c/o Mejeriet, Stora Södergatan 64
222 23 Lund
Sweden
- Arts
- Democracy and community development
- International/Cultural relations
The International Resource Office (IRO) is a regional initiative aiming to assist Skåne’s cultural actors with support, tips and tailor-made advice on international cultural cooperation and EU support. The office is run by Trans Europe Halles with financial support from Region Skåne.
Starting in October 2015, Region Skåne has allocated SEK 500,000 to a regional resource that will encourage cultural actors to participate more widely in EU-funded cooperation projects.
Trans Europe Halles was awarded the contribution for efforts such as skills development, project development, international networking and support in the writing of applications for EU-funding.
Trans Europe Halles is a Europe based network of cultural centres initiated by citizens and artists that has been at the forefront of re-purposing Europe’s industrial buildings for arts, culture and activism since 1983. Today the Trans Europe Halles network consists of 129 members and associated members from 36 countries around Europe.
Our members are key drivers of democratic development, active citizenship and participation in the arts. They also bring together artists, cultural and creative industries, social and educational organisations in open and creative spaces that spur innovation and development. With an entrepreneurial mindset they explore new business- and governance models and develop partnership with both the private and public sector.
Twice a year we meet to exchange knowledge, to start conversations and to connect with other cultural changemakers. Our meetings are a hotbed of new ideas and collaborations. They are always hosted by a different member – allowing us to get to know some of the challenges facing different regions. Our meetings reflect our diversity and explore topics that matter to us all.
We also collaborate regionally and thematically through our Hubs. We launch projects together and form partnerships based on common interests, goals and ideas. Throughout the year, we organise training workshops and seminars. We are specifically interested in business innovation and the organisational development of our member centres.
Our mission is to facilitate the sustainable development of civil-society initiated cultural and creative organisations based in repurposed spaces, by connecting and supporting them. Our vision is that everyone thrives in an equal, free and inclusive society where culture, arts and creativity have a transformative power.
Our key objectives are:
1. To build a strong supporting structure of exchange and collaboration for member insitutions.
2. To advocate and promote the importance and value of cultural centres initiated by citizens and artists as open spaces for creation.
3. To establish Trans Europe Halles as a leading organisation for providing professional development and international exchange in the cultural sector.
4. To establish Trans Europe Halles as a vital reference for non-governmental cultural centres in the international cultural sector.
IRO was established to build the capacities of the arts & culture operators to grow and work internationally: we are committed to provide methodologies, guidance and advice to help you develop your projects. We organize training, one-to-one consultation and info sessions to equip you with tools and knowledge.
Creative Lenses (CL) 2015-2019
Creative Lenses was a project co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. Implemented from 2015 to 2019, it explored the issue of sustainability of European arts and cultural organisations. In particular, it aimed to address the question of how cultural organisations might become more financially sustainable without compromising their missions and values.
The project’s vision was condensed in the tagline “stronger arts and cultural organisations for a greater social impact”. Also, its mission was to empower cultural organisations with knowledge, methods and tools to become more resilient so they can better create value for society. Some of the main tasks of Creative Lenses were, therefore, to research and explore business models in the cultural sector and whether the concept of the business model was a useful tool to drive organisational change and reflection.
Factories of Imagination (FOI) 2017-2021
The project, co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union, aims to build internationally connected and resilient cultural centres and professionals that can meet both prevailing and future challenges together with their communities. The project is to contribute to a more competitive, skilled and strong cultural sector that can take on the challenge of re-building an open, creative and inclusive Europe.
Cultural and Creative Spaces and Cities (CCSC) 2018-2021
This is a policy project co-funded by the Creative Europe programme of the European Union. The project is managed by a consortium of ten non-profit and public organisations led by Trans Europe Halles, the European network of non-governmental cultural centres. At the core of this project, there are 7 Urban Labs based in seven European cities. Each one of them groups together non-governmental cultural organisations and local/regional authorities, as well as other relevant stakeholders. Their goal is to address local challenges together and find participatory and commoning solutions to them.
Shared Initiatives for Training (SHIFT) 2019-2021
Trans Europe Halles is part of a consortium of nine European organizations in the SHIFT project. The project is co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union and the project leader is the European Music Council in Bonn (DE). The aim is to equip leaders in the cultural sector, primarily leaders of transnational cultural networks, in development work linked to the UN Global Goals for Sustainable Development (SDGs).
Developing Inclusive and Sustainable Creative Economies (DISCE) 2018-2021
DISCE is a three-year project bringing together researchers from Finland, Italy, Latvia and the UK. Funded by the European Commission, via the Horizon 2020 programme, this research will make a major contribution to understanding creative economies across the EU. Combining ten regional case studies with EU-wide quantitative mapping, the project draws on the team’s highly interdisciplinary expertise. It will investigate the relationships between higher education, skills development and creative work; emerging business models; possibilities for improved quantitative mapping; new ways to understand what the ‘growth’ of creative economies consists of – and why such growth is valuable. At the heart of the project is the question of how the creative economies of the future can be both inclusive and sustainable.
Spaces of Transformation in Arts Education (SPOTing) 2020-2023
SPOTing is led by TEH and co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. The project consists of a consortium with 8 TEH members from Sweden, Italy, Great Britain, Luxembourg, Slovakia, France and Austria + TEH. Many of TEH's members conduct cultural educational activities of various kinds, and the purpose of the project is to stimulate professional development and knowledge transfer between the cultural educators. The goal is to strengthen the participating of cultural educators in their profession and to critically reflect on methods and working methods for developing and strengthening cultural pedagogy as a field internationally.
European Urban REgenerators Knowledge Alliance/ (EUREKA) 2021-2023
Together with 10 other partners, TEH is part of EUREKA, a three-year project co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Union. The project is led by the University of Venice (IUAV) and is based on the challenges that exist in cities around Europe to regenerate abandoned and dilapidated buildings. One profession that has a particularly significant role here is Urban Innovator (UI). There is a high demand for UIs in the labor market, but there is a lack of recognition at EU level in the form of a clear professional role and the opportunity for (further) education. During the project, a multidisciplinary curriculum will be developed to formalize and market the UI role for the private and public sector. TEH will conduct case studies with 10 of our members with experience of social innovation as a tool for urban regeneration and have a leading role for external and internal communication in the project and for the project's advocacy work.
International Resource Office (IRO) 2016-ongoing
The International Resource Office (IRO) is a regional initiative created to support cultural operators in the region of Skåne (SE) with practical support and counselling connected to international collaboration, including projects funded by the EU’s various support programmes. IRO offers a variety of services, such as strategic planning, networking and partnership creation, advice on administrative procedures and practical tools for successful EU applications and project management. The International Resource Office is funded by the Region of Skåne.
Cultural Accelerator 2020-2021
‘Cultural Accelerator’, funded by the Creative Force programme of the Swedish Institute, is a bottom-up democracy project initiated by TEH and Ta(r)dino 6 Art Platform (TAP) to mobilize and build capacity of artists and cultural workers in Azerbaijan in order to better advocate their needs to local governing bodies in the cultural field. Organised in two steps - online trainings and workshops and an actual three-day event in Baku by TEH network experts - ‘Cultural Accelerator’ aims at co-developing grassroots recommendations on cultural policies and strategies in Azerbaijan.