STEP Beyond Travel Grants

STEP Beyond Travel Grant funds emerging artists and cultural workers to explore and to exchange views, skills and inspiration.

STEP Beyond Travel grants fund up-and-coming artists and cultural workers - with a priority to individuals up to 35 years and/or in the first 10 years of their career - to travel between EU and countries bordering the EU.

Since 2003, STEP  - which stands for ‘Supporting Travel for European Partnerships’ - Beyond Travel Grants have supported the movement of hundreds of people across European borders by providing between €250 and €700. In 2011, we awarded 261 individual travel grants of between €250 and €700.

Funding mobility and exchange links closely to ECF’s overall objectives and specifically to our European Neighbourhood programme, which currently works with organisations in Moldova, Ukraine and Turkey. Also high on our agenda is support for people and projects in the following countries: Algeria, Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Palestinian Territories, Syria and Tunisia. We especially welcome applications for STEP Beyond Travel Grants from these regions.

Where we fund

We support artists and cultural workers based in one of the following countries: Albania,  Algeria, Andorra, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Belarus, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Egypt, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Israel, Ireland, Italy, Kosovo, Jordan, Latvia, Lebanon, Libya, Lichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia (FYROM), Malta, Moldova, Monaco, Montenegro, Morocco, The Netherlands, Norway, Palestinian Territories, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, San Marino, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine and the United Kingdom.

For all the eligible travel directions please see the How to apply guidelines below.

Supported by STEP Beyond Travel Grants

Papergirl is an art project from Berlin initiated by Aisha Ronniger. The art project is taking place in various cities across Europe including Istanbul, Manchester, Glasgow and Bristol.

Papergirl © Stefanie Bühlmaier

In the style of American paper-boys, rolls of art are being distributed by bicycle to random passers-by on the streets -  giving free art away and involving different communities in experiencing art.

How to apply, application form and deadlines

Not sure if you are eligible? Try out our eligiblity wizard to find out whether you should apply!

For more information on how to apply, a list of eligible countries and travel destinations, and to access the application form, go to the "how to apply guidelines". This ‘how to apply’ PDF booklet is also available in Russian but please note that the final application has to be in English.

There is no deadline for this grant scheme, it operates on a rolling basis, so you can apply at any time. The selection process takes up to one month (but can take longer during holiday periods).

Promote us and join us

If you would like to promote our STEP Beyond Travel grant, go here to download banners for your website or your blog. For more on Step Beyond grantees have a look at our online community at Rhiz.eu. 

STEP Beyond Travel Grants from/to the countries of South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) and Turkey are jointly funded with the Open Society Foundation (OSF).