In LEVER project, the partners intend to develop new methods and approaches to revive the areas and secure sustainability by applying the “citizen help citizen” or “peer to peer approach”, where civil society associations and their volunteers from the cross-cultural sector of amateur arts, voluntary culture, and heritage are engaged to provide available and involving arts and culture activities with an added value for civic and democratic participation and community bonding.

This NGO project has been supported by the Nordic Council of Ministers' Programme for NGOs in the Baltic Sea Region. 

The LEVER project main webpage 

Aim and objectives

The overall aim is to promote cross-cultural activities in the sparsely populated communities in the Baltic Sea region with an added value for civic and democratic participation and community bonding.

The objectives are:

- To develop innovative ways of outreach to citizens engaged in arts and culture to become resourceful volunteers (culture boosters) in cross-cultural activities in the local communities.
- To develop high quality learning opportunities tailored to these groups to learn how to initiate and organise local cultural activities with an added value for civic participation and community bonding.
- To develop the know-how and abilities of the voluntary associations in this cross-cultural sector to cooperate with the main local stakeholders to initiate enlivening arts and culture opportunities in the local communities.
- To provide innovative pilot works in 1-2 sparsely populated communities in the participating countries areas.
- To develop appropriate methods to document and validate the practise of the organisations to fulfil these objectives.
- To provide a comprehensive dissemination of the results to the main target groups in the Baltic Sea region. 

Period of implementation: January 2016 – December 2018 

Project partners:

 Interfolk, Institute for Civil Society (Denmark)
www.interfolk.dk 

 National Association of Cultural Councils in Denmark
www.kulturellesamraad.dk

 Finnish Swedish Youth Association (Finland)
www.fsu.fi

 Foundation of Alternative Educational Initiatives (Poland)
www.fundacjaaie.eu

 Lithuanian Castles and Manors association (Lithuania)
www.dvarai.lt 

 "United Way" Belarusian Republican Non-Governmental Organization (Belarus)
http://en.ngo.by