Engine Room Europe (ERE)

The project Engine Room Europe has been funded with the support from the European Commission. This publication [communication] reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. TEH has received operational grants from the City of Lund and the Swedish Arts Council. TEH Leaders Lab has been funded with the support of the Nordic Council of Ministers. The TEH Coordination Office is hosted by Mejeriet, Lund.

Engine Room Europe empowers TEH to build a sustainable independent sector

Thanks to a grant from the EC Culture Programme, TEH has been able to set up a three-year project (May 2011 – April 2014) of activities dedicated to independent cultural workers and their creative processes. With a total budget of €2 095 297, Engine Room Europe acts as a platform of support, helping both the network and the TEH Members to move into a new phase of development.

“Independent culture is the research and development engine of European civic life and this project, Engine Room Europe, will contribute to its sustainability and vibrancy into the future.”

– Sandy Fitzgerald, Process Leader Engine Room Europe

The project is initiated by Trans Europe Halles (TEH) and co-ordinated by Melkweg (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) in association with 10 co-organizing TEH members: Factory of Art (Lodz, Poland), Mains D’Oeuvres (St Ouen, France), Stanica (Zilina, Slovakia), ufaFabrik (Berlin, Germany), TNT (Bordeaux, France), REX (Belgrade, Serbia), NOASS (Riga, Latvia), Röda Sten Art Centre (Göteborg, Sweden), La Friche Belle de Mai (Marseille, France) and Tabacka (Kosice, Slovakia).

The 12 co‐organisers offer a programme of actions including artistic productions, festivals, conferences, research, staff exchanges and a volunteer programme. An online resource will hold the memory and spread the experiences and know-how from the programmes. With the intention to open up possibilities for the whole network, a wide spectrum of programmes will be produced as part of Engine Room Europe.

Upcoming activities

ERE Staff Exchange - Mobility Programme for non-artistic cultural professionals
The Staff Exchange creates mobility opportunities for cultural workers to exchange knowledge through practice-based learning at another TEH Member centre. 30 cultural workers exchanges will take place over two years. The exchange programme is open from October 2011 to staff from all levels of artistic management and production. Read more about the Staff Exchange Programme here.

ERE Leaders Lab - Cross-European Leadership Training for cultural leaders in Nordic and Latin Europe
Read more about Leaders Lab here.

220 Volt! - Capacity building programme for young volunteers

Capacity building workshop programme
2011 to 2013 in Bordeaux, Kosice, Marseilles, Riga and Göteborg, as part of the TEH meetings

Creative Strategies of Sustainability - Research and practice on green strategies for the cultural sector
The first one-week workshop will take place at ufaFabrik in Berlin on September 9-15th, 2012. A chance for 20 interested cultural managers and practicioners to work and discuss for one week, combining brain and body effort. Work on a strategy for your home centre and learn about straw bale buildings, intercultural gardening and make study visits.  Application process in the beginning of March 2012.

Living Underground - International workshops on alternative architecture and creative spaces.
Check out the Living (under)Ground Blog and read more about the 2011 workshop here.

Crossroads East West - Debates and residencies on intercultural dialogue
Read more here.

EAR - European Artists in Residency
Apply for the call for artists now! The deadline for proposals is April 1st, 2012. To learn more about it, click here.
"Reclaiming the Public Space through Culture" - Conference empowering the independent cultural sector in Spain and beyond
The conference will take place in Barcelona, Spain in June 2013.

A-Team: Artists for Change - Tackling community issues through creative action
From May till July 2012, A-Team - Artists for Change will realise four creative processes in four partner countries, teaming up artists, cultural managers and local mediators who will deal with local community issues. For this project, A-Team searches for artists working in any medium affiliated with TEH Member centres or Friends organisations who enjoy process-based work, interactive dialogue or research-based work, community-based work. For learn more about the call for artists, please click here.

TEH Resource
The main legacy of Engine Room Europe will be an interactive and free resource for the independent cultural sector that brings together models of best practice, methodologies for developmental learning, advocacy and archiving for future generations of cultural workers.

Want to take part? Subscribe to the TEH Newsletter, which includes information about open calls, upcoming activities, events and much more!

Engine Room Europe, with a total budget of €2,095,297, is one of 10 projects selected for funding by the European Commission’s Culture Programme 2007-2013 Strand 1.1 budget 2011. Engine Room Europe was awarded a grant of €960000. For a list of selected projects, please consult the EACEA website, http://eacea.ec.europa.eu.

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