West Nordic Capital Fund

Allocation

Applications will be accepted from 8 February through 1 April. Applications received later will not be taken for consideration.

Applications for grants from the fund

Grants from the fund can be applied for early in the year and are awarded annually. The grants are advertised on the Reykjavík City website and social media, and in major newspapers. To apply, individuals must use the appropriate forms found on the websites of the capital cities and provide information about their projects, estimated financial expenditure, and amounts requested. Grant recipients must use their funding within the calendar year of the grant and return any unused funds. At the end of the project, grant beneficiaries must submit a report to the Fund together with a financial statement.

• Download the application form

About the West Nordic Capital Fund

The Reykjavik City Council acceded to the cooperation fund of Nuuk, Reykjavík, and Tórshavn on July 20, 1999. The Fund was originally managed according to rules from June 18, 1999, which were revised in 2012, giving it its’ current name West Nordic Capital Fund (I. Vestnorræni höfuðborgarsjóðurinn). Members of the fund are Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq (Nuuk) in Greenland, Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands, and Reykjavík City.

Purpose and objectives

The mission of the fund is to promote cooperation and understanding between politicians and residents in Reykjavík, Tórshavn, and Kommuneqarfik Sermersooq (Nuuk) through grants for cultural, educational, and sporting projects.

Composition of the Board and meetings

The Board of the Fund is composed of the mayors of the three capitals, along with two elected representatives from each city. The Board meets once a year, rotating between the three capitals, to allocate the year's grants. Board meetings are typically held in the spring or early summer, in May or June.

On February 8, 2024, the City Council nominated Mayor Einar Þorsteinsson and City Councilors Dóra Björt Guðjónsdóttir and Kjartan Magnússon, as representatives of Reykjavík City, to serve on the Board of the Fund until the end of the 2022-2026 election period.

• More about the Board of the West Nordic Capital Fund

Financial contributions, grant amounts and allocations

Each capital city contributes 200,000 DKK to the Fund on annual basis. The total available funds for allocation in the year of 2024, will be 900,000 DKK. The allocation process occurs at a board meeting where each city presents the applications it has received and makes proposals for allocation from its share of the funds to those projects. On occasion, the Board allocates more than the combined annual contribution of the cities, using unused funding from previous years, as will be the case for 2024.

Under this arrangement, the board representatives of Reykjavík City will submit a proposal for the allocation of 300.000 DKK to projects that have been received in Reykjavík. The representatives consult with experts at the Department of Culture and Sport and rely on their assessment to make their recommendations. The evaluation process focuses on whether projects meet the essential requirements of the Fund. Most of the time, the amount allocated is divided into smaller grants for various projects, but occasionally it has been decided to grant the total amount to a single project.

Management of the Fund

The Office of the Mayor and Chief Executive Officer at Reykjavík City Hall manages the Fund on behalf of the City of Reykjavík, including communications with applicants and grant recipients in Reykjavík. The City Council in Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands is responsible for overseeing the payment of grants, as well as the preparation and review of annual accounts and reports.