"The Procurement-Bridge/Upphandlingsbryggan" is an initiative aimed at empowering stakeholders in the realm of public art and enhancing their understanding of rules and procedures pertaining to public culture projects. Participants engaged in public culture processes have actively participated in dialogues and received education on rules, processes, and improved selection criteria with the ultimate goal of elevating the quality and quantity of public art-projects. Furthermore, our objective is to facilitate smoother and higher-quality procurement processes. By doing so, the project endeavors to alleviate the daily workload for all involved parties.
There is a significant demand for advice and assistance among focus groups, particularly among artists. These artists face limited opportunities for support despite their active engagement in a challenging field. Additionally, officials tasked with providing aid have restricted time and often face pressure from their organizations to operate on tight budgets and prioritize local artists. Consequently, they frequently work with no extra support, isolated, in this regard. The procurement documents used are often flawed and difficult to comprehend, which unnecessarily complicates the application process. In response, our objective was to enhance knowledge in the domain of public art, specifically concerning processes and regulations. By doing so, we aimed to improve the experience for artists and enhance their understanding of the rationale behind and the expected effect of these rules. This effort was crucial to enable more artists to apply and to help authorities adhere to fundamental EU principles for public procurement, such as equal treatment, non-discrimination, and proportionality, among others.