Positive Signals at EU Level

Photo: ELIA representative board member Alexander Damianisch presents his poster at the SAR Conference

ELIA Executive Director Maria Hansen charts her movements during a busy month at ELIA, with significant developments at EU level likely to affect the entire ELIA community. 

Only a few more weeks to go before the ELIA Academy opens at Kristiania University of Applied Sciences in Oslo. Working with the steering group under the leadership of Representative Board member, Said Fahim Mohammadi has been such a pleasure, as we reinvented the ELIA Academy, our signature event on teaching and learning. I am particularly proud of the amazing response we had to our call for contributions for students, whose participation has been made possible thanks to ELIA’s Supporting Members. Nineteen students are joining the programme in Oslo to present their reflections on the theme, ‘Life-Integrated Learning’. Can’t wait, and I hope many of you will join us! 

Funding for research in and through the arts has weighed heavily on my mind in recent weeks. It was good to attend the International Conference of the Society for Artistic Research (SAR) in Porto at the beginning of this month, meeting many colleagues active in this field and hearing about new projects and collaborations. Then last week, I attended a meeting with EU Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva in Brussels where she reiterated her support for research funding for the EU cultural and creative industries.

Just yesterday, President Ursula von der Leyen signalled the first (and long-awaited) public political commitment from the European Commission to preserve the EU’s Research & Innovation Framework at the Annual EU Budget Conference 2025. President Von der Leyen confirmed that the EU Research and Innovation Framework Programme (FP10) would be “tightly connected to the new European Competitiveness Fund”, aligning research and innovation policy with the EU’s broader competitiveness agenda.   

Photo: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen ©European Commission

ELIA will further contribute to this debate, together with colleague networks in the Artistic Research Alliance, not only to emphasise the value of the arts to society, but also the importance of ensuring funding for research in and through the arts. Read ELIA’s FP10 Recommendations which contributed to this important EU decision making.

To make these efforts concrete, the Horizon Europe Cluster 2 Work Programme 2025 has been launched, and we encourage you to have a look here. The EU Commission confirmed Horizon Europe will remain a stand-alone programme, a positive step in the right direction towards securing the future of EU research and innovation. We know that the 2026 and 2027 Horizon Europe Cluster 2 programmes are already being shaped, and there are also funding opportunities for the cultural and creative sector and industries at the European Innovation Council.   

If you are searching for consortium partners, you may find it useful to check in with ELIA, we may be able to help you find a match!

Speaking of EU Commission developments – we have big news for our UK Members: The UK and EU have agreed this week to work towards UK association to Erasmus+. The details still need to be finalised however this is a significant positive development impacting the entire ELIA community, as collaboration with our UK members under Erasmus+ appears to be within reach again.

Before I forget: ELIA has been busy launching calls for our new Future Readiness Working Group and ELIA’s Arts Education for All Working Group. We are especially looking for students for this one – so please spread the word and please apply. 

Finally, with pain in my heart, I want to acknowledge our Finance Manager, Gerard Deen who is leaving ELIA to take on a new job after seven years with our team. Working with quiet brilliance in the background, Gerard never sought the spotlight but did everything needed to keep the ELIA finances in good shape. We are grateful for his contribution to the modernisation of our financial systems and for keeping the overview no matter how busy we were. Our warmest thanks to Gerard - we wish him well in this next adventure!