First open call for proposals for the integrated education fund
Open to: Public schools, kindergartens, teacher training/pedagogical faculties and municipalities.
Funding opportunity: Up to 7000 EUR per application/call
Implementation period: June 2023 - May 2024
Submission deadline: April 30, 2023
Guidelines for Grant Applicants
Building New Bridges
The Building New Bridges (BNB) project builds on the 2014-2021 Building Bridges Fund (BB) which introduced a model for integrated education in North Macedonia by supporting schools, municipalities and civil society organizations (CSOs) to pair children of different backgrounds and languages through joint extra-curricular activities.
This new project further aims at building inclusive societies that cherish and take pride in cultural pluralism and respect for tolerance, dialogue and co-operation, in a climate of mutual trust and understanding as the best guarantees of social peace and security.
The BNB is currently supported by the Kingdom of Norway, the Republic of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg.
Objectives of the Integrated Education Fund (IEF)
The overall objective of the Integrated Education Fund is to strengthen interethnic relations and social cohesion within school environments through increased integrated education practices and inter-cultural exchanges. The Fund aims at increasing inter-ethnic interaction, understanding and integration among children and youth by motivating and financially supporting multilingual schools (primary and secondary), kindergartens and/or paired monolingual schools/kindergartens, with different languages of instruction, as well as pedagogical institutes to implement joint curricular and extra-curricular activities.
The specific objectives of the IEF are:
- To strengthen inter-ethnic relations among children and youth of different language and cultural backgrounds through joint curricular and extra-curricular activities;
- To encourage activities that provide space for inter-ethnic engagement in line with school curricula and ministerial guidelines;
- To support sustainable initiatives that could be easily repeated in the future.
- To instil mutual respect and overcome ethnic stereotypes and prejudices;
- To develop a sense of community and belonging through universal values;
Under the 1st call for proposals, the Building New Bridges Fund provides grants up to 7000 Euro for eligible schools, teacher training faculties and municipalities, and up to 3500 Euro for kindergartens for project proposals implemented between June 2023 and May 2024.
The Application Package
The Application package can be downloaded through the site of the Ministry of Education and Science in Macedonian, Albanian and English languages. Applications must be submitted in English. A version in Macedonian and/or Albanian can be provided in addition to the English one. The deadline for the Call is April 30, 2023.
Applications can be submitted directly to: BNB.mk@osce.org
Tutorial support: The Building New Bridges project team provides technical support to all applicants in the form of tutorials during the submission period. Please submit your request for technical support by writing to the above address. Your email subject line should be “BNB application tutorial support needed.” The email should state the type of support that is required.
Evaluation Procedure: Applications are firstly reviewed by the Executive Office of the BNB Fund to determine their eligibility. An independent Advisory Board will ultimately make awarding decisions.
For any questions regarding the open call, please contact BNB.mk@osce.org