Half of Mongolia’s population lives in Ulaanbaatar (translates into “Red Hero”), one of the most polluted capitals in the world. To change this critical situation, the project team in Mongolia has initiated Nogoonbaatar (“Green Hero”), the first eco-art festival in the country:

Nogoonbaatar uses art to inform people of the effects of air pollution, to educate about protective behaviours, and to showcase best practices for a less-polluting lifestyle. The festival adopts a “people-to-people” approach: both the events and the preceding artistic process will be co-creations of three EU artists in residence, nine local artists, environmental educators, and the local population.

The project is a common endeavour of the following partners: the Arts Council of Mongolia and the Mongolia State University of Arts and Culture, the European Union Delegation to Mongolia, and EUNIC members Embassy of the Czech Republic, Alliance Française d'Oulan Bator, and Goethe-Institut Mongolia.

Nogoonbaatar is a project within European 'Houses' of Culture, which aims to test and implement innovative models of collaboration in culture between European actors – EUNIC members and EU Delegations – and local partners in non-EU countries, delivering the EU strategy on international cultural relations. European 'Houses' of Culture is a Preparatory Action initiated by the European Parliament, implemented by EUNIC in close collaboration with the European Commission and the European External Action Service. EUNIC – European Union National Institutes for Culture – is Europe's network of national cultural institutes, with 36 members from all EU Member States.

EUNIC members work in the arts, languages, youth, education, science, society, intercultural dialogue and development. At a local level, EUNIC members join together in over 100 clusters - in cities, regions, and countries - to collaborate on common projects and programmes and to promote the role of culture in the EU’s internal and external relations. The EUNIC Global Office in Brussels supports the work of EUNIC clusters around the world.

Only five pilot projects have been selected out of 42 eligible applications coming from all corners of the world, involving 30 EUNIC members, 39 EU delegations and 121 local partners. The selection of pilot projects was based on a list of selection criteria developed by EUNIC Global and on the principles of cultural relations. https://www.eunicglobal.eu/news/european-houses-of-culture-5-pilot-projects-selected

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