"Its significance and lessons learned"

Introduction

European Projects Association presents the project "European Horizons of 1917 - its significance and lessons learned" co-funded by the European for Citizens programme of European Union.

We aims raising awareness of the Western Balkans and the EU citizens as well as contributing to citizens' understanding of the Union, its history and diversity through a commemoration of one of the major historical turning points in recent European history – social and political revolutions, the fall of empires and their impact on Europe's political and historical landscape during 1917.

The project «30 years of the Fall of Wall - significance and lessons learned» was funded with the support of the European Union under the Programme "Europe for Citizens" Strand 1 – "European Remembrance"

The project “30 Years after the Fall of the Berlin Wall – Significance and Lessons Learned”, co-funded by the Europe for Citizens Programme of the EU, has come to an end.

The report of activities is available.

5 events have been carried out within this project:
Event 1: The kick off meeting.

Participation: The event involved  28  citizens, including  3  participants from the Daugavpils City Council, Latvia, 1 participant from the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments, Riga, Latvia, 1 participant from the Razvojno informacijski center Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia, 1 participant from the Diktyo Apascholisis Kai Koinonikis Merimnas, Piraeus, Greece, 1 participant from the Commune di Villafranca Sicula, Italy, 1 participant from the Commune di Librizzi, Italy, 2 participants from the Commune of Aleksandrów Łódzki, Poland, 2 participants from "NVO" Pazangos klubas, Lithuania, 2 participants from the Fundacja Studiów Europejskich - Instytut Europejski, Łódź, Poland, 2 participants from Anaptiksiaki Eteria Lefkosias (ANEL) Ltd, Cyprus, 1 participant from the Local Councils Association, Marsa, Malta, 3 participants from the European Projects Association asbl, Brussels, Belgium, 1 participant from the Municipality of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, 7 participants from the Marshall’s office of the Lodzkie Region, Łódź, Poland.

Location / Dates: The event took place in Łódź, Poland, from  22/07/2015  to 24/07/2015
Short description:  The aim of the event was to plan in details project tasks and responsibilities.

Event 2: European identity building – transnational civic education.
Participation: The event involved  109  citizens, including  69  participants from the Daugavpils City Council, Latvia, 5 participants from the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments, Riga, Latvia, 3 participants from the Razvojno informacijski center Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia, 3 participantd from the Diktyo Apascholisis Kai Koinonikis Merimnas, Piraeus, Greece, 1 participant from the Commune di Villafranca Sicula, Italy, 1 participant from the Commune di Librizzi, Italy, 3 participants from the Commune of Aleksandrów Łódzki, Poland, 2 participants from "NVO" Pazangos klubas, Šiauliai, Lithuania, 4 participants from the Fundacja Studiów Europejskich - Instytut Europejski, Łódź, Poland, 1 participant from Anaptiksiaki Eteria Lefkosias (ANEL) Ltd, Cyprus, 1 participant from the Local Councils Association, Marsa, Malta, 5 participants from the European Projects Association asbl, Brussels, Belgium, 1 participant from the Municipality of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, 7 participants from the Marshall’s office of the Lodzkie Region, Łódź, Poland, 3 participants from the Building Dreams Association, Bucharest, Romania.

Location / Dates: The event took place in Daugavpils, Latvia, from  12/11/2015  to 14/11/2015
Short description:  The aim of the event was to raise the awareness on the transnational civic education as well as the importance of the European citizenship acknowledged

Event 3: Voting rights from local to European level – political participation of EU citizens in constructing the community.
Participation: The event involved  104  citizens, including  3  participants from the Daugavpils City Council, Latvia, 1 participant from the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments, Riga, Latvia, 72 participants from the Razvojno informacijski center Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia, 3 participants from the Diktyo Apascholisis Kai Koinonikis Merimnas, Piraeus, Greece, 1 participant from the Commune di Villafranca Sicula, Italy, 1 participant from the Commune di Librizzi, Italy, 1 participant from the Commune of Aleksandrów Łódzki, Poland, 2 participants from "NVO" Pazangos klubas, Šiauliai, Lithuania, 2 participants from the Fundacja Studiów Europejskich - Instytut Europejski, Łódź, Poland, 1 participant from Anaptiksiaki Eteria Lefkosias (ANEL) Ltd, Cyprus, 1 participant from the Local Councils Association, Marsa, Malta, 3 participants from the European Projects Association asbl, Brussels, Belgium, 2 participants from the Municipality of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, 5 participants from the Marshall’s office of the Lodzkie Region, Łódź, Poland, 4 participants from the Building Dreams Association, Bucharest, Romania, 2 participants from the Commune of Vrsar, Croatia.

Location / Dates: The event took place in Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia, from  13/04/2016 to 15/04/2016
Short description:  The aim of the event was to raise the awareness on the voting rights from local to European level and political participation of EU citizens in constructing the community, as well as the importance of supporting citizens in taking active part in the construction of the EU.

Event 4: Entrepreneurship and Union – EU citizens as entrepreneurs on the common market.

Participation: The event involved  103  citizens, including  3  participants from the Daugavpils City Council, Latvia, 2 participants from the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments, Riga, Latvia, 2 participants from the Razvojno informacijski center Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia, 3 participants from the Diktyo Apascholisis Kai Koinonikis Merimnas, Piraeus, Greece, 2 participants from the Commune di Villafranca Sicula, Italy, 2 participants from the Commune di Librizzi, Italy, 4 participants from the Commune of Aleksandrów Łódzki, Poland, 2 participants from "NVO" Pazangos klubas, Šiauliai, Lithuania, 7 participants from the Fundacja Studiów Europejskich - Instytut Europejski, Łódź, Poland, 1 participant from Anaptiksiaki Eteria Lefkosias (ANEL) Ltd, Cyprus, 1 participant from the Local Councils Association, Marsa, Malta, 6 participants from the European Projects Association asbl, Brussels, Belgium, 1 participant from the Municipality of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, 61 participants from the Marshall’s office of the Lodzkie Region, Łódź, Poland, 4 participants from the Building Dreams Association, Bucharest, Romania, 2 participants from the Commune of Vrsar, Croatia.

Location / Dates: The event took place in Łódź, Poland, from  29/06/2016 to 01/07/2016
Short description:  The aim of the event was to raise the awareness on the importance of regional structures of support for the entrepreneurial spirit in Europe as well as to increase the opportunities for future cooperation facilitated thanks to the brokerage session.

Event 5: The future of the European Citizenship – European Identity and Refugees Integration.

Participation: The event involved  114  citizens, including  2  participants from the Daugavpils City Council, Latvia, 2 participants from the Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments, Riga, Latvia, 2 participants from the Razvojno informacijski center Slovenska Bistrica, Slovenia, 79 participants from the Diktyo Apascholisis Kai Koinonikis Merimnas, Piraeus, Greece, 2 participants from the Commune di Villafranca Sicula, Italy, 2 participants from the Commune di Librizzi, Italy, 1 participant from the Commune of Aleksandrów Łódzki, Poland, 4 participants from "NVO" Pazangos klubas, Šiauliai, Lithuania, 1 participant from the Fundacja Studiów Europejskich - Instytut Europejski, Łódź, Poland, 1 participant from Anaptiksiaki Eteria Lefkosias (ANEL) Ltd, Cyprus, 1 participant from the Local Councils Association, Marsa, Malta, 7 participants from the European Projects Association asbl, Brussels, Belgium, 1 participant from the Municipality of Stara Zagora, Bulgaria, 3 participants from the Marshall’s office of the Lodzkie Region, Łódź, Poland, 4 participants from the Building Dreams Association, Bucharest, Romania, 2 participants from the Commune of Vrsar, Croatia.

Location / Dates: The event took place in Athens, Greece, from  05/10/2016 to 07/10/2016
Short description:  The aim of the event was to evaluate and disseminate the project results to reach European bodies as well as the improvement of knowledge on social and civic issues related to the migration and integration.

Introduction

The European Projects Association presents the project “Universities for EU Projects’ Culture” financed as mobility project for traineeship for higher education students - KA1 Erasmus+ 2015. The project finances the traineeship of students selected by a consortium of 8 major Italian universities in order to boost employability of young Italian students trough the acquisition of specific competencies in European projects proposals.

Consortium

• Project leader:

SEND Sicilia

• Intermediary Organization:

EuGen – European Generation, European Projects Association (EPA) National Contact Point for Italy

• Sending organizations:

University of Trieste, University Ca’ Foscari, Venezia University of Padova, University of Parma, University of Macerata, University of Rome Sapienza, University of Cagliari, University of Palermo

Objectives

The general objective of the project is to increase the employment rate of young graduates in Italy by reinforcing the link between education and the labor market at European level and increasing technical and language competencies.

Activities

The main activities will be related to transnational mobility of Italian students in different European companies.

How does it work?

The project works trough traineeship experiences: University students selected for their knowledge in the field of European Project Proposals will be hosted for an average of four months in European companies.

Further, the selected students will put into practices their competencies presenting a project proposal or developing an analysis of needs and funding opportunities on behalf of the hosting organization.

This program will result in transnational experiences bringing Italian students and foreign companies together and increasing the students technical and languages skills. The mobility will thus have a positive impact on the employability prospect of students, will strength the training offer and the ties between the members university. It will open up concrete development opportunities for hosting companies and new growth prospect for the territories involved.

"Giving talented young people access to employers across Europe"  

Introduction

European Projects Association presents the project "Talented Europe", co-funded by the Erasmus+ programme of European Union.

The Erasmus Plus ‘Talented Europe’ project addresses two flagship initiatives of the ‘Europe 2020’ Strategy, namely Youth on the Move and the Agenda for New Skills and Jobs. It is a mechanism for connecting students with employers and vice versa across Europe with a view to identify, provide and facilitate career and internship opportunities.

Partnership

The project involves 5 partners from Belgium, Spain, Slovakia and United Kingdom, selected according to their expertise and their experience in participating in programmes financed by the European Union.

European Projects Association Asbl

Centro integrado de formación profesional Cesar Manrique

Technical University Kosice

University of Bedfordshire

IES Puerto de la Cruz –Telesforo bravo

Objectives

The objective of the project is to facilitate transnational movements of young people in the context of a better labour market integration and better mobility to reach EU employment headline targets. Besides that, the aim of the project is to create a virtual meeting point where graduates and enterprises could share ideas and collaborate to find business opportunities, to improve the entrepreneurship education and social entrepreneurship among young people.

The project will consist in linking young talented students, regardless of their academic or geographic origins, to employers across Europe.

How does it work?

There are three key stakeholders; students, employers, and universities/colleges. The students want the opportunities to find a job, the employers want the pick of the best students and the universities and colleges want their best students to do well. They can play a major quality control role in assessing and nominating their top talent to provide both reassurance for employers and motivation for students to do well.

The tool used in this project is a multiplatform mobile application which has a large database of the 3 stakeholders. It provides the contact information about the talented students as e.g. their ranks, skills, language to the employers. In this way, the employers will easily get the access to this information and they will be able to select the best candidate. The application is free and available for all kinds of mobile devices.

With everything moving online and the rise and rise of mobile, the Talented Europe app will fit student behaviour patterns and provide instant access to a large database of vocational opportunities via tailored ‘apps’. For employers, the job of finding talented students for either short or long-term opportunities is made so much easier, with a large talent pool to examine. Universities can address vocational aims and position their talented students among the best in Europe.

For Students

A ‘job dating app’ of the best internship or job opportunities in Europe

For Employers

Easy access to a broad talent pool of the best students across Europe

For Teachers

Vocational internship and job opportunities across Europe for their best students.

Introduction

European Projects Association (EPA), in collaboration with the Center of Intercultural Dialogue and the Macedonian Green Center presents "Civil Society for European Integration".

It is a project financed of 14 months co-funded by the Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA),funding mechanism of the European Union.

Based on the fact that Macedonian civil society organisations are often missing the opportunity to link their advocacy work at the European level, the project is a response to enhance the focus on EU integration among these CSOs.

Objectives

The project main goal is to strengthen the capacity of CSO on Macedonia to support the EU reforms and advocate for EU integration, it is also aimed at reinforcing the cooperation of Macedonian civil society with the relevant European umbrellas as a step to motivate more intensive cooperation and European level representation of the ideas and visions of Macedonian citizens.

Activities

The project main activities are divided over 14 months including the creation of Joint Coordination Project Team, a Multipliers Training containing three modules, five Idea Labs, a study visit to Brussels, Advocacy Initiatives, the development of a CSO Platform, and a conference with the publication of the final project report.

How does it work?

The target groups identified by the projects are firstly the Macedonian CSOs that advocate for marginalized groups (such as Roma communities, disabled persons, LGBT people or ethnic communities), and secondly, CSOs working in rural areas and smaller towns.

The project starts with 20 Macedonian CSOs working with disadvantaged and marginalized groups, or operating in rural areas and small towns. Once they follow this program, the element of peer-learning will be introduced so that in the next phase the additional 20 other CSOs will be involved in Idea Labs. Once this phase is over, in the next one, the group of beneficiaries will double again with over 40 new CSOs that will be involved in the actions. In this way, the capacity building of the civil society will be done not only through external expertise but as well through peer-based learning and working together. With the active advocacy in this field, the CSOs are expected to increase the opportunities for direct involvement in decision-making at local and national level. CSOs advocating for marginalized group will have more opportunity to share their opinion and get involved in the national level coordination.

“European Projects Association (EPA), in collaboration with European Academy for Education and Social Research and with the technical support of the Association Informo – experts team presents ....

INTRODUCTION

European Projects Association (EPA), in collaboration with European Academy for Education and Social Research, presents “Formación en gestión de fondos UE para la inclusión lavoral": it is a project financed by Ministry of Employment and Social Security of Spain, under the Youth Program.

The aim of this Programme is to promote social integration and employment of young Spanish people (under 35 years) who live abroad, through specific actions that allow them to continue their training.

The main goal is their incorporation into the labour market of the country of residence, or the exploitation of their experience upon their return to Spain.

WHAT DO THEY PROPOSE?

The project “Formación en gestión de fondos UE para la inclusión lavoral"; offers participants a thorough knowledge of European funding area, which can offer many possibilities, but is unknown to the majority of people.

According to a study, in 2007-2013 period, Spain failed to absorb € 9 billion of the possible European funding, when many companies, institutions and citizens could have benefited from it.

However, to receive these grants, qualified staff is required, able to manage and apply to different EU calls.

Through ‘info-days’, sessions dedicated to European programs and projects divided into different thematic blocks, participants will obtain a general knowledge of the subject. The ultimate goal is that participants increase their skills towards obtaining and management of European funds.

To do that, they are advised to follow the ‘’learning by doing’’ method, focusing on practical and real case studies.

Moreover, further training visits at the ‘’European Projects Accelerator’’ are planned, with the opportunity to participate in the ongoing project development and through a direct contact with the experts.

Participants also have access to the Accelerator Programs’ material.

It should also be noted that, from the beginning of the programme, beneficiaries are assisted by a mentor whose support is available even after the completion of the programme.

SESSION SCHEDULE:

• 11/12 April: Horizon 2020 – Developing a Successful Proposal.
• 18 April: Communication Strategies and Social Media for European Projects.
• 30/31 May: Financial Management of European Projects and External Audit.
• 1 June: Spread Successfully in the Horizon 2020 Program – Exploitation strategies and Communication.
• 20/22 June: Great Opportunity for PYMES – The PYMES Instrument under Horizon 2020.
• 04/05 July: How to be successful at Creative Europe funding?

Introduction

Lodzkie Region as an Applicant Organizations aims to focus its activities on the Action 1 of the Program: Active citizens for Europe, Town Twinning. European Regions for Social Inclusion project is therefore created to promote mutual understanding, a sense of ownership of the European Union as well as to foster a debate on EU values and active citizenship. The targets of the project are planned to be achieved through strong cooperation with wide European network of public and private bodies. The project aims to create interregional and multilevel network between public authorities on local and regional level as well as between public bodies and CSOs. The goals of the project are facing local and regional strategies with the focus on main areas of improvement. They adjust to Europe 2020 Strategy, Charter of Fundamental Rights, EU Citizens 2013 report, guidelines of the European Year 2013. It contributes to the implementation of those strategies on the local level. Thanks to strong cooperation between old and new EU countries, as well as Montenegro, the partnership will provide scale effect and in the long distance will lead to its main aims:

• raising awareness about EU issues and deepen the trust in EU project;
• ensuring that citizens feel informed about  of EU and its influence on their life on the local level;
• developing European identity, foster mutual understanding;
• involving groups at risk of social exclusion, recognizing those in cooperation with CSOs and providing an insight in the effectiveness of authorities bottom-up initiatives.

Projects activities:

Due to the wide variety of target groups the Project aims to diverse the activities which include inter alia: 

• conferences and seminars;
• experts panels;
• citizens dialogue;
• workshops;
• art competition;
• study visits.

Partnership

Lodzkie Region, relying on its solid partnership relations as well as those newly acquired, created a network of 23 partners engaged in the European Regions for Social Inclusion project. The network consists of mainly public authorities, but also CSOs. Each partner plays an important role in the project and thanks to strong cooperation and tasks division each elements complement each other. The Partners are experienced players in the field concerning inter alia: Social Cohesion, Inclusive Economy, Citizenship and Participatory policy making. The Project will benefit also from the cooperation with technologies and communications tools providers like: European Projects Association (EPA) - expert in the field of European projects support system, manager of Europa News and My Europa community platform.

Introduction

FOSTER (Facilitate Open Science Training for European Research) is a 2-year, EU-Funded (FP7) project, carried out by 13 partners across 8 countries. The primary aim is to produce a European-wide training programme that will help researchers, postgraduate students, librarians and other stakeholders to incorporate Open Access approaches into their existing research methodologies.

In recent years we have witnessed significant debate and activity surrounding the movement to make research papers, data, and scientific information freely available to all readers online. Open Access policies have been championed across the European Research Area, and feature prominently in the recommendations of Horizon 2020, the European Commission’s research and innovation programme: the EC views the principles of accessible knowledge and shared data as key components in their efforts to maximize the impact of publicly-funded research, and to promote innovation and economic growth. Open Access, both as a policy-driven initiative and as a general practice in research, has thus become more widely accepted as a desirable goal, and we expect that it will become even more important to forging an interconnected information exchange across Europe in the near future.

However, there is still a need to fill a number of skills gaps for researchers, project managers, librarians and other relevant stakeholders, in order to ensure that research results are managed, shared, and preserved effectively. Many researchers or other staff working at research institutions, however sympathetic they might be to the principles of OA, are not confident of the practical steps they may need to take to comply with the EC’s recommendations, to deposit articles in a repository, or to train other members of their institutions to do the same. FOSTER is a project designed to equip young researchers, established scholars, librarians, library managers, and other stakeholders, with the skills to function effectively as the range of open access policies are refined and aligned across the EU.

FOSTER is preparing online teaching materials and face-to-face training packages to help researchers comply with Open Access policies in line with the recommendations and expectations of the Horizon 2020 framework. FOSTER will enable its stakeholders to contribute to the growing holdings of freely-accessible research papers in Europe, to share and preserve their data productively, and will prepare them to engage with and develop new knowledge communities in the digital age.

Objectives

• Support different stakeholders, especially young researchers, in adopting open access in the context of the European Research Area (ERA) and in complying with the open access policies and rules of participation set out for Horizon 2020;
• Integrate open access principles and practice in the current research workflow by targeting the young researcher training environment;
• Strengthen the institutional training capacity to foster compliance with the open access policies of the ERA and Horizon 2020 (beyond the FOSTER project);
• Facilitate the adoption, reinforcement and implementation of open access policies from other European funders, in line with the EC’s recommendation, in partnership with PASTEUR4OA project.

Main Activities:

The objectives will be pursued through the combination of 3 main activities:

• Identifying already existing contents that can be reused in the context of the training activities and repackaging, reformatting them to be used within FOSTER, and develop/create/ enhance contents if/where they are needed;
• Creation of the FOSTER Portal to support e-learning, blended learning, self-learning, dissemination of training materials/contents and Helpdesk;
• Delivery of face-to-face training, especially training trainers/multipliers that can carry on further training and dissemination activities, within their institutions, countries or disciplinary communities.

Introduction

The MBB aims to create a Learning and Exchange Network on EU direct funding programmes in co-ordination with their Brussels-based transnational partner, the European Projects Association (EPA) .The EPA is a non-profit organisation focused on research and development, innovation and internationalisation.

This network will act as a “train-the-trainers” structure revolving around training key individuals from private enterprises, on how EU direct funding works, the identification of potential project opportunities, the process of filling out an application, the structuring of project consortia as well as project implementation and reporting, all under the direct mentoring of the expert trainer sourced through the EPA network of experts.

Training will take place in Malta and in Gozo, where participants will be required to work on simulated proposals as an integral part of their training programme. Applicants will be assessed on the quality of their projects with a simulation exercise constituting as a key element for their final assessment so as to determine the successful completion of the training.

Moreover, those with the most feasible proposals will be selected to attend an institutional study visit in Brussels organised by the MBB in conjunction with the EPA.