"Local Culture and the EU - How to Collaborate?" was the title of the debate that was held at the National Library Bor, a member of the EUteka Network, on January 25, 2018. This event was an opportunity for representatives of cultural institutions and civil society organizations from this city and the surrounding region to get information about European Union programs aimed at developing cultural, media and other content. On this occasion, two programs were presented: Europe for Citizens and Creative Europe.

Sanja Atanasković Opačić from the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society, which is the national contact point for the implementation of “Europe for Citizens” programme, spoke about the possibilities for applying for the funds within this Programme, while the "Creative Europe" programme was presented by Milan Đorđević, project manager at the Creative Europe Desk Serbia.

Sanja Atanasković Opačić from the Office for Cooperation with Civil Society explained to the attendees that there are two thematic chapters within the program "Europe for Citizens": European Remambrance and Democratic Engagement and Citizen Participation and offered support to interested civil society organizations if they decide to compete within this program.

As this was the first opportunity for the presentation of the Creative Europe program in eastern Serbia, the representative of the Serbian Desk for this program took the opportunity to present basic information about how the program works and also to explain better how to define the theme and other elements of the project. The audience learned that more than 95 cultural projects have been financed by Creative Europe funds in Serbia, and that their value is more than 4.5 million EUR.

"When we talk about which topics from eastern Serbia could be competitive in our program, it is surely your industrial cultural heritage, the landscape of this city and its surroundings from the viewpoint of cultural heritage, socialist architecture, cultural tourism," Milan Đorđević said.

Milan Stefanovic, a member of Tim Evropa, also spoke with the participants, giving them at the beginning basic information about the institutions of the European Union and about the stage in which the negotiation process currently is. In addition, he provided information on the EU support to citizens of Serbia, with a special focus on donations and assistance implemented in eastern Serbia.

A panel discussion at the EUteka Library in Bor was the 33rd public event organized, within the “EUteka - EU in your library” project.