Culture of Solidarity

Culture is more than a space for expression, it is a force that sustains democracy. The renewed Culture of Solidarity empowers European civil society with the resources, networks, and visibility it needs to thrive. By fostering cross-border collaboration and shared cultural spaces, it strengthens a culture of solidarity, inclusion, and civic engagement, helping to build a Europe that is more democratic, connected, and resilient. 

Since 2020, the Culture of Solidarity (CoS) Fund has offered rapid, values-driven support to civil society. Through twelve different thematic and regional editions and with 24 co-funding partners on board, the fund supported over 280 projects with more than 6 million euros in total. 

After a major learning review in 2024, the Culture of Solidarity Fund is evolving into Culture of Solidarity: a long-term initiative at the heart of the European Cultural Foundation’s 2025–2029 strategy.  

Civil society and cultural actors across Europe are under growing strain, from political polarization and funding cuts to legal and public attacks on independent voices. And yet they remain resilient and vital to democracy and solidarity. Nowhere is this clearer than in Ukraine, where culture continues to sustain public life amid war.  Europe’s democratic resilience and autonomy rest on nurturing a culture of solidarity that re-unites its people across nations, borders, and differences with a broader European idea in mind. 

The renewed Culture of Solidarity supports civil society actors, especially those working under pressure, by fostering timely, meaningful, and cross-border cultural collaboration. It confronts the urgent challenges of polarisation and social fragmentation, with a focus on vulnerable communities. At its core, CoS invest in Europe’s cultural democracy infrastructure: the networks, platforms, and shared spaces where diverse communities can come together, participate, and shape a more resilient and inclusive European future.  

The new Culture of Solidarity works through three interlinked, flexible instruments:

Donor Collaboratives: deepening partnerships with likeminded funders and donor initiatives such as Civitates, Alliance for Socially Engaged Arts, LOKAL and Foundations for Ukraine to place culture at the centre of transformative change in European philanthropy.

Open Calls: Through regular open calls, CoS supports cross-border collaboration between civil society and cultural organisations. The process is kept simple and accessible, with space for peer exchange and networking. Our upcoming open calls are due to launch in January 2026 and will have special focus on Ukrainian creative professionals and their European peers fostering social engagement, integration and cohesion among displaced Ukrainians.

Agility Fund: a flexible tool that allows CoS to back innovative ideas that fall outside regular calls, keeping it responsive and experimental.

Drawing on the ECF’s nearly two decades of consistent commitment to Ukraine’s cultural development, the CoS Fund swiftly launched its Ukraine special edition just a few days after the full-scale invasion began. 

Starting in 2026, ECF will lead the Creative Europe funded Culture Helps Solidarity programme with partners Insha Osvita, zusa, and Veteranka.  Over 30 months, nearly €2 million will be distributed through more than 20 open calls, supporting Ukrainian cultural professionals working with displaced communities, veterans, and on issues related to wider cultural integration. ECF also joined the Foundations for Ukraine platform for collective advocacy and knowledge sharing around Ukraine’s immediate needs and long-term recovery.