FAQ Call for Action 2023

The DRAUSSENSTADT - Call for Action funding will be available online for application from 6 April 2023 until 23 April 2023, 11:59pm. The application process is completely digital. This means that the online application form does not have to be submitted by post.

The DRAUSSENSTADT - Call for Action is aimed at Berlin-based freelancers and solo self-employed cultural actors as well as associations, groups, companies and other legal entities from the cultural and creative sector. They must submit a concept for a cultural event in a publicly accessible location in Berlin and be able to implement it outdoors and free of charge for the public by December 31, 2023. With early start of measures ("vorzeitiger Maßnahmenbeginn"), events can take place from June 1, 2023.

Note: Some Berlin state institutions (nachgestellte Einrichtungen des Landes Berlin) are excluded from funding.

Organizers can use an online form on http://www.draussenstadt-call-for-action.berlin to submit an application for individual events or series of events in the period from 6 April 2023 until 23 April 2023, 11:59 pm. Please register beforehand. An independent jury will then decide on the selection of the applications. 

Funding is available for art and cultural events (individual events or series of events) such as concerts, performances, theater events, dance, readings that take place outdoors and do not charge admission. Formats such as exhibitions or audio walks are also eligible in principle if they include a joint event (e.g. a public tour).

The standard funding amount is up to €25,000 for events. Up to €40,000 can be applied for additional requirements such as accessibility measures (Maßnahmen zum Barriere-Abbau).

1.2 million euros will be allocated for the organisation of events.

Applications will be recommended for funding by a jury. The names of the jury will be announced here as soon as possible. The „Stiftung für Kulturelle Weiterbildung und Kulturberatung“ will then prepare and submit the funding recommendation and the grant notification. There is no entitlement to funding.

Please note that you must submit a new application for the newly issued Call for Action 2023. You can apply with the same event idea or you are welcome to apply with a new idea.

Applications can be submitted by individuals (sole proprietors, freelancers, and solo self-employed) and legal entities such as companies, associations, federations, collectives, etc. in Berlin. Individuals do not have to have their primary residence in Berlin, but they must have their main place of living or working in Berlin. They have to be at least 18 years old at the time of application submission.

Persons under 18 years of age are not eligible to submit an application. Also some Berlin state institutions (nachgeordnete Einrichtungen des Landes Berlin) are not eligible.

Yes. Please note that if you receive a grant, you must open a separate account or sub-account into which the grant can be deposited.

Yes.

Yes. However, additional funding for the same project from other DRAUSSENSTADT funds is excluded. This means that the event(s) may not receive funding from the following programs at the same time: "BESD program" (district artistic projects in urban space), "Kultursommer" or "Berliner Projektfonds Urbane Praxis".

The application is submitted via an online form on this website.Create a personal account. After your registration, fill in the application form. After successfully completing the form, uploading the required documents and submitting the online application, you will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt by e-mail with a copy of the application and the application number. This year, the application does not need to be submitted by post. The confirmed online receipt is sufficient in this case.

Applications may be submitted from 6 April 2023 until 23 April 2023 (11.59 pm).

Please note: The timing of your application during the application period has no effect on the procedure. All formally reviewed and complete applications will be processed equally. Therefore, please use the entire submission period.

Yes, the online application form is available in German and English and can be completed in both German and English.

Please note: supplementary documents, for example on approval procedures, as well as the funding guidelines are only available in German. In addition, in the case your event will get the funding, all other documents such as declarations of consent, calls for funds, proof of use, etc. are available exclusively on German.

The online form can be read by a screen reader.

To fill out the application form you need to register [link follows]. If you are logged in, you can edit and cache the form at any time. Once the form is completely filled out and you click on "Submit Form", you will no longer have access to the form with your data. A PDF is then automatically generated from the completed form and sent to you by mail.

In order to process the application, personal details (surname, first name, address, e-mail, website) must be provided.

In the case of legal entities, a contact person must be named in addition to details of the company and a person authorized to represent it. In addition, a valid excerpt from the commercial register, register of associations, etc. must be uploaded.

The application form also asks the following:

• Title
• Description of the event: What is it about? What steps are planned to organize and carry out the event? How will the event be promoted? (4 000 characters including spaces)
• What steps are planned to reduce barriers? (3,000 characters including spaces)
• Number of people/artists involved (e.g., number of people who will be on stage), number of expected visitors
• Planned event dates/period
• Is a hygiene and safety concept in place? Has waste disposal (or other sustainability measures) been taken into consideration? Is the possibility to use sanitary facilities available?
• Where is the event to take place?
  • In order to assess the feasibility of the project, at least the (initial) communication with responsible offices for obtaining permits or self-declarations for permission to use areas must be uploaded here.

The application must also list the costs and potential income or further funding for the event. Material costs (incl. fees and charges such as Gema or KSK) and fee/personnel costs can be specified. The listing is made in individual items and then added up in the form. Please note that you may be liable for value-added tax.

1) In the case of legal entities, please enclose the relevant evidence, e.g. extract from the commercial register/register of associations, shareholders' agreement, articles of association, current notice of exemption (max. 2 MB, pdf file).

2) Approval of the event or application for approval of the event or declaration with detailed justification that the event can take place without approval (max. 5 MB, docx-, pdf-file)

You should describe in detail and in a clear way your concept/idea and the planned implementation of the event(s). Please note that your event(s) must take place until 31. December 2021 in publicly accessible places, outside and free of charge for the public. There is also another field in the form in which you can/must provide information on the removal of barriers in the context of your event(s).

In particular, you should consider the following funding criterias:

Artistic design

• i.e. event formats of different artistic genres are supported. 

Special consideration will be given to projects that appeal to a broad audience and use the urban space as a venue for cultural events, even under limited circumstances

Barrier reduction

• i.e. the events should be designed with as few barriers as possible and thus be accessible to people with different needs. The free events should be visible in the urban space and communicated in a variety of ways.

Feasibility

• i.e. the events can also be realized under the currently limited possibilities and observe the applicable measures, regulations and required permits

The jury is made up of diverse experts. The jury decides on the basis of the funding guidelines and in particular the funding criterias. The name of the jury members will be published soon. The applications will then be reviewed by the Stiftung für Kulturelle Weiterbildung und Kulturberatung and, in case of funding, will be published here, probably in the week after Pentecost (22nd calendar week).

Jury members 2023

• Dana Cermane is a blogger, performer, actor and filmmaker. As a socio-political activist Dana deals with queer issues, the (legal) equality of sign language, deaf culture and youth issues. Dana was active for many years as a board member of the deaf youth association jubel3 mit Gebärdensprache e.V. and is co-founder of the Queer-Referat der Deutschen Gehörlosen-Jugend e.V. At the same time, Dana is doing her self-administered high school diploma. Dana loves to question and discuss discrimination mechanisms, the education system and capitalism. Dana runs the Instagram channel @dana.cermane, in which Dana deals with adultism, hearing privilege and sexuality in sign language videos and makes a name for themself as a taboo breaker.
• Grace Kelly is not only a DJ, producer and director, but also a musician and singer of the women's band Rainhas do Norte. She is a member of a group of Brazilian activists* in Berlin, co-founded the queer party collective ¡MASH UP! - Multigender/Multiworld and organizes, among others, the first F.L.I.N.T. Pride in Berlin with the queer-feminist OYA collective.
• Pamela Owusu-Brenyah aka DJ PAM BAM! advocates for the visibility of contemporary Afro-pop culture in Germany. The Berlin-based music consultant, festival organizer and DJ, works as a curator at Pop-Kultur Festival. With her community platform AFRO x POP, she organizes annual festivals where she offers a stage to emerging artists of the Afro-German scene. She indulges her commitment to young musicians at Musicboard Berlin. In the summer of 2021, the Afropop expert shot her first documentary film project. For "ADIKORO", she traveled to Ghana and interviewed artists and players from the music business.
• Natalia Irina Roman is an urban researcher, artist and curator, with a background in visual arts and public policy. She has lived and worked in Berlin since 2006. With her projects, she shapes public space and participates in debates on it, for example as a speaker or moderator in discussions on space-making, public art or co-housing. Her initiative Along the Lines can be found under #gesternstellwerk on Instagram and on Facebook. Along the Lines deals with the transformation of former signal boxes into art spaces for rail travellers, and began thanks to funding from the Hauptstadtkulturfonds. More at www.nataliairinaroman.eu.
• Jessica Schmidt is in charge of club and subculture topics at the largest electronic music radio station SUNSHINE LIVE. She also hosts the Nachtschatten podcast about drugs and nightlife, the most successful safer use podcast in Germany, which is realized in cooperation with SONAR - Safer Nightlife Berlin. In theTresenTalk podcast she discusses with colleague Zoe and Aktuer:innen of the Berlin club and culture industry on relevant topics of the night economy. In addition to her work as a journalist and moderator, Jessica Schmidt was also responsible for the press and public relations of various club and cultural formats such as the nightlife conference STADT NACH ACHT or the Nachhaltigkeitsinitiarive Clubtopia and until 2019 she was the CEO of the non-commercial internet radio station BLN.FM.
• Erec Schumacher is an author, visual artist, editor, curator and activist. Co-organizer of the event series KOOKread, board member of KOOK e.V. and Bündnis Freie Szene Berlin e.V., member of the speaker's circle of the Coalition of the Free Scene and the Network of the Free Literary Scene Berlin e.V.
• Constantin F. Stimmer, M.A., is a music theorist and composer, lecturer in music theory at the Hanns Eisler Academy of Music and the renowned Barenboim-Said Academy Berlin. He is also active as a (film) composer and has worked with the Kammermusikensemble für Neue Musik Berlin (KNM), the Sächsische Bläserphilharmonie, and the orchestra of the Komische Oper Berlin, among others, for a silent film production by Arte/ZDF (Kino Pravda, 2017).
• Dorothee Wenner lives as a freelance filmmaker, curator and author in Berlin.  She works as an external curator for film/cinema for the Humboldt Forum, among others, and as a delegate of the Berlinale for the sub-Saharan Africa region. Since its inception in 2005, Dorothee Wenner has been part of the jury of the Lagos-based African Movie Academy Awards. As a filmmaker, she most recently realized the web series KINSHASA COLLECTION (www.kinshasa-collection.com).
• Stephen Willaredt studied media sciences, theater sciences and applied computer science at the University of Bayreuth and event technology and management at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences. Already during his studies he created his first own lighting designs and theater productions. After completing his master's degree, he was part of the technical team at the Heimathafen Neukölln in Berlin for two years. There he was responsible for the lighting design of several in-house productions and supervised trainees and interns.  Stephen Willaredt is a member of the Initiative Barrierefrei Feiern.

Whether the total sum of the costs is shown as gross (brutto) or net (netto) in the financing plan depends on whether the applicant or organization is entitled to deduct input tax.

Entitled to deduct input tax means that you can invoice sales tax yourself and then pass it on to the responsible tax office. Therefore, in these cases, the sales tax is deducted accordingly in the cost and financing plan and calculated with net amounts. Freelancers and small businesses that are exempt from VAT are therefore not entitled to deduct input tax and must calculate with gross amounts in the cost and financing plan.

If an input tax deduction entitlement exists: Enter the amounts in net

If there is no entitlement to deduct input tax: Indicate the amounts in gross

If you are unsure whether you are entitled to deduct input tax, consult your tax advisor or ask the tax office.

Yes. In that case, please indicate in the application only the costs for the part of the event that you would like to finance through the Call for Action. Then outline in the concept the context of the overall event and the part of the co-funding. Excluded from co-funding are projects that are already funded by other funds of the DRAUSSENSTADT initiative such as BESD, Kultursommer and Berliner Projektfonds Urbane Praxis 2023.

Please note: In case of co-funding, the conditions of the Call for Action then apply to the entire event: free and outdoors, located in Berlin at publicly accessible locations with an audience, and to be held by December 31, 2023.

No. The event should be planned for June 2022 at the earliest.

Yes. What is relevant is that the event itself remains admission-free for the audience. In the case of catering, please note that you may need to obtain a bar permit. Income (and any associated expenses) such as this does not have to be stated in the application, but must be reported to the tax office.

Yes. Since the event is to take place in publicly accessible places and outdoors, permits are required, which you can apply for at the responsible district office (Bezirksamt).

Especially for events with amplified music, an additional permit must be obtained from the Environmental Office (Umweltamt, application is due at least four weeks before the event): Application for permit or exemption from noise regulations - Berlin.de

The Stiftung für Kulturelle Weiterbildung und Kulturberatung is not responsible for permits.

First, you must clarify whether the event is to take place on public street land/green space or on private (but publicly accessible) land. For events on a.) public street land/green space, a permit must be obtained from the responsible district office (Bezirksamt), i.e. the district office in the district the event ist to take place. If the event is to be held on private property, a permission must be obtained from the owner (usually through the property management company). Information on the required documents, the requirements for an event permit and the responsible district offices can be found here: https://service.berlin.de/dienstleistung/324911/

Watch here our info session about permits and legal procedures with Kreativ Kultur Berlin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBGd9c_F0U

For events at which (not self-composed) music is played, the registration with GEMA and the fees incurred must also be taken into account.

Costs incurred as part of an event registration/implementation can also be budgeted in the financial plan.

Further information for outdoor events in the city can also be found in the „Freiraum Fibel“ (Open Space Primer BBSR) and the checklist of the Berliner Projekfonds Urbane Praxis.

Yes, you must pay for the reviewing the application as well as for subsequent approval. Therefore we recommend: Before you submit a fee-based application to the responsible offices for a "Lärmschutzprüfung", call the employees of the responsible offices (for example, the Straßen- und Grünflächenamt). Ask informally whether the event would even be possible at this location. Unfortunately, as soon as you submit an official application, processing fees will also be incurred by the Umwelt- und Naturschutzamt - regardless of whether you hold the event or not. This means that even if you do not receive funding from us and wish to withdraw the application for approval, you will still have to pay the processing fee.

Yes, you are the organizer and therefore responsible, and, in case of doubt, also to be held liable. This also means that the organizer is responsible for the safety of the participants and, if necessary, must also arrange for a security service and liability insurance and must also take care of the cleaning after the event.

In that case, one option would be to reschedule to a later date within the implementation period. Before rescheduling your event, you must contact the „Stiftung für Kulturelle Weiterbildung und Kulturberatung“.

No. No, the application can be processed only before sending

Try again at a later date. If necessary, contact us via the information telephone or by e-mail.

Please check your SPAM mailbox first. If you have not received a confirmation e-mail there either, please contact the info phone or send us an e-mail.

Yes. Depending on your browser settings, you can continue processing the form at a later time. Your browser must save cookies. This is not possible in private mode, for example. Please check in time whether your browser saves your entries locally.

In case of technical problems, check if your browser is up to date or try it in another browser.

Yes, by e-mail, directly after submitting the form. Please note: Submission of an application does not automatically imply funding approval.

The jury's decisions are published on our website after the selection process has been completed. The applicants will also be informed as soon as possible by e-mail about an acceptance or rejection.

Applications will be processed as quickly as possible and evaluated by the jury. Please understand that due to the unpredictability of the application situation, no binding date can be given for the announcement of the selected applications. The target is calender week 22.

The funds are disbursed through the "Mittelabruf". You will receive the corresponding form with the grant notification.

The permits can be submitted via eMail to draussenstadt.call@stiftungkwk.berlin as soon as possible.

Please inform the „Stiftung für Kulturelle Weiterbildung und Kulturberatung“ immediately. If the event cannot be held in whole or in part due to the fault of the organizer, there is no entitlement to the funding. In the event of total or partial non-performance by the organizer, any funding already transferred must be repaid to the „Stiftung für Kulturelle Weiterbildung und Kulturberatung“.

You must publish your funded events in the event calendar of the DRAUSSENSTADT platform (www.draussenstadt.berlin), provided the format allows it. More information will come with the grant notification.

Contact us to answer specific questions by email at: draussenstadt.call@stiftungkwk.berlin. 

During the application period, there is an info phone for brief advice on Tuesday 10 to 12h and Wednesday 15 to 17h.

The info phone can be reached during the consultation hours at the following number:

+49 (0)30 3030444-57