Świętokrzyskie region is a partner of an interregional project „KEEP ON – Effective policies for durable and self-sustainable projects in the cultural heritage sector”, which is being implemented within the frameworks of Interreg Europe programme.
Project partners from countries such as Croatia, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Portugal and Italy created a successful network and have been jointly working on the „Keep On” project since June 2018.
The aim of this 5-year initiative is to support the region's policy of creating conditions for more efficient use of existing cultural infrastructure and heritage resources by developing, in a transnational partnership, a Regional Action Plan, which will consequently serve as a supporting tool in the evaluation process of the regional operational programme for Świętokrzyskie Region in the context of the use of EU funds in the financial perspective 2021-2027.
As a result of the project, the Regional Action Plan was created, developed and finally accepted by the Regional Board of the Świętokrzyskie Region on 28th of July 2021 and officially signed by Mr Andrzej Bętkowski, Marshal of the Świętokrzyskie Region.
The document provides an analysis and improvement of regional policy in the field of cultural heritage. The scope of three measures identified in the Action Plan is based on past experience and best practices in the field of sustainable development in the preservation and use of cultural heritage, developed as part of the “Keep On” project. Polish partner, the Świętokrzyskie Region, focused on three activities that will influence the regional policy instrument, i.e, „European Funds for Świętokrzyskie region 2021 – 2027” ” in section: priotity 5 “Świetokrzyskie for the citizens”, 4th policy objective: “A more social and inclusive Europe”:
1. Implementation of a wider spectrum of project types in the 2021-2027 financial perspective.
2. New territorial provisions taking into account the impact on the local community.
3. Including cultural institutions and institutions managing cultural heritage sites in the catalogue of beneficiaries of activities not directly related to the cultural heritage sector.
In the period from September- November 2021 there were 13 public open social consultations in the region during which the whole document was presented and discussed with local society, including the Keep On project regional stakeholders. Moreover, on 28th of October 2021 was organized dissemination event which informed and promoted the results of the Keep On project. After collecting all the suggestions during public consultations, the Regional Board of Świętokrzyskie Region accepted the report from consultations and in March 2022 sent to the European Commision the official draft of the regional document „European Funds for Świętokrzyskie 2021-2027” which included all three activities that were result of KEEP ON project.
Polish partner received from the European Commission some remarks and suggestions in June 2022 and at this point there have been raised no objections on the provisions concerning the activities of the KEEP ON project.
So, at this moment Świętokrzyskie Region is facing official negotiations of the programme with European Commision, which will take place in autumn 2022, but we are very optimistic about the results of the KEEP ON project.
The KEEP ON project is implemented within the framework of the European Regional Development Fund, the Interreg Europe program 2014-2020, in partnership with seven European countries, where the Świętokrzyskie Region – Marshal’s Office of the Świętokrzyskie Region is the only Polish partner in the project.
