Economic cross-cultural programme with India

The EU-India Economic Cross-Cultural programme aims at promoting mutual understanding and respect for culture as a prerequisite for a long lasting relationship between the European Union and India. Projects under the programme should increase the visibility of the EU in India and that of India in Europe. The programme was launched in February 1997 for a duration of three years plus a possible two years extension. Each year a call for proposals will be published. The first call for proposals closed in December 1997 and the first projects selected under that call started in May 1998. In the first trimester of 1999 the second call for proposals is planned to be launched.

The EU-India Economic Cross-Cultural programme co-finances activities in three key dimensions: university, media and enterprise. Under the university dimension activities eligible for funding include:

• Libraries and databases: activities will focus on the creation, promotion and dissemination of databases of key libraries and archives, complementary to existing ones. Specific objectives related to these activities are to further develop the flow of up-to-date information in both directions between India and Europe in order to facilitate access to information concerning higher education institutions of both regions;
  
  
• Networking of European and Indian study centres: activities will among others be focused on library links and exchange and dissemination of material;
  
  
• Exchange programmes of students, academic staff and personnel;
  
  
• Joint research and development projects.

The following project could be of interest to libraries:

• Jawaharlal Nehru University European Union Studies Programme. The main objective of this project is to build a centre of excellence on European/European Union studies in India. This includes the establishment of a European Documentation Centre and a library on Europe/European Union. The project coordinator is the West European Studies Programme, Centre for American & West European Studies, School of International Studies JNU (India), fax: +91 11 686 5885/686 5886. The project started in April 1998 and will run till the end of 1999.

Created: 29 July 1998
Last updated: 19 January 2004