LEVER, 2016 - 2019

Interfolk

LEVER, 2016 - 2019

Voluntary culture as leverage in sparsely populated area


Interfolk was coordinator of the 3- year NGO development project: “Voluntary culture as leverage of cross-cultural activities in sparsely populated areas” (LEVER), 2016 - 2019, supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers’ NGO programme for the Baltic Sea Region.


Key output:



The partnership circle

included six organisations from the Baltic Sea region, representinga transnational Nordic-Baltic sum of varied expertises and experiences in the field, which we could not find in just one of the participating countries.



Background

Sparsely populated areas face stark challenges to revive the local communities, but also represent an opportunity to rebuild a community and strengthen local identity through artistic and cultural activities.


Art and culture can play a major role to make our marginal areas more attractive to new residents and businesses, because:

  • Art and culture help to create the community and unity that can save a village or area from being emptied of content.
  • Inclusion in art and culture gives new life and creates responsible citizens.
  • A vibrant cultural life and an enhanced community can create a sustainable society where all citizens are ready to take responsibility for their own and others' lives and for the local community as a whole.


The civil society associations and their volunteers from the cross-cultural sector of amateur arts, voluntary culture and heritage need to develop new methods and approaches to revive the areas and secure sustainability by applying the “citizen help citizen" or "peer to peer approach", where are engaged to provide available and involving arts and culture activities with an added value for civic and democratic participation and community bonding. 


Aim and activities

The overall aim was to promote cross-cultural activities in the sparsely populated communities with an added value for civic and democratic participation and community bonding.


The objectives were:

  • To develop innovative ways of outreach to citizens engaged in arts and culture to become resourceful volunteers - culture boosters - in cross-cultural activities in the local communities .
  • To develop high quality learning opportunities tailored to these groups to learn how to initiate and organise local cultural activities with an added value for civic participation and community bonding.
  • To develop the know-how and abilities of the voluntary associations in this cross-cultural sector to cooperate with the main local stakeholders to initiate enlivening arts and culture opportunities in the local communities.
  • To provide innovative pilot works in 1-2 sparsely populated communities in the participating countries areas
  • To develop appropriate methods to document and validate the practise of the organisations to fulfil these objectives.
  • To provide a comprehensive dissemination of the results to the main target groups in the Baltic Sea region.


    More information:


     

    Paragraphs  from the partners, why they think the project is important

     

    The LEVER project meets a societal need to apply voluntary culture to revive the local communities in sparsely populated areas.


    We see new possibilities in engaging voluntary culture associations and their volunteers in the Baltic Sea region to provide available and involving arts and culture activities with an added value for civic and democratic participation and community bonding.


    Interfolk is delighted to be part of a Nordic NGO project that intends to promote “cultural inclusion and sustainability” in a civil society context, where “citizen help citizen”.

     

    Hans Jørgen Vodsgaard, head of Institute, Interfolk

    All over the world we talk about people moving from rural to urban areas and that the population in the rural area is getting smaller and smaller. 


    We believe that art and culture can help to curb this trend. Art and culture can help to give quality to the way we live together, and with art and culture we can create an identity and a sense of belonging to an area.


    Art and culture help the local population to identify  with the place where they live, young people might want to return to the village when they have been educated and it might be possible to create offers that attract new-comers and tourists.


    We think the most appropriate way to develop these these potentials is "people helping people", where they by volunteerism become their own culture suppliers and together create cultural activities and feel greater ownership and accountability for them.


    Bente von Schindel, General Secretary, KSD


     

    Despite the depopulation of rural areas, culture and arts are alive and are becoming increasingly im-portant for people to stay.


    Associations have begun to realize that arts and culture is important for growth and survival.


    By preserving and creating new cultural activities and other leisure activity in rural areas and by introducing these methods for other NGO´s, we strive to maintain a viable swedish countryside in Finland.


    Tomas Järvinen, General Manager, FSU


    Culture and arts have the power to change, to involve, to integrate, to make lives better and more aware.


    We believe that culture is the most important element of the identity of the local communities. Through the culture these communities build their feeling of belonging and consolidate. Culture and arts also have area reviving potential.


    Local professional and non-professional folk artists, craftsmen, developing applied arts of high artistic, aesthetic and quality value, not least handicraft is the strength of many rural, sparsely populated areas and it may enhance attractiveness of those areas. 


    The sparsely populated areas needs strong, active local communities. Through the LEVER project, we wish to better learn how to support, and support the culture NGOs in these areas. 


    Agnieszka Dadak, president, FAIE


    Manors were cultural centers in the past. The majority of castles and manors were in rural areas in Lithuania.


    Nowadays they are reborn from new. They are becoming center for local communities again.


    Our association members are engaged in voluntary activities, which are related to cultural heritage in sparsely populated areas.


    Our members organize various concerts, exhibitions, art plenaries, etc. They continuously carries out cultural activities involved society, local inhabitans.


    We observe cultural activities works as a leverage that becomes a indirect regional economic develop-ment engine. Through this project we intend to develop our competences to support and promote these potentials.


    Regina Žirgulevičienė, director, LPDA


    The importance of the implementation of the LEVER project in Belarus lies in the fact that we can gain new inspiration and competences from the partnership.


    We think, the complex partner approach based on the experience of our neighbours such as Lithuania, Poland, as well as experience of Nordic countries will help to mitigate outflow of human resources from small villages in remote areas and demonstrate to local authorities and population the opportunities arising due to support and development of human potential.


    Alicia Shybitskaya, Executive Director
    Svetlana Roussanova, Information Director 
    National NGO "United Way Belarus"


    Task plan


    FIRST PHASE: PREPARE AND INITIATE THE DEVELOPMENT WORK

    JAN - DEC 2016

     

    1) Start-up management. Jan - Feb 2016. P1, IF

    2) First 3-days partner meeting in Copenhagen, DK. Feb 2016. P2,KSD

    3) Clarify baselines and needs. Feb - May 2016. P1, IF

         - Provide local surveys

         - Publish multilateral baseline survey. 

    4) Develop strategy for local pilot work. May - June 2026. P2, KSD

         - plan 1-2 pilot works: where, what, with whom

         - select local representatives to upstart workshop

    5) Second 3-days partner meeting, in Vilnius, LT. June 2016. P6, DR

    6) Initiate local pilot work, incl. local courses. June - Dec 2016. P6, DR

        - provide local pilot prospects

        - establish local teams and network with local stakeholders

        - provide local training courses for culture boosters

        - initiate local pilot works and report initiated activities

    7a) Transversal dissemination, 1st phase. Jan - Dec 2016. P2, KSD

    7b) Transversal evaluation, 1st phase. Jan - Dec 2016. P1, IF

    7c) Transversal project management and audit, 1st phase. Jan - Dec 2016. P1, IF


    SECOND PHASE: IMPLEMENT AND COMPLETE PILOT WORK

    JAN - DEC 2017

     

    8) Third 3-days partner meeting in Minsk, BY. Jan 2017. P5, UW

          (changed to online partner meeting due to political pressure on United Way)

    9) Implement local pilot work. Jan - Aug 2017. P4, FAIE

         - support local pilot teams and their culture boosters

         - cooperate with local stakeholders, engage local communities

         - provide results and report implemented activities

    10) Fourth 3-days partner meeting in Bielsko Biala, PL. Aug  2017. P4, FAIE

    11) Complete, evaluate and present pilot results. Aug - Dec 2017. P5, UW

         - conclude the pilot work

         - evaluate the pilot work with stakeholders

         - report the completed activities

    12a) Transversal dissemination, 2nd phase. Jan - Dec 2017. P2, KSD

    12b) Transversal evaluation, 2nd phase. Jan - Dec 2017. P1, IF

    12c) Transversal project management and audit, 2nd phase. Jan - Dec 2017. P1, IF


    THIRD PHASE: DELIVER AND DISSEMINATE RESULTS

    JAN - DEC 2018

     

    13) Fifth 3-days partner meeting in Copenhagen. Feb 2018. P2, KSD

    14) Multilateral Report of pilot works, five language ed. Jan - May 2018. P2, KSD

    15) Complete regional/national 1-2 days pilot courses. June - Aug 2018. P4, FAIE

    16) Multilateral Curricula Compendium, five language ed. June - Sept 2018. P1,IF

    17) Complete national 1-day conferences. Oct 2018. P6, DR

    18) Complete  Baltic 1-day conference in Helsinki, FI. Nov 2018. P3, FSU

    19) Sixth 2-days partner meeting in Helsinki (after Conference). Nov 2018. P3, FSU

    20a) Transversal dissemination, 3rd phase. Jan  - Dec 2018. P2, KSD

    20b) Transversal evaluation, 3rd phase. Jan  - Dec 2018. P1, IF

    20c) Transversal project management and audit, 3rd phase. Jan  - Dec 2018. P1, IF

    RESULTS FIRST YEAR:



    • Initiate Danish pilot work

    Danish leaflet


    1st Danish status report

    2nd Danish status report

    • Initiate Finnish pilot work

    1st Finnish status report

    2nd Finnish status report

    • Initiate Polish pilot work

    FAIE invitation to local Polish partners

    1st Polish status report

    2nd Polish status report

    • Initiate Lithuanian pilot work

    1st Lithuanian status report

    2nd Lithuanian status report

    Report of the tasks

    • Initiate Belarussian pilot work

    1st Belarussian status report

    2nd Belarussian status report

    RESULTS SECOND YEAR:


    Completed Danish pilot work


    Completed Finnish pilot work


    Completed Polish pilot work


    Completed Lithuanian pilot work


    Completed Belarussian pilot work


      RESULTS THIRD YEAR:


      Multilateral Reports of pilot works

      Multilateral Curricula Compendium

      Baltic Sea pilot course in Askov, DK



      Partner meetings


      FIRST YEAR


      WP 02: First meeting in Copenhagen, February 2026


      WP 05: Second meeting in Manor of Bistrampolis, LT, June 2026


      SECOND YEAR


      WP 06: Third meeting in Copenhagen, April 2017 (Minsk cancelled)


      WP 08: Fourth meeting in Bielsko-Biała, PL, November 2017


      THIRD YEAR


      WP 13: Fifth meeting in Helsinki, August 2018


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