Balkan Security Network Info Session EU programs and funds Welcome!
Introduction... Boško Nektarijević BBA - Bachelor of Business Administration - Paris, France 99 MBA - Master of Business Administration Solvay Business School University of Brussels 02 Executive education at the Harvard University USA 05 Master programs at the Boston University and various other trainings.. Training reform leaders since 2002 in leadership, cross cultural negotiations, project development, project proposal writing etc. Principal designer of many educational programs for over 2000 people.. Founding member and executive manager of the BSN
European Project Proposal Development Info Session Agenda 10:30-10:45 - Registration; 10:45-11:00 - Welcome and introduction; 11.00-11.50 - EU funding arena & project development; 11.50-12.30 - Orientation in FP7 and excellence in proposal writing; 12.30-12.40 - Coffee brake; 12.40-13.30 - Main EU funding programs; 13.30-14.00 - Questions and answers;
Key questions until 11.50 Why is EU giving you money for your projects? How EU funding programmes work? What can you finance vie EU funds? Where to find Calls for Proposals? How to read and understand EC documents? How to prepare a successful project proposals? Or join a consortium? And find partners? Why Serbian companies fail - Typical mistakes?
PP Application is just the top of the Iceberg Research PP Assessment Application prep Lobbying and/or briefing Just the top of the Iceberg Approximately 30% of work Communication Planning Refining Reference documents, frameworks Project participants and relevant actors Negotiating Understand expectations of stakeholders (EC, national) 70% of Work Idea, opportunity, need, problem that EC identified and research
Promote yourself and your project! Get involved everywhere! Reader focused! Create a Project Environment folder and.. Project proposal development matrix Be clear about their goals/objectives/procedures! Respect donor guidelines in detail! Background Document Reference documents (EU, regional, national, local ) Analyze call for proposals Understand expectations of the stakeholders ( expectations of the Commission, how programs work, national authorities, non-state actors, interest groups, They usually do not have adequate Needs Analysis) IDEA (opportunity, need, call for proposals ) Assessment Application means Planning Why? What? How? Who? When? Create trans-european networks! EU Dimension! Work with all possible diverse partners! If you can afford - hire the best professionals! If you can not consult with them! Project consortium Formalize network build a team Lobbying (Identify targets, build your network, create power full coalition) Research and analysis phase (Stakeholders,Problems, Objectives,Strategy) Allocate enough time and resources! Educate the evaluator! Do evaluator s job! Answer their questions! Incorporate suggestions, do external assessment ; Use BSN quality frame Include all possible cross cutting priorities! Get to know who have to say YES. Who must not say NO. Identify interest groups, who appointed them, their networks, interests Carefully research the organisation that you are applying to! And prospective partners! Approach donor at an early stage. Ideally during programming! Be expert on the subject and all related subjects!
How EU programs work? Politicians Policies European Commission In line with the EU Policies! Impact Funding Programs Beneficiaries
EU Instruments TREATIES : POLICIES: INSTRUMENTS: - EU LEGISLATION - NAT. LEGISLATION - FUNDING PROGRAMS Treaty of Nice Treaty of Amsterdam Accession Treaties Lisbon Treaty etc.. Foreign Policy Agricultural Policy Health Policy Enterprise Policy Social Policy Environ. Policy Regional Policy Research policy.. FUNDING PROGRAMS PHARE and TACIS FEOGRA Program CIP Progress EU Social Fund LIFE Program Structural Funds Framework 7 etc
EU Funding Logic In 2006 EU adopted priorities for 07 13 and created new instruments (Funding Programs). New cycle will start soon with the objective for EU to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy by 2020. EU has three major funding logics: Structural and Cohesion Funds Community Action Programs External cooperation Programs internal funds operated by the National intermediaries operated by the European Commission in Brussels operated by the EC Delegations and coordinated by the EuropeAid Concretely, the Union has set five ambitious objectives - on employment, innovation, education, social inclusion and climate/ energy - to be reached by 2020
Overview of main instruments for external aid http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/multimedia/presentations-speeches/documents/20080627_kr_journalists_en.pdf
Community Action Programs Culture 2007 CIP Competitiveness and Innovation Programme Youth in Action PROGRESS LLL Life-Long Learning External Borders Fund LIFE + 7th Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities IDABC (Interoperable Delivery of pan- European e-government services to public administrations, businesses and citizens) FISCALIS 2013 Customs 2013 Full list of all programs is posted on www.eufunds.info
Objectives, Structural Funds and Instruments OBJECTIVES STRUCTURAL FUNDS AND INSTRUMENTS Convergence ERDF ESF Cohesion Fund Regional Competitiveness and Employment ERDF ESF European territorial Cooperation ERDF infrastructure, innovation, investments etc. employment, social inclusion, institutional capacity environment and transport infrastructure, renewable energy all Member States and regions Member States with a GNI/head below 90%
Call for Proposals components: Beneficiaries The Actions The Budget The Timetable The Procedure Sources of Information Eligible Organisations Geographic Zones Covered Exclusion Criteria Objectives of the Call Type of expected actions Total Call Budget Minimum/Maximum grant amount Percentage of co-financing Deadline for submitting the proposal Project starting date Project duration Monitoring the application Pre-proposal Selection Criteria Allocation criteria Where to find documents concerning the programme Contact person in the EC
Documents usually required from you Project Concept Note Application form Project Budget Partnership statements Statement of the applicant Supporting documents
Application form model IPA CBC I. THE ACTION 1. Description 1.1. Title 1.2. Location 1.3. Cost of the action and amount requested from the contracting authorities 1.4. summary (max 1 page) 1.5. Objectives (max 1 page) 1.6. Relevance of the action (max 3 pages) 1.7. Description of the action and its effectiveness (max 14 page) 1.8. Methodology (max 4 pages) 1.9. Duration and indicative action plan for implementing the action 1.10. Sustainability of the action (max 3 pages) 1.11. Logical Framework 2. Budget for the action 3. Expected sources of funding 4. Experience of similar actions
Application form model (continued) II. THE APPLICANTS 1. Identity Profile Category Sector(s) 2.3. Target group(s) 3. Capacity to manage and implement actions 3.1. Experience by sector 3.2. Experience by geographical area 3.3. Resources 4. List of the management board/committee of your organisation III. PARTNERS OF THE APPLICANT PARTICIPATING IN THE ACTION 1. Description of the partners 30 2. Partnership statement 32
How to find Calls for Proposals? A good place to start is EU Funds Blog http://balkansecuritynet.blogspot.com/.. And than follows the real work.. EuropeAid, http://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/work/funding/index_en.htm CORDIS, http://cordis.europa.eu/partners/web/guest/home WBC INCO NET, http://www.wbc-inco.net/object/news/list EEN, http://www.enterprise-europe-network.ec.europa.eu/index_en.htm ISDACON http://www.evropa.gov.rs/evropa/publicsite/ipa.aspx and other links from EU Blog..
Key questions for project proposal Why? Project environment and Background documents Justification & problem analysis Stakeholders analysis/needs What? Objectives? To/For whom? Refine the scope, target groups/beneficiaries Explain overall and specific goals, Define expected results, impact Results, Risks & Impact? Monitor changes to the project, make corrections, adjust your schedule to respond to problems, or adjust your expectations and goals. How? Refine the strategy, methodology, Activities; Means, available resources Who & When? Where? identify specific tasks, and develop a schedule and resources, budget..
Project Generator workshops: 1 Analysis of project s Context 2 Analysis of Stakeholders 3 Problem Analysis/Situation Analysis 4 Objectives Analysis 5 Plan of Activities 6 Plan of Resources/Inputs 7 Indicators/measurements 8 Risk Analysis 9 Analysis of Assumptions
Cause effect relationship among objectives Inputs Activities Goal Outputs. Purpose
Road Map ahead how we can help you? Analysis of funding sources, Information, Awarenessand Needs analysis Refining project ideas and concepts and company s profiles, orientation/guidance Identification of funding program Partner search and consortium creation Supporting project proposal development; and pre evaluation of project proposals Proposal submission Undeveloped companies Potential applicants High Potentials
Typical mistakes Lack of understanding of Evaluation criteria ( objective vs subjective ) Poor needs analysis and description of the starting point ( stakeholders, problems, target groups, etc ) Small relevance for program objectives Poor impact analysis Insufficient detail given of planned activities as evidence to convince evaluators of impact The text of different parts of a proposal is not consistent so evaluators get confused. No respect for instructions. Be intelligent in implementing the instructions. Every word of the policy document has a meaning
Evaluation oriented project proposal writing Answer evaluators questions and make sure you understand assessment criteria before you start writing; Educate evaluator in simple and easy to understand language using references form background documentation; Provide measurable evidence of your claims from credible info sources; Present information it the best format for the readers to understand them; Make sure to respect Causality principle: and directly interconnect why what how etc.. There should be noting more and nothing less in your project proposal; Provide just enough details needs analysis, activity description and impact analysis; Make sure to be Consistent in all parts of the project proposal;