Furthering entrepreneurship programmes in culture

The measure lmprovement of Entrepreneurship Programmes in Culture is implemented through a Public Call. The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Economy, Labour and Entrepreneurship are responsible for implementation. State aid beneficiaries are small enterprises engaged in activities in culture - trades, small and medium-sized enterprises and cooperatives as defined by the Small Business Development Promotion Act, institutions (except for public institutions) according to the Institutions Act, freelance artists, art organizations and cultural institutions which conduct cultural-entrepreneurship projects pursuant to the Law on Financing Public Needs in Culture with positive business results (except for business entities which have just set up a business), have headquarters on the territory of the Republic of Croatia, have at least one employee employed under unlimited duration, including the owner (except for free-lance artists and art organizations ), have been operating for at least one month prior to the release of the Public Call, have a new trade registration with the beginning of operation, have settled their obligations towards the state and have justified approved state aid funds from previous years.

Areas in culture promoted under the Project are music and performing arts, drama arts, books and publishing, visual arts, new media culture, international cultural cooperation and European integration, cultural and artistic amateurism, investments, protection and preservation of cultural goods, museum and gallery activities and film industry. Financing under grant state aid is possible for the following business activities:

• procurement of IT equipment, software and multimedia equipment, courses, seminars and workshops (investment in knowledge for professional development, including new technologies in culture) ;
• promotional material, market research, brand and visual identity creation, Internet marketing - creation and updating of web pages, banner ads ;
• leasing space for organization of cultural activities (fairs, exhibitions, etc.) - not applying to leased space in the ownership of state institutions or local and regional selfgovernment units ;
• covering part of costs of external experts in the implementation of the entrepreneurial project in culture ;
• co-financing of projects and programmes specific for entrepreneurship in culture (drafting project documentation and studies and other relative project costs). The lowest individual state aid in the project amounts to 20,000 Kuna while the highest amounts to 100,000 Kuna. The programme can finance up to 85 % of eligible costs.

The project Preserving Traditional Arts and Crafts enables entrepreneurs to obtain grants for the preservation and development of less profitable craft activities of traditional arts and crafts predominantly handmade and characterized by products and services of high aesthetic value and quality design i.e. to implement training programmes on traditional arts and crafts. Financing under grant state aid is possible for the following activities:

• procurement of tools and equipment needed to enhance the manufacturing process besides procurement of raw materials and means of transport;
• improvement of working conditions in workshops;
• services of engaging external entities in product development (analysing and product testing, the cost of acquiring the traditional i.e. art trade label, innovation in product design, production of packaging, etc.) ;
• education/vocational training of employees for the purpose of enriching the knowledge and skills in traditional crafts;
• participation at trade, entrepreneurial and other fairs in the Republic of Croatia (lease and furnishing of exhibition a rea).

Grants are approved in the amount of 10,000 to 80,000 Kuna.

ln 2011, 308 applications for the programme Entrepreneurship in Culture were received and 128 grants were approved for trade associations, associations, and free-lance artists and art organizations in the amount of 4 million Kuna. ln addition to these measures of the ministries, incentive programmes for entrepreneurship in culture are also conducted by business communities, the Croatian Chamber of Trades and Crafts and the Croatian Chamber of Economy. At the regional and local self-government level some counties, cities and municipalities, alone or in cooperation with other organizations, carry out various incentive programmes (relief for producers, organization of special events, promotional activities, etc.) for entrepreneurship in culture.

Challenges identified in the implementation of this measure: The four-year implementation of the programme proved the programme to be well
accepted by those engaged in entrepreneurship in culture. Although the implementation of the project is monitored mainly from the aspect of meeting formal requirements, its results and impacts are not assessed. The overall assessment of the position in development of entrepreneurship based on culture is that, despite initiated programmes and incentive measures, initial good results, support of a number of organizations at various levels, ranging from local to state and civil society level, successful examples of entrepreneurial ventures confirmed on the global market, it is still far below the capacities national culture and cultural heritage provide as a developmental potential for sustainable usage.