Mobility funding

Mobility funding is provided for travel and accommodation costs in the Nordic and Baltic countries. The aim of the funding scheme is to provide individuals with access to contacts and collaboration with other professionals within the Nordic-Baltic region. In 2024, 1628 applications were submitted for the module and a total of 284 applications were granted funding. The approval rate for the entire year was 17 % but there was some variation between the three annual rounds. The first round of the year tends to be the most popular with most applications.

The total applied amount was € 2 656 125 of which € 410 745 was granted (approval rate of 15,5 %). The budget for Mobility funding module was on a higher level in 2023 due to undistributed funds within the programme mainly because of covid19 related reasons which explains the fall in granted applications and granted funding in 2024.

In terms of different fields of arts and culture, 60 granted mobility applications were classified as multidisciplinary combining several art fields and making up 21 % of the total. Music was the most popular single field with 71 granted applicants, 25 % of the total, and visual arts was second with 61 granted applicants, 21 % of the total. Dance was the third common single discipline with 42 granted applications. The remaining art fields were all granted less than 20 applications and only design was left without any applications, but design was mentioned in 4 of the granted multidisciplinary applications.

The gender outcome among granted applicants shows that 57 % of the granted applicants in 2024 were women. Men make up 37 % of the granted applicants, an increase of 6 percentage points to last year, while 6 % state unspecified gender.

The geographical distribution in 2024 shows that Finland had again the biggest share of travel departures with 21 % of the total. Denmark is second with 17 %, and Norway third with 16,5 %, followed by Sweden (14 %), and Latvia (9,5 %).

Several artists received Mobility funding to be able to participate in the project Down in the Bog – Sporulation in Estonia. Photo: Karolin Tampere

Estonia, Iceland and Lithuania had all 6 % of the departures. In 2024, Sweden was the most popular destination among granted mobility funding, 18,5 % of the granted applicants travelling to Stockholm, Malmö or other destinations in Sweden. Finland was the second most popular destination (14 %), Norway the third (12%), followed by Estonia (11,5 %) and Denmark (11 %).

The maximum days for Mobility funding journey is 14 days. Of the 284 granted applications in 2024, 47 were granted the maximum 14 or days which makes up 17 % of the total. 57 % of the granted travel was planned to last 7-14 days. The shortest journey was three days and applied by 8 % of the granted applicants. Median of travel days was 7 and average of travel days 7,8.

Also, the programme offers the possibility to apply for multiple destinations in order to contribute towards more sustainable travel habits. The possibility to apply for several destinations with the same application makes it easier to combine several travel purposes and avoid making several short trips. In total, 14 applications were granted multiple destinations which makes up 5 % of the total of 284 granted applications in 2024, a decrease of 2 percentage points compared to 2023.

Mobility funding is a personal travel grant and the application is individual. Even though the applicants apply as individuals they can state in their application if they are traveling together with a group. Each application is assessed individually but the composition of the group travelling together is taken into account in the assessment. Of the 284 granted applications in 2024, 196 stated they were part of a group (69 %) which is approximately on the same level as the year before with 67 % granted applications stating to be a group. The high number of group applications is explained by the nature of the most applied art fields, such as music, theatre and dance.

As for the horizontal perspectives of the Nordic collaboration, 87 % of the granted applications stated that they are adapting to a changing climate and reducing co2 emissions in the activities, 11 % of the granted applicants intended to do so during the granted travel and 1,4 % answered that they had not thought about reducing co2 emissions in their activities.

The number of the applications for the Mobility funding module was all-time high in 2023 and in this year, there were only 42 applications less. In the previous programme period, it was still possible to apply as a group but from 2021 onwards also those travelling as a group need to submit individual applications. This has increased the total number of applications compared with previous programme periods. It can be expected that the number of applications for Mobility funding will be at this high level also in the future. At the same time the funds available for the module have been reduced and the grant percentage is all-time low this year with only 15,5 % granted applicants. 

Of the total 284 grant receivers in 2024, 168 granted applicants (67 %) completed their travel in 2024. Of the 168 final reports that have been received from this year’s rounds 134 (80 %) state the travel been undertaken as it was described in the application. Of the same 168 final reports 85 % state that they have plans for possible future collaborations as a result for the Mobility funding grant. 89 % state that travel has contributed to development and innovation within their area of activity. According to the final reports the granted travel has resulted in collaborations with new partners at Nordic level (26 %), at Baltic level (7 %), at Nordic-Baltic level (25 %), at international level (22 %) but also at national (2 %) and at local (6,5 %) level.

The chairperson for the new expert group for Mobility funding Arttu Merimaa was pleased after the group’s first meeting that the group was able to grant funding for both the individual applicants’ ordinary production and exhibition activities in other countries, as well as for trips with more pronounced networking and development purposes.

“There was a diverse range of applications, many more of which should have received funding. Travel between the larger countries was well represented in the applications, but we can also see that many people in the Nordics want to travel to Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania where several interesting events are being held,” says Merimaa and continues: “The situation for professional artists in the region is tight, especially in those countries where culture budgets are being cut. In order to practice art professionally, working conditions need to be safeguarded and other sectors need to offer their support and views on how the cultural sector’s business models can be developed. On a societal level, I’d like to see artistic and cultural work be more widely highlighted and also appreciated as an intrinsic value in societal development,” Merimaa continues.

Janne Krog Hansen, also a member in the expert group, points out the importance of the supporting artists’ mobility in the region: Mobility funding module represents an effective approach to strengthening Nordic collaboration, supporting individual artists’ opportunities for knowledge exchange, professional development, and cooperation. Furthermore, the program’s simple and accessible setup for artists in the application process enhances its appeal and usability.​

Several artists received Mobility funding to be able to participate in the project Down in the Bog – Sporulation in Estonia. The project included several activities in Estonia and in Norway and was centered around the topic of peatlands. The participating artists represented and focused on different disciplines such as visual arts, textile arts, crafts, cultural heritage, design, audiovisual arts, media and artistic research. One of the supported professionals was Karolin Tampere who was the curator for the entire project. Tampere wrote about the exhibition in Tallinn:  

Practically and conceptually, the topic of peatlands acted as a guiding map and a compass to learn about historical, cultural and contemporary changes in the environments around us in Northern Norway/Sápmi, Estonia and selected locations internationally. The project was led by the ambition to create cross-pollinating meeting grounds anchored in peatlands; for art, environmental issues and the public. It emphasised the sharing and embodiment of knowledge to bring attention towards the need for the increased care of peatlands, locally, nationally and internationally. The works on display, the workshops and live programme all aimed at large to give poetic, imaginative and dreamlike nutrition to establish more robust layers of awareness, knowledge and care. 

The first part of the project included an exhibition that was held at EKKM - Estonian Contemporary Art Museum in Tallinn during summer 2024 including a public program of guided walks, workshops and artist talks. The project also included a symposium arranged in September in Norway in collaboration with Tromsø Art Center. The symposium was based in interdisciplinary collaborations and functioned as catalyst for care, awareness and cross-pollinating knowledges in relation to selected ecosystems in Estonia, Sápmi-Norway and alongside close exchange with Peatlands globally.

One of the granted artists, sculptor and visual artist Eike Eplik, who travelled from Estonia to Norway, writes about the symposium:

Thinking with Peatlands is a symposium where the peatland and its ecosystems is the protagonist. Carefully, we borrow the mire as a prism for learning and exchange between artists, natural scientists, environmental protectors and others interested. With the help of sensorial formats like sound, walking outdoors and performative action, new connections between the wet body of peatlands and our own bodies of water are made. Locally anchored in Romsa/Tromsø and the mires of Rávdnjevággi/Finnheia and Isrenna, art, natural science, cultural history and activism cross-pollinate in order to bring attention to these threatened and important ecosystems.

The granted artists were Karolin Tampere, Eike Eplik, Geir Tore Holm, Hilde Hauan Johnsen, Ingrid Bjørnaali, Magnus Skei Holmen, Simon Daniel Tegnander Wenzel, Søssa Jørgensen, Camilla Fagerli, Andreas Kühne, Polina Medvedeva and Anna Näumann. All participants report on increased collaboration possibilities as a result of their travel.

Marko Kohv shows a core sample of peat. Down in the Bog Sporulation got Mobility funding in 2024. Photo: Karolin Tampere

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