Open Call. Room for Heritage 2026-2027
learning | networking | grants
Purpose: This capacity-building and networking programme for local cultural actors will help communities identify and/or reimagine local cultural and natural heritage resources:
- museum collections,
- local heroes,
- local traditions and other examples of intangible heritage,
- existing or potential tourist attractions,
- cultural or natural heritage sites.
The programme will offer selected participants training, as well as grant and mentorship support to develop heritage interpretation projects, cultural products and educational programmes, and to work with communities and diverse audiences in the context of wartime challenges. The project is implemented by a consortium of mentor organisations: Mystetskyi Arsenal, IZOLYATSIA. Platform for Cultural Initiatives, Kharkiv Literary Museum, Odesa National Fine Arts Museum, Dnipro Center for Contemporary Culture, in partnership with the Partnership for a Strong Ukraine (PFRU) programme.
Who can apply: The consortium of mentor organisations will select up to 30 teams working with culture and identity from regions where PFRU operates: Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, Odesa, Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Mykolaiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk oblasts, including organisations displaced from these regions regardless of their current location within Ukraine. We invite institutions working with cultural and/or natural heritage and local history (libraries, museums, historic estates, national parks, nature reserves, botanical gardens, etc.) to apply. Preference will be given to institutions applying in partnership with civil society organisations (teams must have confirmed experience of collaboration). Civil society organisations may also apply independently, provided they have confirmed experience implementing projects in the field of cultural and/or natural heritage.
What we offer: Programme participants will take part in a training programme dedicated to heritage interpretation methods and practices. Heritage interpretation is the process of scientifically grounded explanation and presentation of the significance of cultural and natural heritage sites for a better understanding of their historical, cultural and social value. It is a communication process through which the meaning, history and significance of heritage sites are revealed to visitors using various methods (guided tours, exhibitions, multimedia, etc.). Through participation in the programme, participants will develop their project ideas and receive expert recommendations from lecturers and trainers to create a finished interpretive product. Furthermore, following a project pitch, the consortium's expert panel will select up to 16 projects to receive funding of between UAH 500,000 and UAH 1.5 million (funds will be provided in material or monetary form depending on the capacity and legal status of the organisation).
Programme duration: June 2026 – May 2027.
Training will take place in a blended format (online and in-person in Kyiv) from June to September 2026. After completing the training programme, participants will pitch their project ideas and compete for mentoring support and funding for implementation. Supported projects will be implemented from October 2026 to May 2027.
Application deadline: 19 April 2026 (23:59).
The eligibility conditions and evaluation criteria are available at this link.
To participate in the programme, please complete the application form at:
https://platform.izolyatsia.org/ua/contest/heritage-space-application
The eligibility conditions and evaluation criteria are also available at the same link.
The programme will hold a pre-application consultation on 10 April 2026 at 11:00.
The consultation will take place on Microsoft Teams.
This consultation will allow interested applicants who meet the eligibility criteria to ask questions about the competition, receive guidance on preparing a grant proposal, and learn about the application procedure.
Please send all questions regarding this announcement to: [email protected] (subject line: Questions about the "HERITAGE: Space for Work" competition) by 16 April 2026 (no later than 12:00).
Applicants will be notified of the results no later than 1 June 2026.
The capacity-building and networking programme for local cultural actors "Heritage: Space for Work" is supported by the Partnership for a Strong Ukraine programme, funded by the governments of the United Kingdom, Estonia, Canada, Norway, Finland, Switzerland and Sweden.
Mystetskyi Arsenal is Ukraine's leading cultural institution, integrating diverse art forms and cultural practices — from contemporary art to literature and museum affairs. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion, Mystetskyi Arsenal has focused its activities on several core directions: protecting, preserving and communicating Ukrainian cultural heritage; amplifying the Ukrainian voice internationally; encouraging reflection on the human and societal situation in wartime; and providing a space for experiencing and processing the shared wartime experience in Ukraine.
Literary Museum of Kharkiv is a space for social interaction and dialogue on current topics, and a place where diverse local communities form. The museum brings together proactive cultural actors, creating a creative environment. Founded in 1988, its collection is centred on objects from the periods of the Executed Renaissance of the 1920s–1930s, the Sixtiers and the Ukrainian resistance movement of the 1960s–1980s, the early 1990s, and contemporary Ukrainian literature.
Odesa National Fine Arts Museum is a state art museum opened in 1899. It holds an extensive collection of artworks and is located in the city centre in the historic Naryshkin Palace. The museum continues to promote and preserve its collection, carrying on its exhibition, research and educational activities during the full-scale war, and running educational programmes for cultural professionals.
IZOLYATSIA. Platform for Cultural Initiatives is a non-profit, non-governmental platform for cultural initiatives founded in 2010 in Donetsk on the territory of a former insulation materials factory. IZOLYATSIA's mission is to stimulate systemic change in Ukrainian society through cultural projects. IZOLYATSIA serves as a platform for researching, discussing and presenting pressing socio-political issues at various local and global levels. It implements projects at the intersection of contemporary art and civil society, working across such areas as research, projects and exhibitions, support for cultural decentralisation, capacity building in the cultural sector, and residencies.
Dnipro Center for Contemporary Culture (DCCC) is a Ukrainian cultural institution that since 2019 has been creating projects in the fields of contemporary art, media, urbanism and non-formal education. It is a platform for international collaboration, research and engagement with urban communities. Through art and culture, DCCC addresses ideas and issues that concern society, seeking to make sense of shared historical heritage and to amplify Ukrainian voices in the global context.