Criteria

Conditions of Entry

  • Towns and cities from the Baltic Sea Region are eligible to apply, meaning: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany (the States (Länder) of Berlin, Brandenburg, Bremen, Hamburg, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Schleswig-Holstein and Niedersachsen), Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Poland and Sweden. 
  • Small, medium-sized and less central towns and cities are especially welcome. 
  • The capital cities Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Warsaw, Berlin and Copenhagen are not eligible. 
  • The applicant needs to be a local authority (e.g. municipality, district, city or town council or other public institution responsible for public services within a given territory). A municipal department, a public library or other local public institution can apply on behalf of the city or town. 
  • A local authority can apply on behalf of a smaller entity within its territory, i.e. a town located in the municipality or district. The Cultural Pearl title is then awarded to this entity. Non-public institutions such as NGOs or CCS actors can be partners in the application. 

Overarching criteria

MOTIVATION

Willingness to strengthen culture-driven social resilience in your town or city and to take part in BSR Cultural Pearls activities.

AWARENESS

Understanding of local community needs, challenges and strengths.

ABILITY TO LEARN

A cross-sectoral team with a strong will and ability to learn and transfer knowledge into action.

ENGAGEMENT

Readiness to cooperate with local NGOs, Culture and Creative Sector actors.

DURABLE IMPACT

Ability to implement the Culture and Resilience Action Plan, demonstrating potential for durable impact.

BSR PERSPECTIVE

Openness to cross-border cooperations and knowledge exchange within the Baltic Sea Region.

Pre-Selection criteria

Clear and compelling motivation to be a BSR Cultural Pearl, demonstrating a holistic and innovative approach.

Final Selection criteria

A well-articulated, clear, and high-quality Culture and Resilience Action Plan.

Cultural tools used to co-create the applicant’s Culture and Resilience Action Plan with citizens and other stakeholders, are innovative and suitable for achieving identified goals.

The applicant applies a truly participatory approach and envisages a broad engagement of different stakeholders both internally in the administration (i.e. across departments) and externally (i.e. civil society), throughout the process.*

The plan is ambitious, yet realistic and achievable.

The applicant demonstrates competence to implement the planned projects and initiatives, with potential to achieve durable impact.

*The jury will assess the composition of the team applying, and it is strongly encouraged to ensure active participation from more than one department or institution, as well as civil society participation.