CONJUNCIONES. A breeding ground for cultural mediation in higher education

The Conjunctions Incubator is a support programme aimed at master’s and postgraduate programmes in cultural mediation, arts education and art and cultural participation, based in Spain, which seeks to undertake initiatives to strengthen the presence and quality of cultural mediation teaching within the university sector.

With an annual budget of €7,250, the incubator aims to provide targeted financial support, as well as strategic guidance, to postgraduate and master’s programmes committed to deepening their mission and wishing to work for the common good, through open knowledge and sharing.

Throughout 2026, 2027 and 2028, proposals from universities wishing to benefit from and participate in the incubator will be reviewed and supported.

The incubator will operate as an Open Call for proposals and will be assessed two or three times a year; the €7,250 will be distributed amongst various projects, which must request a minimum of €500 and a maximum of €2,000.

In 2026, an assessment panel is scheduled to meet on 26th June and 15th October to review applications and allocate the available funds. Applications must be submitted no later than seven days prior to the panel’s meeting, using this form.

As this is a new and experimental funding scheme, the Conjunctions Incubator is open to proposals that expand on its initial design and respond precisely to the needs of the university community. Without this list being exhaustive, the current plan is to support initiatives that seek to:

- Rethink and review an academic programme to strengthen the role of cultural mediation;

- Organise meetings, seminars, summer schools and lecture series that are open to a wider audience;

- Carry out initiatives that foster the link between the academic and professional worlds;

- Pool resources, projects and research with other master’s programmes (e.g. creating an integration guide for migrant students; mapping the internship ecosystem);

- Conduct research, innovate and bring about change through networking (e.g. advocacy initiatives; partnerships between master’s programmes; networking programmes for doctoral students).

The Conjunctions incubator aims to be particularly useful for initiatives which, due to their exceptional, unique or experimental nature, are more difficult to implement within the university’s standard frameworks and bureaucratic channels.

Therefore, hablarenarte may consider handling payments directly, contracting third parties or contributing its own expertise where necessary.