EU to Fund Four Cultural Projects in Ukraine Under the “Creative Europe” Program
The European Union has announced a new €7 million package to support four major cultural projects in Ukraine as part of its flagship “Creative Europe” program.
The Gaze reports this, referring to a statement made by the European Commission.
The initiative seeks to strengthen Ukraine’s cultural resilience, promote European cooperation, and prepare the country’s creative industries for postwar recovery.
According to the European Commission, the selected projects – ZMINA Resilience, Culture Helps Solidarity, Cultural Horizons, and UAxEU – were chosen under a special call focused exclusively on Ukraine.
The ZMINA Resilience project focuses on supporting Ukrainian artists and cultural organizations in co-creating and presenting new works in partnership with international colleagues.
It is coordinated by the Ukrainian foundation Izolyatsia together with Maly Berlin (Slovakia) and Trans-Europe Halles (Sweden), and continues a broader effort to keep Ukraine’s cultural life active and visible despite wartime disruption.
The Culture Helps Solidarity initiative, led by the European Cultural Foundation (Netherlands) in cooperation with Ukrainian organizations Insha Osvita and Veteranka, as well as Germany’s Zusa, aims to make culture more accessible to Ukrainians, particularly displaced people and those affected by the war.
The project focuses on inclusive cultural engagement as a means of fostering social cohesion, psychological recovery, and a shared sense of identity.
The Cultural Horizons project, coordinated by the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation in partnership with Cultural Vistas GmbH (Germany), is designed to reconnect Ukrainian citizens with their cultural heritage and to build long-term partnerships between Ukrainian and European institutions.
By encouraging international collaboration and community participation, it seeks to preserve cultural memory while stimulating creativity and innovation.
The fourth project, UAxEU (Ukrainian Cultural Exchange with the European Union), is aimed at preparing Ukraine’s cultural and creative sectors for the period of postwar reconstruction.
Coordinated by the European League of Institutes of the Arts (Netherlands) together with the Lviv National Academy of Arts, the Culture Actors Coalition, and the All-Ukrainian Association of Museums, it will help develop educational programs, strengthen institutional capacity, and promote artistic exchange.
The project is supported by the State Agency of Ukraine for Arts and Art Education, HKU University of the Arts Utrecht, and Culture Action Europe.
The funding comes as part of the EU’s broader effort to sustain Ukraine’s cultural and creative sectors during the war. The European Commission first launched a special “Creative Europe” competition in October 2024 with a budget of €5 million to support Ukrainian cultural institutions.
Following the Ukraine Recovery Conference in July 2025, an additional €2 million was added, bringing total support to €7 million.
The European Commission emphasized that these projects reflect the EU’s continued solidarity with Ukraine’s cultural community, helping artists and institutions cope with the immediate consequences of war while preparing for a long-term recovery.
Read more on The Gaze: Rave Culture in Ukraine: From Underground Beats to Resistance Rhythms