Cultural, heritage and tourism groups across Scotland are being invited to apply for a share of £1m in order to encourage collaboration as part of the Year of Creative Scotland.

The year-long campaign aims to celebrate and promote Scottish culture and creativity, with the National Lottery support being made available through Creative Scotland.

Groups are being urged to bid for funding before a final deadline of 31 January 2012, with the Year of Creative Scotland part of a countdown to the Homecoming celebrations in 2014.

The campaign is led by a partnership featuring Creative Scotland, the Scottish Government, VisitScotland, EventScotland and VOCAL.

VisitScotland chief executive Malcolm Roughead said: "The Year of Creative Scotland is a chance to celebrate Scotland's cultural and creative strengths on a world stage.

"We're looking to inspire the people of Scotland and its visitors to participate in the cultural and creative activity with a particular emphasis on removing barriers to participation, while encouraging collaborative working between the creative and tourism sectors."

Iain Munro, director of creative development at Creative Scotland added: "By building links now, Scotland will be in an excellent position to offer outstanding experiences for visitors during 2014, when we host the Commonwealth Games and the next Year of Homecoming."