most frequent were self-governments (5), universities (3), tourist organizations (2) and museums (2). IV.2 Programme Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg Poland (standard projects) Programme Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg - Poland is dedicated only to two analyzed regions. It was implemented both right after Poland entered the EU ( ), as well as in the next full perspective (and will be continued in the years ). In this chapter a more detailed analysis will be subject to the allocation of projects for the years , but a few words were also devoted to the previous perspective. Another section is devoted to the small projects funds. Between the years 2004 to 2006, under this programme 26 projects were implemented regarding the following Action: actions designed to strengthen cross-regional and crosscommunal and cultural cooperation, cross-border cooperation for the purpose of solving social problems, creating a system of partnership for security and 20 projects regarding the efforts to expand and preserve cultural and educational institutions that have trans-border importance in order to create a better cultural offer for the region. Over 562 thousand EUR was spent (average subsidy amounted to over 21 thousand EUR) under the first actions, and the amount of over 3.1 million EUR was spent under the second one (an average of more than 155 thousand EUR per project). A number of implemented projects under Priority was the largest among the other areas of support, evidence of which can be manifested in particular interest of the institutions from both regions in culture-related cooperation. 23

24 In the financial perspective in the area of culture (in all 3 priorities) 20 projects were implemented a German institution was a leading beneficiary in 13 of them, and Polish institution was a beneficiary in 7 of them. In total, 24 Polish entities and 22 German entities took part in all these initiatives. The differences also affected the amount of expenditures on projects - German institutions spent a total of nearly 17.5 million EUR, while Polish ones- approx. 2 million EUR less. In total, approx. 33 million EUR was spent on joint culture-related initiatives under this programme, i.e. an average of 1.65 million EUR per project. It is worth noting that 4 out of 20 projects were implemented without the financial contribution of partner(s). Therefore, the complete financial responsibility was on the project leader s side. Fig. 5 Share of particular types of institutions from Poland (left) and Germany (right) in realization of Polish-German projects within the framework of Programme Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg Poland Source: Own work The above charts indicate that the structure of these institutions types involved in transborder projects under the Programme Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg - Poland is very similar. In consideration of the above, the most frequent contacts/ partnerships were established by the institutions from the Polish-German border belt with an entity having the same profile. In both countries, the most partnerships involved self-governments and cultural institutions, in particular museums. 24

25 It should be pointed out that the area covered by the South Baltic Programme, i.e. including only the northern regions of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, in the described Programme, generated 12 of the 20 projects, i.e. 60% of all cultural initiatives. The share value of these projects in total budgets of all culture-related projects represented a similar level (58.3%). Exactly the same share (60%) had the investments in cultural projects involving the purchase of fixed assets and construction works. The below map presents the locations of partners and leaders of the Polish-German projects under the Programme Mecklenburg-Vorpommern / Brandenburg - Poland It can be seen that most entities come directly from the border area or large urban centers (Stralsund and Greifswald are the largest German cities in the surrounding region on German side). The farther from the Polish-German border, the fewer are the entities involved in the realization of the projects in this Programme. Fig. 6 Locations of the entities from Zachodniopomorskie province and Mecklenburg-Vorpommern having the role of leaders/ partners in the projects within the framework of Programme Mecklenburg- Vorpommern/ Brandenburg- Poland Source: own work IV.3 Programme Mecklenburg-Vorpommern/ Brandenburg Poland (small projects) 25

26 Small projects from the above Programme require separate attention. They were implemented under the subprogramme in the form of the Small Projects Fund. The leaders of Polish and German networks of local entities obtained the Programme s funds for the organization of the competition and disposal of small grants between small centers/ initiatives. What is worth mentioning, the Small Projects Fund operated since 1995 in the framework of Phare CBC instruments: Poland - Germany and the Baltic Sea Region. Between the years 1998 to joint projects were carried out with the total worth of funds of nearly 4.1 million EUR. Thanks to the competitions from , 109 other small projects were carried out until The total value of grants for these projects amounted to more than 3.2 million EUR. When it comes to the Small Projects Fund from the perspective , after Poland entered the EU, 244 projects were implemented with total funds of nearly 2.1 million EUR. In the perspective , bearing in mind the success of its past projects implemented under the Small Projects Fund, two editions of the Fund were realized. Small projects were implemented between 2010 and 2011 and from 2012 to The value of the projects carried out in the first edition amounted in total to over 5.6 million EUR, whilst in the second edition they amounted to nearly 7.8 million EUR. In total, in the first edition more than 500 small projects were approved, whereas in the second one there were 640 projects - in total joint Polish-German initiatives. Under the fund the cultural projects, next to joint sports enterprises, constituted the most important and most frequently chosen ideas for Polish-German cooperation. The funds of the selected projects rarely exceeded the amount of 20 thousand EUR, and many units were satisfied with the support around EUR (in particular schools, which do not have independent financial management). The structure of Small Projects Fund assumed that the projects, in which the applicant and the main host of the enterprises will be a German entity, will be submitted to the Association of Municipal Europaregion Pomerania e.v., while in the case of Polish entities - the Association of the Polish Municipalities in Euroregion Pomerania. In total, there were 652 projects submitted by German entities in the years (53.3% of the approved applications), and 571 projects submitted by Polish entities (46.7% of the approved applications). The beneficiaries of the Funds included self-governments, cultural institutions, public schools, art schools, universities, non-governmental organizations or clubs. In such projects the key factor was that they were not associated with too big formalities. Even 26

27 the small institutions, which do not have specialists in the process of obtaining external sources of funding, prepared the applications successfully. Interestingly, many entities successfully submitted their projects several times, which confirms the attractiveness of the Small Projects Fund for local entities. This may also prove that local institutions prefer applying for small funds, but with a greater likelihood to receive them, rather than applying for much larger amounts, allowing e.g. to prepare investment activities. V. TRANSNATIONAL COOPERATION IN THE EYES OF THE REPRESENTATIVES OF LOCAL ENTITIES In order to explore more thoroughly the potential for transnational cooperation of local entities from Zachodniopomorskie province and the State of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, the surveys were sent to dozens of institutions/ organizations, which were selected at random. The surveys took into account three components: all the entities, the entities, which undertook transnational cooperation in the past 5 years and for those which did not have this type of cooperation activities. The collected survey allowed to discover the feelings, specification of possible cooperation and future plans of local entities in relation to transnational initiatives. The profile of Polish local entities participating in the survey was as follows: approx. 86% of the respondents who provided answers consisted of cultural institutions, and the remaining part were self- governments and other organizations. Most of the respondents represented the entities that employ 20 to 50 employees (nearly 36%), the institutions employing less than 10 or more than 100 people comprised approx. 20% of the respondents each, and the remaining part were the institutions employing and people. Approx. 57% of the surveyed institutions declared that they had a person responsible for handling projects of international cooperation and acquiring external financial means in their structures. In most frequent cases, Polish entities had an annual budget of less than 1 million PLN. On the other hand, in least frequent cases they had a budget ranging from 5 to 10 million PLN. Many of the surveyed entities showed quite a high activity in the organization of supraregional events (regional, national, international) - nearly an average 60% per annum realized several events of this kind, and almost 30% - from 1 to 2 events per annum. Less than 10% of the respondents acknowledged they did not implement such projects. 27

28 In the case of German institutions, the biggest number - more than 60% of the respondents comprised the entities, which were directly supervised by Mecklenburg- Vorpommern authorities, whilst the institutions subordinate to communes, central units and non-governmental organizations constituted the remaining part. Approx. half of the surveyed entities employed 10 people, nearly 30% were the institutions employing 50 to 100 people and approx. 20% - from 20 to 50. On average, only one fifth of the surveyed German companies had a position related to maintenance of international cooperation projects and acquisition of external funds. Over 60% of the surveyed German entities had a budget of less than 250 thousand EUR, whilst the other entities most often had a budget between 1 and 4 million EUR. The experience of German entities in the organization of supraregional events was also quite poor - approx. 40% of the respondents showed that they are implementing this type of event every 2-3 years or 1-2 times a year on average. Approx. 20% of the respondents did not show such initiatives in the past. Of the respondents representing Polish local entities, only approx. 21% stated that their institution did not undertake any cooperation with a foreign entity/ artist/ specialist, whereas of the German companies it was 10%. At the same time, most Polish (93%) and German companies (98%) are interested in undertaking international cooperation in the future. Fig. 7 Response rate of the answers to the following question given by respondents representing Polish local entities: Would you use the possibility of cooperation with foreign institution/person, if it was in the form of the network, to which you would obtain invitation from another entity? Source: own work 28

29 As shown in the above chart, the majority of the surveyed Polish entities would undertake a co-operation with a foreign partner following its invitation, if it did not involve a high financial contribution. Every fifth institution conditions participation in such a project on a possibility of free attendance, and only 7% reject any form of cooperation in this case. In the case of German institutions most of them show a possibility of participating in such a project without any financial contribution. When the representatives of a given institution were asked if they heard about the European Territorial Cooperation Programme South Baltic or the other trans-border cooperation programme financed from external sources, over 78% of the responses from Polish institutions were positive, but only approx. 22% of this group benefited from such programmes. In the case of German entities, approx. 60% of the answers to the above question were positive, nearly 70% of which submitted applications for the funds from such programmes. Despite average utilization of South Baltic Programme Funds by respondents, Polish institutions benefitted willingly from external funds in the past 5 years. Nearly 80% of them tried to get the funds for their initiatives from external sources (EU funds, Norwegian funds, national funds or Non-Governmental Organization funds) several times in recent years, whilst the others tried to get them at least once. In the case of German entities, about half of them demonstrated efforts to seek financial support from such sources in the past 5 years, usually 1-2 times. Depending on the experience of the surveyed entities regarding international cooperation, the questions directed to the respondents were different. Thus, the organizations operating internationally in the last 5 years and the organizations not working in this field in this period were analyzed separately. When asked about the number of established foreign partnerships in the past few years the representatives of Polish institutions provided a number from 2 to 3 when it comes to the entities (approx. 45% of respondents), from 2 to 3 with reference to artistic bands - (approx. 37% of respondents), while 9 and more (nearly 46%) referred to artists and specialists in the field of culture. Polish entities with foreign experience should be considered as relatively active - only approx. 20% did not point to any cooperation with a foreign band, and less than 10% - to any cooperation with a foreign artist. 29

30 The answer that there was cooperation only with one foreign entity/ band / artist in the last 5 years was also very rare. Fig. 8 The European countries, the foreign partners executing joint projects with Polish entities from Zachodniopomorskie province came from Source: own work As can be seen on the above map, the respondents chose to cooperate most often with the actors from Germany or EU countries/ Norway (the answers were defined in the following groups: Germany, Scandinavian countries, the Baltic counties, other EU countries, Switzerland, other European countries outside the EU, other countries). Despite the common location on the Baltic Sea, the counties of Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and Russia were rarely mentioned. It is also worth mentioning that the respondents also indicated Switzerland and the countries outside Europe in individual cases. When it comes to the areas of culture, in which joint projects were implemented by Polish local entities (most pointed to more than one area), the most frequent area was music (more than 72% of respondents) and dance (over 45%). Joint projects in the field of theater, photography and handicrafts were also carried out quite often. 30

31 The scale of these projects confirms the limited interest in acquiring larger funds for transborder projects - more than 70% of the surveyed representatives of Polish entities stated they the funds for the trans-border projects, which were carried out jointly, did not exceed 100 thousand PLN per project. Only every fourth respondent participated in the joint project carried out by the institutions from at least 3 different countries. When asked about the main reasons to undertake international cooperation, the representatives of Polish institutions most frequently pointed to enhancement of institutions cultural offers (90%) and the possibility to obtain funds from the external sources on partnership projects (more than half of the respondents). Smaller attention was paid to the promotion of the institution abroad or this was a direct result from the invitation of a foreign partner. Yet, all the projects, which involved foreign cooperation by the Polish institutions were rated very well (over 80% of respondents), or even exemplary (nearly 20%) at the same time all the Polish institutions with international experience expressed their willingness to take on transnational challenges also in the future. The respondents were also asked about the problems in their partnership projects as well as about the expected assistance in organizing such initiatives in the future. Only one third of the Polish institutions did not show any problems in the preparation and realization of such projects - the most frequent problems included: language barriers and communication and information flow. The problems with determination of joint budget and sources of its funds were also repeatedly pointed out. The possible forms of support for development of international/ transborder projects included most often: proposal of funds for the joint venture (80% of responses), assistance in finding a foreign partner (nearly 55%), participation in workshops/ trainings on running international projects (45%) and support in negotiating the terms of cooperation with a partner (approx. 36% of respondents). About 90% of the entities having the international experience also show the desire to carry out trans-border projects with a German partner, usually expecting the support from larger institutions regarding proposal of sources of funds for the joint venture and/ or assistance in finding a German partner. The representatives of German entities with international experience most frequently boasted 2-3 international partnerships with their participation in recent years (approx. 67%) or 31

32 one partnership (over 33%) - similar figures are presented in the case of cooperation with foreign artistic bands. On the other hand, in case of artists and specialists in the field of culture, with whom the cooperation has been established in recent years, the most frequent number was one person (approx. 44%) or 9 and more people at the other extreme- (approx. 33% of responses). Fig. 9 The European countries, the foreign partners executing joint projects with German partners from Mecklenburg Vorpommern came from Source: own work As shown on the above map, German respondents chose Polish or Scandinavian entities to cooperate with the most often. The cooperation with the entities from Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia and other EU countries was quite rare. Quite a lot of responses also concerned the partners from Switzerland - one of Germany's southern neighbors. As far as the question regarding the areas of culture chosen by German local entities as partnership projects (the majority pointed to more than one area), the most frequent areas were usually music (more than 55% of respondents) and dance (over 40%). There was relatively a large number of joint projects focused on theater, photography or painting. 32