ERASMUS +

The new EU ERASMUS + Programme will bring new challenges for Project Promoters.

The five major areas that the EU will be particularly looking very carefully at are:

1. Dissemination
2. Exploitation
3. Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)
4. Project Management, incorporating Compliance and Audit
5. Partnership Search


The Commission require a fully developed and comprehensive Work Package for each of these areas of Project activity areas. With over 40 years of experience or running and managing EU Projects The Foundation for European Initiatives, and its team of highly specialised experts, can assist your organisation in developing, managing and implementing a comprehensive Work Package for each of these areas.

1: Dissemination

Dissemination is one of the key evaluation criteria for any funded programme. Reviewers are attentive to how applicants aims to maximise the audience reach for their project its innovations and outputs. This is one of the main areas where applications fall down in the review process but also in the delivery of this Work Package if a project is supported. To improve the chances of success at the application stage communication experts will work alongside you to develop an outline credible Work Package that will “tick all the right boxes”. This will detail a strutured, logical and achievable dissemination strategy and plan that will be both convincing and deliverable by the project team. It will provide clear markers during the project of how to engage with key stakeholders to build awareness, support and interactivity with the project and its related outputs.

Once the Project is approved those same experts will work alongside you to write a detailed comprehensive “Project Dissemination Strategic Plan”, based on the outline Plan submitted as part of the application. This is when the theory will be translated into practice with a clear and logicial, time-framed plan of how to disseminate and exploit the outputs and societal benefits of the project. This Plan will be developed and discussed collectively with the Project team and is normally submitted to Project Partners for formal approval within 2-3 months of the commencement of the Project.

If required by the Partnership, we can assist in the implementation of the Strategy.

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2: Exploitation

Within EU funded projects, the European Commission is increasingly emphasising that partners must come up with detailed exploitation plans to ensure the practical use of the knowledge generated in the project and its industrial implementation. However, project partners often struggle to design significant exploitation plans as this requires an expertise beyond the skills typically present in EU funded projects.
Our team has worked closely with European project developers to address the barriers for transforming project outputs into viable innovations and support them to successfully penetrate the market. This includes commercialization deriving from exploitation of the results generated in the project implementation.
Our team has developed and tested an innovative and structured methodology for quicker and broader commercial exploitation of project outcomes than can result in licensing deals and spin-off creation all over Europe.

Our team can therefore act as work package leader in charge of exploitation of those project deliverables which can have an impact on the market and can be exploitable. The main elements of such work package include:

------- Assessment of investors readiness and commercial potential of project results

------- Risk analysis (market, financial, entrepreneurial) and legal due diligence

------- Definition of exit strategies scenarios

------- Preparation of business plans and start-up creation

------- Intellectual property rights (IPR) management

------- Patenting, trade mark and copyright protection analysis

------- Mapping of private and institutional investors

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3: Monitoring & Evaluation (M&E)

The key aim of M&E activities is to design and articulate the logic of the project in a form that can be tested and examined at regular intervals throughout. The M&E process keeps the project focused on its target groups/beneficiaries and can assess whether they are gaining the value they require from the project’s work. By doing this with a flexible approach, it allows the project to adjust and enhance the direction of its work plan, to maximise the quality of the deliverables and increase the potential for long-term impact. The M&E process will also include an analysis of the project’s internal logic regarding changed circumstances, identifying risks and events that turn out to be unforeseen and may affect the critical path of its implementation.

The aim of the M&E process is to indicate cases of positive performance as well as areas for improvement in a project. This process seeks to gather data on the contribution that the project has made to bringing about changes so that partners are better positioned to be responsive and more confident to embark into the next tasks of a project work plan.

Our team has developed and tested an innovative and structured methodology for monitoring and evaluating the progress of each project deliverable and the overall project performance, measuring its success against key performance indicators. Our team can therefore act as work package leader in charge of the design and implementation of a comprehensive M&E plan through the project and a M&E report at the end of the project.

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4: Project Management, incorporating Compliance and Audit

Many organisations are apprehensive about seeking funding because of the paper work and compliance concerns that the EU require. Once you have successfully navigated your way through the EU application process and have started work on your project the next most important step you have to take is making sure you have all the information available for the various reports required from the Commission during the life of the project.

The Foundation can assist you to successfully administer your project(s) by arranging for the preparation and the completion of all the relevant paperwork like Technical and Financial reports that are required during the life cycle of the project. The Foundation can also assist you with the preparation of an appropriate project file making sure that all the required supporting documentation is in place in case the European Commission require audit of the project. These will include project activity reports, invoices, payslips, timesheets and a host of other project related documents.

With staff that has a combined 45 years’ experience of dealing with EU programmes throughout the world The Foundation are well placed to guide and support you.

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5: Partnership Search Service

The new ERASMUS + programmes requires Partnerships that comprise organisations from a variety of sectors and geographical locations in order to apply for a grant.

The problem many organisations face is finding appropriate Partners from the private, voluntary and public sectors in the desired countries. Finding Partners is very time-consuming and labour intensive. This Service is designed for any organisation wishing to create, or join, a Partnership in order to attract ERASMUS + funding. With access to numerous European organisational networks built up over decades we are able to find you a suitable Partner for your Project from whichever country and sector you require.

We offer a pro-active service that will take all the hassle out of your Partner Search.

IMPORTANT NOTICE: Our Partnership Service aims to assist you in finding potential partners. However, we do not vet the organizations (or their details) registered with us. We therefore advise you to undertake the checks you find necessary upon finding a suitable partner for your project.

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© The Foundation for European Initiatives 2014