The Lithuanian Council for Culture, taking into account the proposals of the members of the Regional Councils for Culture and representatives of the Association of Lithuanian Municipalities, intends to update the procedure for calculating the quotas for the counties of the program "Even Cultural Development". We hope that it will enter into force for the 2025 tenders and will help to ensure more even and equitable funding for all counties.
The members of the Regional Council for Culture, together with the Association of Lithuanian Municipalities, initiated the renewal of the quota calculation
Some members of the Regional Councils for Culture, together with representatives of the Association of Lithuanian Municipalities, called for the procedure for calculating quotas to be updated. The Lithuanian Council for Culture conducted a survey in which 95 per cent participated. Members of regional cultural councils. The results of the survey revealed that opinions on changing the quota model were almost equally divided: 38 members proposed not to change anything, 36 – to change the procedure for setting quotas, and 6 gave ambiguous answers. In the light of these results, the Lithuanian Council for Culture decided to continue the review of the quota calculation.
Regional quota calculation in neighboring countries – Lithuania's most complex model
At the beginning of August, a remote meeting of the Regional Councils for Culture, the Ministry of Culture, the Association of Lithuanian Municipalities and the Lithuanian Council for Culture took place. In it, martynas Tininis, a senior analyst at the Council, presented a comparison of the calculation of quotas for counties in Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia, as well as possible variants of the "Even Cultural Development" model.
"When we compare regional programs in the three Baltic states, we note that the budget of the Latvian program is significantly smaller – only 690 thousand. and Estonia, similar to Lithuania, amounts to EUR 3.47 million. Euro. However, in Estonia, these funds are allocated not only to initiatives of organizations, but also to scholarships, financing and sports. Meanwhile, in Lithuania, the quota is EUR 3.35 million. Euro. Lithuania is distinguished by the fact that it has co-financing of municipalities as an indicator of quotas, in Latvia expert assessment is used, and in Estonia - the number of organizations. In neighbouring countries, the basic funding is applied, with a fixed subquota being allocated equally among the regions. The calculation of quotas for the three Baltic States is similar in that the Lithuania, like the Estonia, pays attention to the socio-economic and demographic situation of the regions with 12 indicators of the social climate index. Estonians allocate this part of the quota based on the number of inhabitants and purchasing power in the regions. And in Latvia, special attention is paid to the Latgale region, where the national identity is weaker," M. Tininis presented.
The future quota model is more even and responsive to the efforts of municipalities
The current quota of the programme is EUR 3.35 million. and it is divided into four parts: 45% of the funds are allocated according to the need for financing expressed in the applications of organizations, 40.5% – municipal co-financing, 4.5% – the ratio of municipal co-financing compared to the funds provided by the Lithuanian Council for Culture, and 10% – according to the social climate index calculated for circles with poorer social, demographic and economic indicators.
The quota model presented for further consideration would be divided into three parts. First of all, there would be basic funding under the social climate index. Instead of a 10% quota for certain counties, 20% of the funds would be allocated to all the counties. Secondly, it is proposed that the total "weight" should go to the co-financing ratio of municipalities, which would be 40%, instead of the current 4.5%. Thus encouraging the contribution of municipalities to the financing of culture and evaluating efforts to invest in it in each county. Thirdly, 40% of the funds would be allocated according to the need for funding and/or another indicator, such as an individual peer review, the number of residents or organisations that submitted applications, or perhaps an indicator made up of the last two – the number of organisations per 1 000 inhabitants.
This distribution of quota proportions (40-40-20%) was welcomed by the members of the Regional Council for Culture. During the remote meeting, some of them said that the updated indicators for calculating quotas are more objective and encourage them to think about a fairer distribution of funds to all regions.
In the near future, the last survey of the members of the Regional Councils for Culture will take place, in which they will express their views on the final indicators of the funding quota. After that, the meeting of the members of the Lithuanian Council for Culture will make a decision on the renewal of the procedure for calculating quotas for counties, after discussing it with the political team of the Ministry of Culture. The new quota calculation procedure is expected to enter into force for the 2025 programme tenders.