"""CULTURE UP – Capacity building of Cultural Institutions and Local Authorities in non–urban and peripheral areas"" project sets out to share and exchange knowledge and practices of cultural development across the public, private and civil sector in five European non–urban and peripheral areas. The project includes five European partners that have been engaged in former, coming or aspiring European Capitals of Culture (ECOC), both as host city or as neighboring cultural institutions and local authorities in the region, working with diverse age groups of children, youth and adults.The project partners more specifically represents: Tampere 2026/Finland, Novi Sad 2021/Serbia, Galway 2020/Ireland, Leeuwarden 2018/The Netherlands and Aarhus 2017/Denmark.The goal is to build capacity on best-conducted practices and transfer experiences, knowledge and know-how through European networking amongst cultural institutions, civil society organisations and local authorities working in the cultural field in non-urban and peripheral areas, Through the diverse experiences, strategies, learning and perspectives from an artistic, cultural, institutional and local authority level, all lead and associated partners will work towards exchanging and developing an outline strategy with a European partnership mind-set and values. Setting an active future plan that functions as an institutionalized new learning model of operation, and a catalyst for sustainable cultural development in non–urban areas. Thus bridging technical and know how inequality of opportunities in these peripheral areas.In a rotational mode, individual partners exchange job shadowing opportunities both on location and online. In the same mode, each partner is responsible for creating a local host program in her/his local area to host all other partners. The host program will organise visits to the different stakeholders in these non–urban areas, through induction meetings, TOT training of trainers sessions, seminars, cultural activities, networking and exchanges. All rotational exchange programs end with a debrief and an evaluation session with all participants led by the Project Coordinators and Communication Coordinators. The main purpose of the evaluation session is to ensure progress in the project and that each exchange visit has reached its goals. The outcome results in an outline strategy on how to operate together in future European projects addressing present non-urban challenges in sustainable cultural development. Results of the project CULTURE UP will be of a diverse nature and consist of both (tangible) results as well as (intangible results) like skills and personal experiences. Some of the intangible results will be measured by the use of interviews, questionnaires, tests, observations or self-assessment mechanisms that may help to record these types of results. Those results that will be disseminated more widely as e.g. experiences, strategies or processes, programs and activities will be documented.Number of participants: There are 9 project partners representing cultural institutions or organisations and local authorities. A total of 27 European participants plus relevant national participants will be included in the LTTA. The project has defined the following specific objectives: 1. Exchange and knowledge-sharing of concrete experiences to strengthen capacity of cultural development in non–urban areas both on an artistic, and institutional and local authority level (by exploring best practices, participatory and bottom-up approaches, peer-to-peer methodology of hands on training).2. Create awareness on cultural development in non–urban areas and support existing initiatives3. Develop European partnerships on cultural development in non–urban areas and show the way for a stronger European awareness in smaller cultural institutions and newcomers as a potential path for innovative development and solutions to local challenges4. Create an outline strategy for an institutionalised new learning model of operating European cultural development in non–urban areasEnvisaged long term impact:1.Inspired and motivated cultural newcomers to work on a European level as a way of developing local practices and strengthen their cultural capacity and hereby accommodate rural challenges.2. Regenerated ways for local authorities in being a cultural sector catalyst, creating opportunities in non–urban areas.3. Platforms for future non–urban partnerships are identified with specific types of exchanges for future collaborations between smaller cultural institutions, artists and organizations.4. Raised visibility of cultural narrative in non–urban areasThe potential longer term benefits of the project CULTURE UP is to show and promote that rural areas can as much be laboratories for exploration of possibilities within culture and forward culture as drivers for habitation, social gatherings and rural development in general."

<< Objectives >>We want to bring young people from 4 different villages and 4 different countries together. This group of 24 youngsters (16 - 24 years old) will reflect on what means to be a villager. By exploring village of Praputnjak, by sharing and comparing it with their own stories and context. We think by doing so, they will bond together, find differences between the counties, but also a common ground in being young and living in a village.This project should raise awareness about the quality of living in a smaller community and importance of individual role they can take in it.It will also focus on them as a group and the group dynamics; who is taking which role in the group? How to deal with given responsibilities? How can you influence processes happening around you?Next to all this, this exchange will be the first visit abroad for many participants, and that in itself will also be a big impact on their lives.<< Activities >>24 participants (12 boys and 12 girls) aged between 14 - 20, from 4 different villages in 4 different countries (HR, LT, RS and NL)All participants live in villages, which gives them less opportunities to develop themselves.During the youth exchange we plan different activities; social, cultural, individual, etc.:- exploring the village- present their own villages to the other groups- workshops in interview techniques and photography- cultural visit to Rijeka, and do a project with city youngsters- go in to the woods, and work on an environmental project- design a small project together, which can be done and presented in the second weekend, as part of 27 Neighborhoods project of Rijeka's 2020 ECoC - social time, going to the beach and watching films and playing games together- sport completions...<< Impact >>This exchange will raise awareness of the 24 participants - awareness about being young and living in a small village; about themselves, choices they can make in live, and roles they can play in their community. It will give them an international platform of friends, living in comparable situations, although their lives are or can be completely different.