Learning from experiences: tips for good participation in

EU (energy) projects

By Mr. Djilali Kohli, Executive Director of EPA,

the European Projects Association

About EPA

What you need to know before starting?

What kind of projects (IEE, FP7..)?

Planning your proposal – the critical path

Conclusion

Outlook

About EPA

• Culture of Project Management in Europe is poor

• EU projects are difficult and time consuming

• Among the challenges an organisation has to face:

– Knowledge/Experience of its staff ?

– identification of good consultants ?

– Identification of good projects ideas ?

– Identification of good project partners ? etc.…

Why EPA ?

Our Project

• Non-profit organisation focused on professional development and advancing the skills of individuals and organisations involved in EU projects.

• EPA’s approach to improving competences and performance will combine experiential learning —“learning through doing”— with opportunities for ongoing professional growth at every step of one’s career journey.

• EPA will support the goals of individuals and organizations through a complete range of products and services, including networking activities, seminars, e-campus, software solutions and practical guides.

• Our objective is to become your trusted partner in professional development and draw upon our experience to enhance skills, abilities and knowledge with noticeable results from day one.

EPA Website

www.europeanprojects.org

What you need to know before starting?

The key questions

Educate the evaluator with ‘Facts’ and ‘Figures’

1) What problem are you trying to solve?

2) Is it a European problem? Could it be solved at National Level?

3) Is the solution already available (product, service, transfer)?

4) Why now? What would happen if we don’t act?

5) Why you? Are you the right people to do the job?

How does an evaluator judge a good proposal?

The profile of coordinator:

Previous experience as coordinator? Support services and financial

administration? Evaluator or expert with EC (FP7)?

The Idea:

Source of the idea? Opinion of the European Commission?

The Plan:

Draft of idea? ‘Briefing’ Plan? Sources of funding? (In general, the EC

only provides a co-financing)

The partnership:

What skills are needed? Experience of the partners? Trusted partners?

Sources of ideas for new proposals

Work programme: Please READ, READ and READ again the call for

proposals

Thematic conferences: Infodays, Energy week, etc… very useful for

networking as well.

Foresights reports: what is the strategy/roadmap of your region, your

country or the European Commission for the theme of your interest

Existing projects: at regional, national or at EU level (projects

Database, best practice projects…)

Adopt a strategy for EU funding

Calls for proposals: • Don’t wait for the calls to be published. • Identify clearly the strategy of your organisations, stakeholders,

region…(key sectors, fields, skills that need to be developed…)• Select strategic partners. • Identify the most suitable funding schemes. • Identify the role you are most likely to play in a consortium

(coordinator, partner, work packages vs. internal resources)

Networking:• Become an evaluator (if possible)• Join EU associations/networks/platforms• Be present/exhibit at relevant conferences

Develop your skills

EU projects are very challenging. They require many skills:

1. Understand Business Needs/Society Needs2. Understand EU Policy3. European Partners/Network4. Technology/Researcher managers (FP7)5. Consortium Agreement6. Understand EC Financial regulation and7. Administration8. Project Management Skills9. Communication Skills (including Intercultural…)…

Develop your skills and train your staff. It will help you develop yourorganisation far beyond EU projects.

Many reasons to contact your National Contact Points

1) They have direct contact with the European Commission.

2) They can advance information on the work programme, provide analysis of results of previous calls, arrange meetings with EC officers…

3) They usually organise workshops on call attended by EC officials and in certain regions they support applicants with funding or free assistance for the proposal writing.

4) They can provide early indication of results at the evaluation stage (informal)

5) In general they can provide recommendations for proposal evaluation, committees, conferences…

What kind of projects (IEE, FP7..)?

Multi-disciplinary actions on EE and RE, which :

– Help to implement EU energy policy on the ground and to stimulate new thinking

– Accelerate the growth of EU markets for energy efficient and renewable energy products and services

– Change behaviour and decision making at all levels from households to policy makers

– Launch new financing schemes for sustainable products and services of all sizes

– Train and motivate people, by providing them with knowledge and solutions

Intelligent Energy Europe (I)

Creative ideas to achieve EU 2020 targets:

– Working together across the EU to address common challenges, ambitious enough to produce significant impacts on the market

– Sharing of experience and transfer of knowledge across the EU “How to do things, or how to do them it better”

– Catalysing dialogue between key decision-making organisations, to build confidence and improve understanding in the market

– Addressing market failures, removing market barriers

– NO research, NO technology development, NO hardware investments, NO singular actions at national or local level (Market Replication Projects not open in 2008)

Intelligent Energy Europe (II)

FP7: Energy

Cooperation (EUR 2300 m. for 2007-2013)

1. Hydrogen and fuel cells

2. Renewable electricity generation

3. Renewable fuel production

4. Renewables for heating and cooling

5. Co2 captures and storage technologies / zero emission powergeneration

6. Clean coal technologies

7. Smart energy networks

8. Energy efficiency and savings

Planning your proposal – the critical path (valid for all kind of EU projects: CIP, FP7, Interreg…)

Planning your proposal

GIVE DETAILED EXPLANATIONS IN YOUR PROPOSAL !

• STARTING POINT: What is the existing situation ? What is the problem to be solved ? What has been done so far, and by whom ? Where do you come into the picture – and why ?

• WORK PACKAGES: What exactly do you propose to do ?

• RESULTS: What will be different when the project has ended ? When you have finished, how will anyone know that you have succeeded ? – monitor your impacts !

• TARGET GROUP: Who do you need to influence / engage?

• IMPACT: What measurable change will you achieve ?

Writing your proposal• Strong competition: you need a good idea !

• Be imaginative, start early ! It takes longer than you think !

• Easy to read? - evaluators assess it in ~2-4 hours. Have it read by an outsider (no jargon, simple for non mother tongue readers)

• Respect limits of length, but give as much detail as possible in each work package, and explain what each partner will actually do, how (methodology), and what will be delivered

• Provide evidence of :

– the problem that you plan to address / solve (market failure),

– your expertise (strong CV’s),

– your co-financing (letters of support, with funding commitments),

– stakeholders who are committed to use the results (ideally they will be partners or co-sponsors)

Input/Output

Input/Output

The European dimension

• EU projects should address problems at the European level far beyond the specific interests of a Member State;

• The proposed solution must have a direct impact at the European level;

• Participants must be located in a Member State either Associated State (in general 3 in the minimum threshold and five can be a good compromise, the participation of third countries [non EU countries] is really welcome when the international dimension is requested);

• Subsidiary and proportionality

More thoughts on ‘European Added Value’

• Multi-cultural working is difficult and expensive, so it must really deliver added value, with results which are transferable to others

– A consortium of partners from different countries is not enough

– Working in parallel in different countries is not enough

– Working on issues addressed by EU policies is not enough

• Remember: Comparatively small (<500k€) actions can nevertheless have high added value and impacts at EU level

• Actions, which fit better at national or local level, because of timescale, involvement of SME’s, intellectual property rights, etc…should be excluded

Result / Impact indicators “SMART” (IEE)

Indicators to measure the impact of your work:

“Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely”

For example:

• Increased 7% of solar collectors in EU to carry a new product label

• Increased 10% of installers trained and certified in target regions

• Planning approval delays reduced from 2 to 1 year

• Audits leading to energy savings of 0,5 Mtoe (million tons oil equivalent) per year in schools

• Increased 5% of cyclists in target cities

Balance your project

• balance in the budget (the smallest budget per partner contribution should be ≥ to 15% of the total)

• balance in the roles among the partnership

• European balance (the total number of countries divided by the total number of participating organisations should be ≥ than 0.45)

• balance in effort (the number of person-months provided by the lowest contributing partner divided by the one of the highest contributing partner should be ≥ than 0.2);

• balance in the distribution of work

Strengths of recent proposalsIEE

• Creative and convincing idea to tackle a market based problem or to take an opportunity one step further (i.e. an approach that fits)

• Demand driven with convincing commitments from market actors (e.g. industry) to use the results, well targeted dissemination plan

• Clear and precise awareness of the state of the art. Competitive proposers present their experiences, and will start from there !

• Choice of partners and countries is clearly explained, and their skills fit with the allocation of tasks in the work packages.

• Appropriate efforts estimated for each partner and each work package throughout the proposal

• Co-financing is clear, and credible

• Realistic, but ambitious targets. Tailor-made communication plan

Top Tips (I)

Get familiar with the work-programme and set your own roadmap

Do not expect results in 2 months time

Consolidate or establish relations with European counterparts

Networking = Attend events at the national and EU level

Structure your offer so as to make your research potential or project concept clearly emerge

Educate the evaluator (with facts and figures)

Focus on Results, Users and Impacts

Start your experience as partners in projects co-ordinated by others

You’ll be seen as far away partners = you must have a + to be preferred to others

Seek advice from those who have experience

Subscribe to on line partner search engines

Top Tips (II) Novelty

Get the practicalities done as soon as possible

Find the right partner for the right activity

Balance your budget

Do not write too much

Do not write too less - have concluding remarks at the end of each section

Do not expect the evaluator are top experts in the field you are focusing on

Do consider the Commission as a customer

Be precise and clear in you plan of activities

Select the right instrument

Have a clear project outline

Find the right acronym

Time scheduling

Eligibility criteria

A proposal is eligible when:

• Received before the deadline (in the call text)

• Involve the minimum number of participants

• Administrative forms and proposal description are present

• Signatures and stamps in original (when requested)

• Overall budget according to the funding scheme (large or small scale projects)

• Content related to topics

• Special conditions are included and acceptable

Electronic submission

On line preparation only!!!!!!!

Main reason for failure in the submission

- Writing till the last minute

- Technical problems

- Panic (errors)

- Too late starting upload

- Run out of time

Conclusion

Conclusion

Be active

Be persistent

Create as many project ideas as possible

Maintain your contacts with potential partners

Believe that EU projects are new business opportunity

EPA Website

www.europeanprojects.org