Terms_of_Reference

DISTRICT + Disseminating Innovative Strategies for Capitalization of Targeted Good Practices 1

INTERREG IVC PROGRAMME

PUBLIC CALL

for the implementation of subprojects in the framework of the

DISTRICT+ Project

Disseminating Innovative Strategies for Capitalization of Targeted Good Practices

Official Terms of Reference Approved by the DISTRICT+ Steering Committee


INDEX

SECTION I – General Principles ................................................................................................................................................3 Article 1 – Subject and aim of the Call...................................................................................................................................3 Article 2 – Sub-projects ..........................................................................................................................................................4 Article 3 – Eligible bodies .......................................................................................................................................................6 Article 4 – Implementation and duration of sub-projects ......................................................................................................7 Article 5 – Financial resources...............................................................................................................................................7 Article 6 – Eligibility of costs...................................................................................................................................................8 Article 7 – Submission of sub-project proposals ...................................................................................................................9

SECTION II – Selection of proposals...................................................................................................................................... 11 Article 8 – Selection procedures ......................................................................................................................................... 11 Article 9 – Eligibility criteria.................................................................................................................................................. 11 Article 10 – Evaluation criteria............................................................................................................................................. 12 Article 11 – Compliance with Community Regulations..................................................................................................... 13 Article 12 – Validity .............................................................................................................................................................. 14

ANNEXES................................................................................................................................................................................. 15 Annex 1 - Application Form................................................................................................................................................. 15 Annex 2 - Co-financing Statement...................................................................................................................................... 15


SECTION I – General Principles

Article 1 – Subject and aim of the Call

1. The present public call is an invitation to submit proposals for the implementation of sub-projects in the framework of the DISTRICT+ Project (Disseminating Innovative Strategies for Capitalization of Targeted Good Practices).

2. The DISTRICT+ project has been approved for ERDF funding (European Regional Development Funds) in the framework of the INTERREG IVC Programme by the Programme’s Monitoring Committee on the 5th November 2009, as per the Communication from the Managing Authority of the Programme dated 10th November 2009.

3. DISTRICT+ has been presented under Priority 1: “Innovation and the knowledge economy” - Sub-theme “Innovation, research and technology development” of the Interreg IVC Programme. Its objective is to exchange experiences and good practices (GPs) among regional partners to improve the effectiveness of regional policies in the areas of innovation, research and technological development and shift traditional industrial economies to more innovative development patterns.

4. The partnership of the DISTRICT+ project is composed by the following public authorities:

Tuscany Region - Lead Partner (IT),

Birmingham Technology Limited1 - West Midlands (UK),

Saxony-Anhalt Region (DE),

Vastra Gotalands Region (SE),

Lower Silesia Voivoship (PL),

Brasov County Council (RO).

5. The DISTRICT+ workplan is composed of four Components corresponding to the four main workpackages of the project:

Component 1 “Management and Coordination” – dedicated to the financial, technical and organisational coordination of the partners – C1 is coordinated by the Lead Partner of the DISTRICT+ project Tuscany Region;

Component 2 “Communication and Dissemination” – dedicated to the internal and external communication and dissemination of the project’s objectives, activities, outputs and results – C2 is coordinated by the Lead Partner of the DISTRICT+ project Tuscany Region;

Component 3 “Exchange of experiences dedicated to the identification and analysis of good practices” – dedicated to interregional exchange activities at the

1 Birmingham Technology Limited operates and is known as Birmingham Science Park Aston


strategic level – i.e., among the partners’ regional authorities – according to a shared methodology that indicates the criteria for the identification, analysis and dissemination of GPs – C3 is coordinated by Vastra Gotalands Region;

Component 4 “Subprojects” – dedicated to experience exchange at the territorial level of specific GPs, through the implementation of a number of interregional SPs with public regional and local authorities as their main target – C4 is coordinated by Birmingham Technology Limited - West Midlands;

6. The actions promoted by the DISTRICT+ project aim at supporting European regions in restructuring their economies from traditional manufacturing industry towards a new model of development based on knowledge and innovation. The project builds upon the experiences gained by the partners through their regional development programmes and former european projects to capitalise consolidated GPs and improve the partners policy capacity to:

modernise traditional manufacturing sectors through product innovation and internationalisation strategies for global competitiveness;

foster the interaction between knowledge providers and enterprises to increase the innovation capability of firms with a focus on eco-innovation;

provide innovative financial products and services and support innovative entrepreneurship for young researchers;

develop regional innovation skills through professional training in the field of innovation management;

build regional and local strategic planning capacity in front of global transitions through foresight techniques and technological audit.

7. To achieve these results the project foresees an intense schedule of interregional activities such as thematic workshops and study visits, joint interregional training sessions, etc. to exchange policy experiences between more and less advanced regions. It specially focuses on the capitalisation of GPs in lagging regions such as those belonging to new MS that are managing their first large scale multi-annual ERDF ROPs (Regional Operational Programmes).

Article 2 – Sub-projects

1. Acting as a miniprogramme, the DISTRICT+ project supports the implementation of a limited number of sub-projects (SPs) to achieve the aforesaid objectives. SPs provide an additional platform for interregional cooperation between a high number of public bodies or bodies governed by public law, actors and stakeholders belonging to the territories of the DISTRICT+ partner regions.

2. SPs target partners are regional and local authorities in charge of managing local development policies and instruments (e.g., territorial and/or sectorial GPs). Other public bodies or bodies governed by public law that are relevant to the selected policy theme may also be involved as SPs partners.


3. SPs will be selected through the present call for proposals under Component 4 of the DISTRICT+ project. Through the exchange of experiences and GPs among their partners SPs are expected to improve the effectiveness of development policies and increase the competitivity of economic systems of their territories.

4. SPs will tackle the following issues that have been identified by DISTRICT+ partners as strategic to their policy priorities:

Priority 1 - Internationalisation strategies for innovative clusters in industrial regions: the SP will identify, analyse and disseminate GPs to support the competitiveness of european regions in emerging markets (e.g., China, India, etc) and attract foreign direct investments;

Priority 2 - Clustering strategies for global value chains: the SP will identify, analyse and disseminate GPs to revitalize traditional/declining sectors supply chains through product innovation and interregional cluster strategies in different sectors;

Priority 3 - Innovative business development: the SP will identify, analyse and disseminate GPs to support knowledge-transfer and start-up mechanisms and services for the creation of new SMEs by young researchers and entrepreneurs (including risk capital, consultancy services, patents centers, etc.);

Priority 4 - Spin-offs tools for industrial SMEs; the SP will identify, analyse and disseminate GPs to support spin-off mechanisms and services for existing industrial SMEs (including different support schemes for different spin-offs, solving spin-off problems such as licensing, IP, etc.);

Priority 5 - Development of technological incubators and R&D transfer centers; the SP will identify, analyse and disseminate GPs for the creation and management of incubators and R&D transfer centers, including strategies to design/develop technological incubators and running technological parks to deliver effective innovative services to SMEs;

Priority 6 - Eco-innovation in high-tech firms and clusters; the SP will share policy tools and methodologies to foster the interaction between knowledge providers and enterprises with a special focus on eco-innovation and industrial cluster strategies in environment-friendly branches;

5. The selected subprojects will implement interregional exchange activities such as interregional thematic workshops and study visits as well as joint interregional training sessions. These activities will involve regional/public staff and decision-makers that are in charge of specific policies to maximise transfer of formal and non-formal knowledge and skills.

6. SPs will adopt the project’s methodology for the identification, analysis and dissemination of GPs to ensure that:

the exchange focus and objectives are relevant to regional policy challenges in the regions and that basic preconditions for integration of the projects’ outcomes exist;

generally applicable, concrete and relevant methodologies, tools, instruments and/or measures are delivered;


interregional collaboration creates high added-value for the partners through valorisation of the project’s results inside and outside the partnership (european added-value);

the relevant regional authorities are involved and mobilised;

the project leads to sensible changes and adaptation of how the participating authorities and personnel carry out their daily work.

7. Each sub-project is expected to deliver the following outputs and results:

6-8 interregional events (such as seminars, workshops, study visits, dissemination events, etc.);

experience exchange with 60+ participants in the above events,

2 identified GPs,

1 regional/local policies and instruments addressed,

4 staff members with increased capacity,

4 regional/local public authorities and stakeholders involved in implementation,

2 good practices successfully transferred,

1 regional/local policies and instruments improved,

8. Each SP will deliver a final publication including:

GP transferability handbook;

strategic guidelines for policy-makers with policy recommendations;

policy/GP feasibility study for pilot action in target regions.

GPs and results emerging from SPs will be consolidated (that is, delivered and disseminated) in Component 3 and Component 2 of the DISTRICT+ project, as each SP will regularly deliver to the DISTRICT+ regional partners and dedicate its final phase (6-9 months) to the dissemination of results to regions inside and outside the project.

9. The working language of sub-projects is english. All activities, events, reports, results, outputs, products, publications, etc are expected to be delivered in english only.

Article 3 – Eligible bodies

1. Bodies eligible to apply for the present call for proposals are public bodies or bodies governed by public law as defined in section 2.3.3 of the Interreg IVC Programme Manual (25 October 2010) only2. Participants in the SPs must be located in the area

2 Definition of body governed by public law as per paragraph 2.3.3. “Partner’s legal status” of the Interreg IVC Programme Manual (25 October 2010) available for download at www.interreg4c.eu : Body governed by public law according to Directive 2004/18/EC, Art. 1 means any body: (a) established for the specific purpose of meeting needs in the general interest, not having an industrial or commercial character;


represented by the main partners of the DISTRICT+ project as indicated by the address of their registered office. No private body may take part either as lead partner or simple partner in the SPs as no private body is entitled to any ERDF or other public contribution.

2. Partnerships among eligible bodies must involve participants from at least three different DISTRICT+ partner regions.

3. Sub-project proposals must comply with general eligibility and selection criteria of the Interreg IVC Programme as laid down in the Interreg IVC Programme Manual (25 October 2010).

Article 4 – Implementation and duration of sub-projects

1. Applicants to the present call are requested to set up an interregional partnership of eligible bodies located and operating in other partner regions. Partnerships including more than one partner from the same region are eligible provided that criterion in Article 3.2 above is satisfied. Proposals are submitted by the SP lead partner or coordinator on behalf of the whole partnership.

2. Proposals must detail the mode of participation and activities of each partner in relation to the SP’s objectives, implementation of activities, delivery of outputs and results, production of deliverables, dissemination and capitalisation of results, technical and financial monitoring, etc.

3. In case the SP proposal is selected all partners are required to sign a Partnership Agreement (PA) defining the tasks and roles of each partner.

4. No activity of the SPs may be implemented before the SP start date or after the 31st May 2013 which is the latest admissible date for the implementation of sub-projects.

5. The recommended duration of sub-projects is between 18 months minimum and 24 months maximum.

Article 5 – Financial resources

1. The total available budget to fund SP proposals amounts to 2,455,000 euros. Each SP proposal may apply for funding between 200.000 euros and 400.000 euros. Duly justified exceptions to the former 400.000 euro maximum threshold might be accepted and will be evaluated on an indivudal basis by the DISTRICT+ Steering Committee. No partner is eligible to more than 50% of the total SP budget.

(b) having legal personality; and (c) - financed, for the most part, by the State, regional or local authorities, or other bodies governed by public law; - or subject to management supervision by those bodies; - or having an administrative, managerial or supervisory board, more than half of whose members are appointed by the State, regional or local authorities, or by other bodies governed by public law.


2. SP activities are financed by ERDF at either 75% or 85% (depending on the region the SP partner belongs to). The remaining 25% or 15% has to be provided by the partners themselves as hereafter indicated:

Partners belonging to Tuscany – requested co-financing: 25% of approved budget3,

Partners belonging to West Midlands4 – requested co-financing: 25% of approved budget,

Partners belonging to Saxony-Anhalt Region - requested co-financing: 25% of approved budget,

Partners belonging to Vastra Gotalands Region – requested co-financing: 25% of approved budget,

Partners belonging to Lower Silesia Region – requested co-financing: 15% of approved budget,

Partners belonging to Brasov County – requested co-financing: 15% of approved budget.

3. While submitting the SP application, it is required that the Lead Partner and the partners secure their co-financing of the sub-project’s budget as indicated in the application form. Proof of co-financing by the LP and partners is delivered by signing a co-financing statement. The co-financing statement is obligatory for all partners listed in the SP application and is a pre-requisite for the eligibility of the proposal. The template for the co-financing statement is available with the application pack.

Article 6 – Eligibility of costs

1. No advance payment is foreseen for sub-projects. This means that each sub-project has to pre-finance its activities until it submits a certified progress report and claims funds for the activities carried out and paid in the past period. Six-monthly reporting periods are envisaged ending on the 31st May and 30th November of each year. Certification procedures will be defined in line with national requirements as per the indications of the Interreg IVC National Bodies of each SP partner.

2. In order to be eligible for reimbursement, costs sustained to implement the activities of the SPs must comply with eligibility requirements as indicated in the Interreg IVC Programme Manual (25 October 2010) - particularly section 2.4.2. - requiring that costs comply with national rules and European regulations (particularly Regulations (EC) no. 1083/2006, no. 1080/2006, no. 1828/2006). Only costs related to the implementation of the project that are in line with the approved workplan are eligible for funding.

3 The requested 25% co-financing is entirely provided by the National Rotation Fund for italian sub-project participants only (CIPE Decree 36/2007, Italian Official Bullettin N. 241 16th October 2007). 4 Birmingham Science Park – Aston fully takes over the territorial legitimacy over the entire West Midlands.


3. Eligibility period of costs begins with the start date and the end date of the sub-project as indicated in the Subsidy Agreement signed by the SP’s Lead Partner and the DISTRICT+ LP Tuscany Region. Eligible costs must not in any case have been incurred before the 5th November 2009 and later than the 31st May 2013. In case the SP is approved, duly documented preparation costs incurred between the 5th November 2009 and the day prior to the SP start date are eligible up to 5.000 euros.

4. Foreseen costs for the implementation of the activities of the SP must be indicated in the related budget table in the application form. This table requires that costs are sub-divided into the following budget lines5:

Staff

Administration

Travel and accommodation

External expertise and services

Equipment

Article 7 – Submission of sub-project proposals

1. The SP Lead Partner must submit on behalf of the entire partnership the following documentation in English:

Application Form (AF) - Annex 1 of the present call - signed by the legal representative of the sub-project lead partner. The AF covers the technical and financial contents of the proposal and provides complete information in relation to the eligibility and quality criteria indicated in the relevant articles of the present call. It is required that two unbound paper copies of the signed Application Form (one original and one copy) are sent by post to the address indicated in Art. 7.2 of the present document. The complete electronic form (excel file, not signed) and the scan of the signed Front Page (1st page of the Application Form) are also required to be sent by email to [email protected] by the same deadline as the paper application (31st March 2011). Both versions of the Application Form – paper and electronic – must be identical. Respect of submission deadline will be checked by the stamped date of delivery on the posted envelope of the paper version which is considered as the official version of the Application Form.

The co-financing statements of the partners - Annex 2 of the present call - signed by the legal representative of each participant partner. This statement indicates the share and amount of co-financing of the project secured by each partner. It is required that one signed co-financing statement (original or photocopy) printed on official letterhead of the participating body is sent by post (together with the AF) to the address indicated in Art. 7.2 of the present document. The electronic scan of the signed co-financing statement is also required to be sent by email to [email protected] by the same deadline as the paper application (31st March 2011).

5 Please refer to the Interreg IVC Programme Manual (25 October 2010) section 2.4.2. for more details about the type of expenses which fall under each eligible budget line.


Only in case the sub-project proposal is approved, the SP Lead Partner will be required to submit the Partnership Agreement (PA) signed by the legal representatives of all the SP partners. The Partnership Agreement indicates:

− The representative (Lead Partner) of the Partnership in the capacity of legal, administrative and technical manager of the project, also provided with powers of representation, initiative and co-ordination;

− The members of the interregional partnership, with details of the legal representatives of each partner;

− A schedule of actions, with details of the technical and administrative responsibilities of each partner with reference to the individual operations and project components;

− A financial schedule, with details of the public co-financing commitments undertaken by the various members of the interregional Partnership;

2. The above documentation must be submitted by the aboveindicated deadlines to the following address:

Regione Toscana Area di Coordinamento Formazione, orientamento e lavoro Via Pico della Mirandola 24 - 50132 Firenze c.a. Livia Marinetto

3. Proposals must be sent by registered post or private courier with mandatory proof of delivery. Respect of deadline will be checked by the stamped date of delivery on the posted envelope.

4. The envelope containing the AF and co-financing statements must bear the wording:

Interreg IVC DISTRICT+ Project - Application for Sub-projects Call for Proposals

5. Any request for clarification concerning the submission of the applications must be addressed to the DISTRICT+ Secretariat at the e-mail address [email protected]

6. Relevant material to the present Call is available on the DISTRICT+ project’s website www.districtplus.eu


SECTION II – Selection of proposals

Article 8 – Selection procedures

1. Submitted proposals undergo an eligibility check by the C4 Component Coordinator and the DISTRICT+ Lead Partner. According to the results of the eligibility check, the DISTRICT+ Managing Committee defines a list of eligible proposals which undergo quality evaluation and a list of non-eligible proposals which are definitively rejected.

2. The quality evaluation of the proposals is done by the DISTRICT+ MC. This evaluation ends with the ranking of the eligible projects according to the quality criteria of the present call. While evaluating the quality of the proposals, the MC may require the SP LP to provide any missing documentation for the complete evaluation of the proposal. Failure to timely provide the requested information results in the rejection of the entire proposal. The quality evaluation of the sub-projects may lead to the negotiation of the technical and/or financial terms with the applicant.

3. The ranking of the proposals by the MC is presented to the DISTRICT+ Steering Committee for final approval. The list of approved proposals that are eligible for funding is published on the DISTRICT+ website as well as on the partners’ institutional websites (regional administrations websites).

Article 9 – Eligibility criteria

The eligibility of proposals is evaluated by the following conditions:

1. All parts of the AF are completely and properly filled and include a detailed description of the project.

2. The Application Form (AF) is submitted on time both in paper (signed) and electronic form (excel file, not signed). The scan of the signed Front Page (1st page of the Application Form) is also submitted. Both versions of the Application Form – paper and electronic - are identical. The paper version is considered as official. Respect of submission deadline will be checked by the stamped date of delivery on the posted envelope.

3. Co-financing statements are in line with requested funding and provided by all partners. They are duly stamped, dated, signed by the legal representative of each partner and printed on the official letterhead of the participating body.

4. All partners have their registered office in one of the DISTRICT+ partner regions and their status is that of public bodies or bodies governed by public law - declaration of status of the SP partner is provided by the regional authority if needed.

5. Planned costs comply with Interreg IVC rules, national rules and European regulations (particularly Regulations (EC) no. 1083/2006, no. 1080/2006, no.


1828/2006). Only costs related to the implementation of the project that are in line with the workplan are foreseen.

6. The proposal is in line with relevant national and EU legislation and policies. It excludes double financing from other EU, national and/or regional sources.

7. The proposal relates to Priority 1: “Innovation and the knowledge economy” - Sub-theme “Innovation, research and technology development” of the Interreg IVC programme.

8. Participation of partners from at least three different partner regions.

Article 10 – Evaluation criteria

1. The evaluation of proposals takes into account the contents of the AF. All parts of the AF must be completely and properly filled and provide a detailed description of the project, that is:

theme of proposal and sub-project idea

problem description, issue addressed, relevance to the SP and DISTRICT+ partners

description of partners, nature of partners (public bodies or bodies governed by public law), relevance of partners to the SP issues

objectives of the sub-project (general and specific)

expected outputs and results6 (according to measurable indicators)

innovative character of expected results

approach and methodology7

chronological workplan, role and tasks of partners, workpackage coordinators

involvement of relevant stakeholders, policy experts and practitioners

synergy with existing or planned policy measures

description of technical and financial management procedures

durability of project results

added value to the objectives of the DISTRICT+ project, the Interreg IVC programme, and to the Lisbon and Gothenburg agendas

consistency with EU horizontal policies about equal opportunities and environmental sustainability

6 Outputs are tangible deliverables and visible outcomes or products of the sub-project. They directly result from the activities carried out in the sub-project. Output indicators are typically measured in concrete units such as number of seminars, study visits, conferences, participants, publications, good practices identified, policies addressed. Results are direct and immediate effects resulting from the sub-project and from the production of the outputs. Compared to outputs, results imply a qualitative value. They should be also measured in concrete units such as the number of staff with increased capacity, the number of good practices successfully transferred, the number of policies improved. 7 e.g. sequence, combination and interrelation between the activities; logic behind the different proposed workpackages to achieve the project’s objectives and to produce the intended outputs and results.


financial tables

2. The evaluation of proposals also takes into account:

Quality of proposal (coherence of proposal, technical and financial contents, innovativeness of approach and methodology, relevance of objectives, technical and financial management, quality of communication and dissemination of results)

Expected impact to improve the effectiveness of regional policies in the areas of innovation, research and technological development and shift traditional industrial economies to more innovative development patterns

Expected outputs and results (according to measurable indicators)

Synergies with existing policies

Quality and cost-effectiveness of required budget

Sustainability of results

Compliance with EU horizontal policies for equal opportunities and environmental sustainability.

3. The following quality criteria apply for the ranking of proposals8:

1. Relevance of the proposal (up to 15 points)

2. Coherence of the proposal and quality of approach (up to 20 points)

3. Quality of results (up to 25 points)

4. Quality of management (up to 15 points)

5. Quality of partnership (up to 15 points)

6. Budget and finance (up to 10 points)

Each proposal may score up to 100 points maximum. In order to guarantee a high quality standard of the selected sub-projects, only proposals scoring 60 or higher will be considered for funding.

Article 11 – Compliance with Community Regulations

1. Compliance of proposals with any other relevant provision included in the Interreg IVC Programme Manual (25 October 2010) and related EU regulations, as well as regional and national rules even if not mentioned in the present document is required.

8 For a full explanation of the evaluation criteria please refer to section 3.4.2 of the Interreg IVC Programme Manual (25 October 2010) and particularly to Annex 4 of the same document which is available for download at www.interreg4c.eu.


Article 12 – Validity

1. The present Call for Proposals enters into force at the time of publication on the Official Bulletin of the Tuscany Region – in coordination with the publication on the Official Bulletins of the other partners of the DISTRICT+ project and in accordance with each partner’s own internal regulations and ends by the 31st March 2011, 12 a.m. CET.

2. To achieve the widest possible publicity of the present Call each DISTRICT+ partner will publish its text on its official website, in compliance with the aforementioned publication on the Official Bulletin of the Tuscany Region.


ANNEXES

Annex 1 - Application Form

Annex 2 - Co-financing Statement

Documents

Terms_of_Reference