CLIENT: European Cultural Foundation •
CHALLENGE: Ensuring the transition of grant administration to regional stakeholders in the Balkans •
MY CONTRIBUTION: I developed a temporary regional hub to ensure a smooth transition.
The Balkan Incentive Fund for Culture (BIFC), established in 2006, was a grant scheme initiated by the European Cultural Foundation (ECF) to strengthen cultural ties within the Western Balkans, as well as between the region and the rest of Europe. The fund was initially financed by the Open Society Institute (now Open Society Foundations), the Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation (Hivos) from the Netherlands, and later by the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
In 2010, the ECF aimed to gradually transfer the administration of the BIFC, which had been supporting small-scale NGO cooperation projects, to the region itself. The goal was to facilitate a smooth transition in which professionals and institutions from the Balkans would gradually assume responsibility for managing the grant scheme.
To support this transition, I established a temporary BIFC Regional Hub in Ljubljana, funded by the Slovenian Ministry of Culture and run by Asociacija, a local NGO network. The Hub provided guidance on applications, advised grantees, and monitored projects, contributing to post-conflict reconciliation and regional cooperation. After two successful years, the fund’s administration was transferred to Sarajevo, completing the handover.