EureCA'T!, an innovative call for cultural ideas to activate the social use of Catalan

BarcelonaThe Carulla Foundation promotes EureCA'T!, an open call for innovative cultural ideas whose primary objective is to promote the use of Catalan. The goal is to activate new creative proposals that make Catalan a living, everyday, and shared language. The initiative offers training, expert guidance, and financial support.

Applications can be submitted until June 18. through the Foundation's websiteArtists, cultural managers, non-profit organizations, educational centers, and cultural projects are welcome to apply. Ideas can be delivered in person or digitally and must seek a real and sustained impact on the use of Catalan. Digital proposals, on the other hand, are designed for digital environments, such as projects that utilize social media, apps, interactive platforms, or other digital tools to promote the use of Catalan.

"We need new ideas to expand the social use of Catalan. Culture is a great opportunity to do so, and private foundations have the responsibility and freedom to take risks and sow seeds that make new horizons possible," says Marta Esteve, director of the Carulla Foundation.

The ideas competition format allows for the rapid identification of transformative cultural projects and their ongoing guidance to bring the initiative to life. In the first phase, a total of 20 proposals will be selected to participate in an intensive prototyping program, where they will receive practical training, mentoring, and expert support valued at €10,000, allowing them to analyze, develop, and improve their proposals. In this phase, the foundation aims to create spaces for exchange to foster connections, alliances, and communities among the participating proposals.

Of these 20 proposals, 10 will be finalists and will enter an entrepreneurship phase that will allow them to develop their ideas and evaluate their viability and impact. Finally, two winning ideas will be chosen (one in-person and one digital), which will receive a grant of €5,000 and a residency at the Carulla Foundation headquarters. Upon completion of this process, an evaluation committee will assess the maturity of the ideas and, if they are deemed to have real potential, they will be eligible for additional funding of €15,000 to make their implementation viable. A jury composed of representatives from the Carulla Foundation, the Puntcat Foundation, the Autoocupació Foundation, Adhoc Cultura, and La Fera will select the finalists and winning projects.

Transformation tool

This project is part of the Carulla Foundation's objectives of strengthening the Catalan language and culture through creative initiatives, the construction of active cultural communities, and the promotion of cultural rights. EureCA'T! was created with the aim of responding to one of today's greatest challenges: recovering and expanding the everyday use of the language in all areas of life.

In mid-May, the National Language Pact was signed, with the aim of protecting Catalan, reversing the loss of speakers, and expanding its social use in all settings and areas of daily life in Catalonia. The Pact sets nine major objectives in 21 specific areas, with the goal of increasing the number of people who can speak Catalan by at least 600,000 by 2030. According to the latest available data (2023), there are currently 5,454,700 speakers over the age of 14 residing in Catalonia.

Faced with this collective challenge, EureCA'T! is committed to creativity and cultural action as a driving force to revitalize the use of Catalan in everyday life. With this call, the Carulla Foundation reaffirms its commitment to the language as a tool for social transformation and opens a space for the development of ideas that help consolidate its use in all spheres of life.