Course 7 - MPE - 2012-2013_Decrypted

7/30/2019 Course 7 - MPE - 2012-2013_Decrypted

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G. & D. CHIRLEAN, Management of theInternational Projects Course

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Chapter 8: CONCEPTUALIZING THE PROJECT: from

IDEA to the APPLICATION FORM (I)

STRUCTURE OF THE COURSE 7:

8.1: Applying to obtain European funds through projects: theory and practice

8.2: The way from idea to its conceptualization (part I)

8.1: Applying to obtain European funds through projects: theory and

practice

In connection to the financial support the European Union provides through specific

programmes to its member states, to pre-accession and accession countries, a question might

arise: why to apply for a project financed by European Commission?

Of course that the answer could be a long and elaborated one taking into account:

- the social, economical and political context;- the institutional policies;- the work place and the responsibilities some one could have as manager, expert,

specialist in its field of activity;

- lack of local funds and the need of attracting external funds;- personal reasons, etc.But one of the most important reasons could be the reduced rate of assimilation of the fundsthat European Commission (through its Directorates-General and specific programmes) has

allocated to Romania during the accession process and those which will be offered after

integration, for all socio-economical domains, including education.

The design of a transnational cooperation project has to be a team work, well

substantiated, based on solid justification, done by the experts.

Deciding to design a project it is always a very important step, which needs to rely on

preparatory phasewhich is both necessary and complex, a phase in which sources are

investigated and accurate information is gathered.

Financers welcome the project designers and promoters by putting at their disposal a

complete set of official reference documents. Thus, each programmes (including those the

present course focuses on) provide such summaries of legislation and pending proposals on thefield, general framework of the programme, calls for proposals, guidelines, application forms,

etc.

In the adventure of designing an international project, within preparatory phase several

actions have to be taken:

learning a foreign language or improving the language skills (a language of the European

community which to be of international use, such as English or French, which are

preferred).

learning how to use a PC or improving the abilities of using it (word processors, graphics,calculation sheets, electronic mail, INTERNET...)

(self)-training related to community programmes acquiring specific information, structuring it, synthesizing it


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A team that promotes aproject should own few things about Europe... and about its

ways of actions. In this regard, a key issue is to understand the relationship:

Policies Directorates-General Specific Programmes

and the functionality between these components.

The European Union implements its policies through Directorates-General.

Directorates-General coordinate different programmes and specific actions which bring to

view and implement the community policies. For education and training the actor is

Directorate-GeneralEducationand Culture and for other fields the Directorate-General

Enlargement is theresponsible with the implementation of the afferent programmes.

The Programmes on which we will focus our attention during the present course are, as

emphasized in the previous chapter as well, the following: Comenius Erasmus Leonardo da Vinci Grundtvig Culture 2007 Youth PHARE (Poland Hungary Aid for Reconstruction of the Economy) ISPA (Instrument for Structural Policies for Pre-Accession) SAPARD (Special Pre-Accession Programme for Agriculture and Rural Development) FEDR (Fondul European de Dezvoltare Regional) FSE (Fondul Social European) FC (Fondul de Coeziune) FEADR (Fondul European pt. Agricultur i Dezvoltare Rural) FEP (Fondul European pt. Pescuit)

Lets come back now to the ways of actions. In designing a project one has to make an

efficient use of the support provided by European Commission.

Do not forget that European Commission issues specific information and documents for

each programme. As example of such supporting-documents we may list here:

- EC Decisions and Directives (concerning the launch and implementation of the

respective programmes);

- Call for Proposals;

- Guidelines (General and Specific);

- application forms;

- calendar and deadlines;

- evaluation and selection procedure of the projects.

In these documents, promoters can find out detailed information about:

- the aim, priorities and objectives of the programme;

- possible target group(s) and group(s) of beneficiaries;

- project eligibility criteria;

- types of projects (measures, actions);

- limits of financing and budget of the programme;- deadlines;
http://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/education_culture/index_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs_en.htmhttp://europa.eu.int/comm/dgs_en.htm


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- responsible, contact persons, useful addresses, links

From the initial moment - when the decision of designing a project is taken, and till the

last moment - when the project is closed and the reporting towards the financer(s) is done,

the project management may be seen as a cycle divided in four periods:

(1) Time 1: having the idea, forming the team, writing the (pre)-proposal, submitting it forevaluation and selection;

(2) Time 2: approval of the project, signing the contract with the financer, starting to work;

(3) Time 3: projects development and implementation (eventually intermediate reporting)

(4) Time 4: finalising the products, closing the project, final reporting towards the financer,

launching the sustainability/continuation strategy.

Endowed with all this information and having passed through the initial compulsory

phases, it is the time to start designing THE PROJECT. Obviously, a good idea is necessary

to bring the money, to obtain the financial support. But from the idea to the end of the

project it is a long way

Into a step-by-step approach, this trajectory links several elements, meaning:

Idea beneficiary financer concept partnership project evaluation

contracting

In the following pages all these will be analysed and discussed.

8.2: The way from idea to its conceptualization (I)

Once that someone has outlined and defined an idea for a certain project, the search for

financing starts.

It is the phase in which promoters (project designers) have to identify the possiblefinancing bodies and also the needs of these financers. To whom I ask the money from? is

a key question.

Taking into consideration the programmes and the types of projects this course is

focusing on, the financial support will be required from the European Commission and from

its national agencies (depending on the field of interest and on the programme type).

Materialization of an idea and giving it the shape of a project requires a set of procedures,

decisions to be taken, selection of certain elements, establishing of rules, development of

main parts of the application form and - last but not leastenthusiasm, team building, lot of

work. Thus, the way from the idea to its conceptualization passes through:

- idea;- priorities and objectives;- type and duration;- language;- title and acronym;- needs;- target groups;- outcomes;- impact;- transversal issues;- sustainability;- innovation;- dissemination;- concept.


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Idea:

A good idea is one that brings something new and valuable for European Union. It has to be

related with the priorities and objectives of the programme in the framework of which the

project is designed, to serve the goal of solving the needs of the transnational partnership and

to be addressed to the programmes target group(s).

Priorities and objectives:

The first step is to carefully read and to try understanding the information offered by the

main reference documents relatedto the priorities and objectives of the programmes;

usually these are set only for limited periods of time like 1, 2 or 3 years (as they periodically

change, it means that promoters should check if they are working with the priorities &

objectives which are still valid!).

Then the priorities and objectives established by European Commission in the framework

of the Call of Proposals have to be identified (usually the Call for Proposals presents

priorities and objectives specific to the component or sub-component of the programme to

which the Call refers to, which means that the priorities and objectives may be more specificthan the general ones in the programme, adapted to the necessities of the year of the Call).

Based on the above, the main goal and the objectives of the project proposal will be then

established.

The proposals objectives have to be correlated with the priority and the objectives of the

programme (the proposals objectives may be adjusted if eventually it is the case, for a better

matching to that ones of the programme)

Note:

In some programmes, it is allowed to target only one programme priority but to envisage

several different programme objectives!

Few clues about objectives:Projects aim represents a clear but succinct definition of the main idea of the project; what

it is intended to do, in general terms.

GeneralObjectivesG.Os are strategic targets to be attained in the framework of the

goal.

Specific ObjectivesS.Os are concrete results & outcomes by whose achievement a

certain G.O. is acquired (they are formulated through measurable verbs).

Activities and Actions: they represent the background of the future work plan.

Notes:

1) Activities / actions will be correlated with the proposed objectives (seminars,

conferences, reunions, exhibitions, different materials design, mobilities, field analysis,

studies, web design, evaluation & assessment, piloting, training, etc.).

2) General objectives do not have to be too many (34 are quite enough!).

3) General objectives will be split in Specific Objectives (for each G.O. many S.Os will

be defined / written)

4) Activities and actions will have to make possible the achievement of the proposed

Specific Objectives.

Type of project and duration:

Theprojects type has to be correlated with the proposed objectives. Thus, the promoter

will select one of the possible project types:

- mobilities, visits, exchanges- training or learning partnerships


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- educational products, methodologies, strategies, policies

- infrastructure development

- socio-economical cohesion, etc.

Note:

A question arises here: the project intends to put an emphasis on PROCESS or onPRODUCT? The promoting partnership has to decide this, according to the selected type of

project and to the objectivesactions correlation.

Projects duration needs to be correlated with the proposed objectives. Projects of 1, 2 or

3 years or having other duration allowed by the respective programme may be designed.

Official language:

By the official language of the project, one has to understand:

- the language in which the project will be written

- the language in which the entire communication / correspondence will be held with EC or

the financer body - the language in which all products / materials / documents of the project will be rendered

and produced

- the language to be spoken during the meetings and reunions foreseen in the project and also

among the partners

When choosing the official language, project designers have to remind that the language

of the project has to be included in the list of eligible European languages, to be mastered at

satisfactory level by the coordinator and to be spoken and accepted by all partners!

Note:

1) In assessing the language profficiency it is recommended to use the Common

European Framework Levels.2) When promoter invites the possible partners to join him/her in the projects designing

and implementation, it is good to clearly specify which will be the official language and the

required level of profficiency, in order to avoid subsequent problems!

Title and acronym:

Having defined the idea, goal, general and specific (operational) objectives, activities and

actions (sketched as work packages), it is the time to choose thetitle of the project.

Recommendations:

Title has to be:

1. Not too long!

2. Clear and relatively simple formulated!

3. Suggestive for what the project does!

4. With a strong meaning, thus to resume what it is worked within the project!

Acronym is composed either by the initials of the words in the title, either by other

initials, OR, words which are very well known are used to create it (name, symbols, brands,

codes, etc.).

The acronym has to:

To be associated with the title;To be inspired from it;


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To has a strong impact;

To be easily memorized and associated with the project.

Examples:

PROiecte EUropene [ProEU]EUropean PEdagogical COllege for Adult Education [EUPECO]

Promoting Regular Improvement ofVocational Education and Training [PRIVET]

MODern Evaluation Tools for Adult Education [MODETA]

Needs and their identification:

A need is an educational, social, economical, etc. problem to which the project may

andmust offer a solution.

Needs are identified by specific performing demarches such as need analysis, case

studies, field research, investigation, etc..

Notes:1) The transnational feature of each need has to be secured: the need does not have to be

a local one, it has to exist at the level of all involved countries!

2) Trans-nationality does not consist only in the geographical selection of the partners but

it also comes out from the territorial spread of the identified needs!

3) The needs are in fact suggested by the priorities established by the EC in the Call for

Proposals!

4) Usually, identifying the need represents a precursory phase of projects design!

Target group (beneficiaries):

The target group is the group of persons for which the project is intended to, who will

benefit of the projects outcomes(both processes or products), persons envisaged byGeneral Objectives and Specific Objectives.

Notes:

1) The target group (beneficiaries) does not need to be confounded with the group of

people working in the project!

2) The target group has to be correlated with the identified needs!

3) The target group justifies (together with the needs) the theme of the project!

4) Beneficiaries: may be direct or/and indirect.

Example:

In the framework of a Leonardo da Vinci mobility project for students, the category of

direct beneficiaries is composed by those students performing the mobilities, while the

indirect beneficiaries may be:

(a) other students (colleagues of the beneficiaries) to whom the direct beneficiaries will share

their experience;

(b) teaching staffin the university who will meet the experience of a transnational project,

will get in contact with foreign experts and new vocational and professional training systems;

(c) the university itself through the opening towards the international collaboration and

European labour market

(d) labour market actors (employers)


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Outcomes and finalities:

Outcomes and finalities are part of the functional triad:

OBJECTIVES RESULTS WORK PLAN

Notes:

1) Outcomes and finalities have to be perfectly correlated with the projectstype and

duration(the project to be not too thin, but not too ambitious!)

2) It is necessary to achieve a clear correlation between outcomes andtasks per partner;

3) Outcomes and finalities will be theoretically allocated, from the beginning, to the

categories of beneficiaries;4) They will be correlated with thedeadlinesin the projects calendar;

5) They will be distinctly separated in foreseenproducts andprocesses;

6) The final form in which they are delivered has to be explicitly formulated in the

application form, if possible into a quantified manner (in ordernot to generate disputes

with financer or partners).

Example:

(a) If the final products are printed materials, dimensions, number of pages, copies, language,

etc. need to be specified.

(b) If a CD will be produced by the project, its format, structure, language and the number of

copies in which the CD will be multiplied has to be written when application form is filled

in.

(c) In case of performing courses for different target groups in the framework of the project,

course duration, number of expected trainees, course location, name of the trainer and

information about his/her expertise in the field should be clearly explained in the project

proposal.

Impact:

Impact refers to the effects the project will produce through its expected and achieved

results. Project proposal has to answer questions like Is something going to be changed? If

yes, for whom?Do any transformations will appear? If yes, to what extent they will be

perceived?

Impact may be defined at different levels: social, economic, political, cultural, etc. and all

these levels are important.

Also the impact at the level of:

(1) individual (each beneficiary of the target group);

(2) promoting institution (team working in the project, other employees, etc.);

(3) other organisations/institutions as indirect beneficiaries;

(4) local community of the project;

(5) society in general;

has to be analysed.

There are several ways of increasing the impact during the project lifetime and after:

By performing activities to increase awareness upon the needs and upon their importance at

the level of the local community and not only;

By realising strong dissemination actions;


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By involving a number of persons as great as possible and a diversity of social actors as

large as possible.

Transversal links:

Each project proposal has to take into consideration the transversal links which have therole of strengthening the value of the project:

Equal opportunities between women and men;

Xenophobia and racism;

Social, religious or group minorities, etc.

Socially disadvantaged persons;

Disabled persons;

Inter-culturality.

Continuation/development of a finished project or a new project:

Every time a partnership starts designing a project, it faces the question To design a

complete new project, or to build on the achievements of a former one?The answer is that both options are winning, but you have to make an ADVANTAGE

from each of them.

Here it is some clues related to the answer of the above question

(a)If the project builds on the results of a former project:- show how well the project has been received by its beneficiaries;

- specify what effects it has generated at the level of micro- and macro-society;

- underline what implications it has had upon the traditional envisaged systems, techniques,

methods;

- insist upon the changes and improvements the project has brought;

- emphasize the objective manner in which the needs have been identified, how complex theneeds are, because look, efforts are still required for their solving;

- draw attention upon the request of continuing the work on behalf of the partnership and of

the still existing need;

- show the elements of continuity which link the project you want to design to the previous

one;

- if, eventually, you may connect the project to arenewedpriority of the programme, it is an

added point to your proposal!

(b)If the project is new and develops an idea non-processed till now:- emphasize the importance of the project;

- show that the domain is a virgin one, that you are going on a way non-explored till

now;

- nevertheless reveal the sources which have inspired you the idea (contexts, similar

results, good practices, etc. but which did not envisage exactly the same problem as your

project);

- present where from and how the idea has sprung out (when and why the partners have

joined you, what were their motives?);

- argue in a solid manner the needs the project bases on, how you identified them, which is

the necessity & importance of the project for different interested categories of people;

- estimate the impact;

- show further possibilities for project development and continuation.


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Innovation:

When speaking about innovation, we need to think about which the original contributions

and the innovative elements are and how the project provides them in relation to thepolicies,

strategies, systems, techniques, methods and tools existing at European & national level in

the envisaged field. The project proposal has to explicitly show the original contribution itbrings and to underline the originality of the idea and results. These will be strong points in

the evaluation of the proposal and will add value and consistency to it.

Dissemination:

The application form required information upon how the dissemination of the projects

aim, objectives, activities, results and outcomes will be achieved.This is why the intended

dissemination actions have to be assembled into a so-called Dissemination Strategy.

Dissemination strategy has to be:

Coherent;

Incisive;

Permanent, continuing (not only at the end of the project and not only during thelifetime of the project, but AFTER as well);

Well sustained by high impact materials (audio, visual, printed materials, etc.)

Repeated.

A dissemination strategy makes use of a large variety of materials. Also the ways of

accomplishing the dissemination are generous and divers. The partners have as major

dissemination means the following:

Posting specific materials (posters, placard, etc.);

Organizing round tables;

TV and radio interviews;

Talk-shows;Debates;

Distribution of leaflets and brochures;

Press (mass media) announcements;

Sessions for informing and advertising upon the aim, actions, products, and

beneficiaries of the project;

Meetings of the project team with beneficiaries and large public.

Although dissemination represents a money consuming activity, do not forget that it is

compulsory (by the contract signed with the financer), it is necessary because it enhances the

value of the project and reaches a larger number of interested persons serving thus the need

of information of many categories of public, and last but not least, it may lead to a

dissemination project as a continuation of the initial one

Bibliography:

Education and Training, Official documents,

http://ec.europa.eu/education/archive/index_en.html

Call for projects, for proposals and for expression of interest,

http://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/calls/callg_en.html

Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency,http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/index_en.php
http://ec.europa.eu/education/archive/index_en.htmlhttp://ec.europa.eu/education/archive/index_en.htmlhttp://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/calls/callg_en.htmlhttp://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/calls/callg_en.htmlhttp://eacea.ec.europa.eu/index_en.phphttp://eacea.ec.europa.eu/index_en.phphttp://eacea.ec.europa.eu/index_en.phphttp://eacea.ec.europa.eu/index_en.phphttp://ec.europa.eu/education/programmes/calls/callg_en.htmlhttp://ec.europa.eu/education/archive/index_en.html


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Course 7 - MPE - 2012-2013_Decrypted