Support For Policy Reform Social inclusion and common values: the contribution in the field of education, training and youth (Key Action 3) - EACEA/10/2018

Deadline: May 22, 2018  
CALL EXPIRED

1. INTRODUCTION – BACKGROUND

1.1 The European Union is committed to supporting Member States in fostering social inclusion and in building cohesive societies.

The European Pillar of social rights1 supports ‘the right to quality and inclusive education, training and lifelong learning in order to maintain and acquire skills that enable [everyone] to participate fully in society and manage successfully transitions in the labour market.’

By reaching out to all citizens – in particular the young and the most disadvantaged – education, training and youth policies are crucial to promote common values, to prevent and tackle inequality and poverty, exclusion and discrimination, to foster mutual understanding and respect among people and communities and to build the foundation for active citizenship.

In the 2015 Paris Declaration2, European education ministers called for actions at all levels of government to reinforce the role of education in promoting citizenship and common values, strengthening social cohesion and helping young people become responsible, open-minded and active members of our diverse and inclusive societies.

Access to education and training for all has improved in Europe as a whole. However, ensuring quality mainstream education and training for all remains a challenge for many countries, and a significant educational gap persists. Inequality is increasing and has a negative impact on learning outcomes, since education and training systems tend to reproduce existing patterns of socio-economic status.

There is strong evidence34 that educational inequalities and students’ socio-economic background are linked. Students from poorer households are three times more likely to perform worse than their wealthier counterparts, and students of migrant background are more than twice as likely to be low achievers as other students.

To prevent the marginalisation of young people, it is vital to have inclusive and fair education systems that foster cohesive societies, lay the foundations for active citizenship and enhance employability. This is also one of the objectives of the Strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020).

Youth work in particular can help young people gain skills and competences through non-formal learning and access formal education and training, but there is a need to build up capacity to reach out to the 'harder to reach' groups.

1.2  High quality inclusive education and training, at all levels, is essential in ensuring social mobility and inclusion, in offering citizens knowledge and skills to succeed in the labour market, but also in promoting a deeper understanding of our common values.

Article 2 of the Treaty on European Union states that ‘The Union is founded on the values of respect for human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality, the rule of law and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities. These values are common to the Member States in a society in which pluralism, non- discrimination, tolerance, justice, solidarity and equality between women and men prevail’.

These common values are the bedrock of our democracies and a reflection of who we are. They are especially relevant against the background of challenges such as populism, xenophobia, divisive nationalism, discrimination, the spreading of fake news and misinformation, or the risk of violent radicalisation, which can undermine our democratic foundations and institutions and the trust in the rule of law, and hinder a common sense of belonging within and amongst European societies.

The Commission proposal for a Council Recommendation on promoting common values, inclusive education, and the European dimension of teaching5 aims at promoting common values at all levels of education, fostering inclusive education, encouraging a European dimension of teaching - without prejudice to the national prerogatives in this realm - and supporting teachers and teaching. It encourages Member States and the Commission to share good practice and information and to develop policies at both national and EU levels.

1.3  In its contribution to the Gothenburg Social summit for fair jobs and growth6 of 17 November 2017, the European Commission stressed that investing in education is a shared interest of all Member States and of Europe as a whole as it is a driver for jobs, economic growth and improved welfare and supports upward economic and social convergence both between and within Member States.

On 14 December 2017, the Union’s Heads of State and government7 confirmed the key role of education and culture in building inclusive and cohesive societies, and in sustaining our competitiveness. Furthermore, they stressed the need for an inclusive, lifelong-learning-based and innovation-driven approach to education and training and recalled their willingness - expressed at the Gothenburg summit - to do more in these areas, in which the EU plays an important supplementing and supporting role.

The year 2018 has been designated as the ‘European Year of Cultural Heritage’ with the purpose to encourage the sharing and appreciation of Europe's cultural heritage as a shared resource, to raise awareness of common history and values, and to reinforce a sense of belonging to a common European space. The general objectives of the European Year shall be to encourage and support the efforts of the Union, the Member States and regional and local authorities, in cooperation with the cultural heritage sector and broader civil society, to protect, safeguard, reuse, enhance, valorise and promote Europe's cultural heritage.8

 

The management of this call is delegated by the European Commission to the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, hereinafter referred to as "the Agency".

 

2. OBJECTIVES, KEY FEATURES AND EXPECTED RESULTS

2.1 Objectives

This call for proposals will support transnational cooperation projects in the fields of education, training and youth.

The call comprises two lots, one for education and training (Lot 1) and one for youth (Lot 2).

Each application must address one general objective and one of the specific objectives, which are listed separately for Lot 1 and for Lot 2. Both the general and specific objectives of the call are exhaustive: proposals that do not address them will not be considered.

General objectives

Projects submitted under this call under both lots should aim at:

1. Disseminating and/or scaling up good practices on inclusive learning initiated in particular at local level. In the context of the present call, scaling up means replicating good practice on a wider scale/transferring it to a different context or implementing it at a higher/systemic level;

or
2. Developing and implementing innovative methods and practices to foster inclusive

education and/or youth environments in specific contexts.
Projects under both Lots are encouraged to actively involve role models9 as well as activities

related to the European Year of Cultural Heritage 201810 .

 

Lot 1 – Education and training Specific objectives:

•   Enhancing the acquisition of social and civic competences, fostering knowledge, understanding and ownership of values and fundamental rights;

•   Promoting inclusive education and training and fostering the education of disadvantaged learners, including through supporting teachers, educators and leaders of educational institutions in dealing with diversity and reinforcing socio-economic diversity in the learning environment;

•   Enhancing critical thinking and media literacy among learners, parents and educational staff;

•   Supporting the inclusion of newly arrived migrants in good quality education, including by assessing knowledge and validating prior learning;

•   Fostering digital skills and competences of digitally excluded groups (including older people, migrants and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds) through partnerships between schools, business and the non-formal sector, including public libraries.

•   Promoting European values, cultural heritage and heritage-related skills, common history, intercultural dialogue and social inclusion through education, non-formal and lifelong learning, in line with the objectives of the 2018 European Year of Cultural Heritage.

Projects are encouraged to involve role models in their activities, where appropriate.

Lot 2 – Youth Specific objectives:

•   Promoting civic participation of young people by developing the role of volunteering for social inclusion;

•   Preventing marginalisation and radicalisation leading to violent extremism of young people.

Projects are encouraged to actively involve role models11 as well as activities related to the European Year of Cultural Heritage 201812 .

2.2 Key features of the projects submitted under the present call (Lots 1 and 2)

In line with the objective of Erasmus+ Key Action 3 to support policy reform, projects should demonstrate the capacity to generate impact not only on the partner organisations but also at the systemic level, e.g. generating multiplier effects at territorial or sector-specific level, attracting or involving major players or networks – including from the private sector, obtaining support from public authorities, enhancing awareness and visibility of activities or outputs, etc.

Projects focussing on dissemination/upscaling should primarily build on actions for which solid proof of their effectiveness can be provided and which show potential for being disseminated and/or scaled up.

Projects focussing on innovative practices in the fields of education, training or youth should demonstrate their innovative character in relation to their field and potential impact beyond direct beneficiaries building on the outcomes of previous analyses, evaluations and pilot actions.

Projects cutting across sectors and involving non-formal learning are encouraged to create synergies between education, training, youth, culture and sport.

Proposals should include the following elements:

•   Context and rationale justifying the proposed actions, including the challenges to be addressed at local level and the assessment of the needs of the target group(s);

•   Description of the policies and practices to be disseminated and/or scaled up (e.g. courses, teaching materials, use of role models, recommendations) or of the innovative approach proposed, including supporting evidence.

•   Description of the strategy and methodology for implementation of the proposed action, in particular of the relevant concrete activities (e.g. adaptation to new context, testing, training, capacity building, awareness-raising activities, etc.).

•   Description of how the use of role models and the European Year of Cultural Heritage will be integrated into the project activities if this is the case.

•   Description of the evaluation methods, which should be integral part of the project and should provide evidence on the effectiveness of the activities;

•   Plans for follow-up (replication or up-scaling in other sectors, areas, target groups, integration at systemic level, etc.) showing the project sustainability, including possible funding through EU (e.g. Erasmus+, European Structural and Investment Funds, European Fund for Strategic Investment) or national funds.

Synergies with other projects are encouraged, including:

•   Other (on-going or completed) European projects on citizenship education and engagement and intercultural understanding, in particular under Erasmus+ and the predecessor European programmes in education, training and youth;

2.3 Expected results and example of activities
Projects under Lot 1 - Education and training should lead to results such as:

•   increased awareness, knowledge and understanding of good practices in the relevant educational institutions and communities;

•   increased use of state of the art innovative approaches in policy or practice ;

•   increased awareness, motivation and competence of educational leaders and educators with regard to inclusive educational approaches and the promotion of common values;

•   active engagement of families and local communities in supporting inclusive educational approaches and the promotion of common values;

•   more widespread and effective tools to support education and training institutions and learning providers in implementing inclusive education approaches and in promoting common values.

Projects under Lot 2 - Youth should lead to results such as:

•   improved social, civic and inter-cultural competences and skills of young people, including active citizenship, media and digital literacy, critical judgement and intercultural understanding; greater youth participation in social and civic life;

•   improved and innovative ways of cooperation or partnerships between non-formal education sector and schools (e.g. use of non-formal methodologies and informal learning within formal education settings for civic education).

•   the Joint EU-Council of Europe scheme on Human Rights and Democracy13;

•   the activities supported by the Asylum Migration and Integration Fund and the Internal Security Fund14.

•   enhanced awareness among young people of their fundamental rights and sense of belonging to society, stronger endorsement of democratic values and engagement in practices of anti-racism, intercultural and inter-faith dialogue and mutual understanding;

•   improved outreach to young people from disadvantaged groups (e.g. young people in a "NEET"15 situation or young people with a migrant background) by building synergies with the local community and making best use of existing networks at local level;

•   enhanced capacity of youth work, youth organisations and/or youth networks to act as forces of inclusion by empowering young people to engage, volunteer and drive positive change in communities;

•   improved expertise in providing basic assistance or equipping of newly arrived migrants and refugees with the skills they need to integrate in a different society or which could be useful for reintegration in the country of origin when the conflict is over, as well as the appreciation of cultural diversity in the community;

•   better integration of newly arrived migrants and refugees and enhanced inclusive climate in the hosting societies, in particular through the planning and organisation of cultural or social activities at local level involving locals and volunteers where appropriate;

•   better information on social media, websites, public meetings, to support the volunteering efforts of the organisation.

Example of activities

Activities aimed at achieving the expected results listed above for example:

•   Cooperation and networking models which involve combinations of relevant (public/private) stakeholders across different sectors;

•   Adapting and applying learning practices to new target populations;

•   Conferences, seminars, workshops and meetings with policy and decision makers;

•   Assessing, sharing and validating good practices and learning experiences;

•   Training and other capacity-building activities (e.g. for teachers, youth workers, local authorities, prison staff, etc.);

•   Supportive approaches and outreach practices from young people to young people as well as role model activities;

•   Targeted awareness-raising and dissemination activities including information material and effective communication strategies;

•   Operational or policy recommendations in the field of education, training and youth that are relevant to the objectives of the Paris Declaration;

•   Supportive approaches and outreach practices addressing young people from disadvantaged groups and newly arrived migrants and refugees.

•  

 

3. TIMETABLE

Deadline for submitting applications
22 May 2018 at 13:00 (Brussels time)

Selection period
June to August 2018

Information to applicants
September 2018

Signature of grant agreement
November to December 2018

Starting date of the action
31st of December 2018; 15th or 31st of January 2019

 

4. BUDGET AVAILABLE

The total budget available for the co-financing of projects under the present call is EUR 14.000.000 allocated as follows:

•   Lot 1 - Education and training 12.000.000 €

•   Lot 2 - Youth 2.000.000 €

  The financial contribution from the EU cannot exceed 80 % of the total eligible project costs. The maximum grant per project will be 500.000 €.
  The Agency reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

 

5. ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

Applications shall comply with the following requirements:

•   they must be submitted not later than the deadline for submitting applications referred to in Section 3.

•   they must be submitted online (see Section 14 of the present guidelines), using the electronic application form and its compulsory annexes (using only the provided templates);

•   they must be drafted in one of the EU official languages. Please note that only typed applications will be considered.

The application form must be accompanied by a balanced budget using the compulsory template and must be expressed in Euro (€).

Failure to comply with those requirements will lead to the rejection of the application.

In order to submit an application, applicants, partners and/or affiliated entities must provide their Participant Identification Code (PIC) in the application form16. The PIC can be obtained by registering the organisation in the Unique Registration Facility (URF) hosted in the Education, Audiovisual, Culture, Citizenship and Volunteering Participant Portal. The Unique Registration Facility is a tool shared by other services of the European Commission. If an applicant, a partner or affiliated entity already has a PIC that has been used for other programmes (for example the Research programmes), the same PIC is valid for the present call for proposals.

The Participant Portal allows applicants, partners and affiliated entities to upload or update the information related to their legal status and attach the requested legal and financial documents (see Section 14.2 for more information).

Only applications that comply with the admissibility requirements will pass at evaluation stage.

 

6. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

The proposals which comply with the below criteria will be the subject of a content evaluation. Only applications that fulfil the eligibility criteria will be considered for a grant. If an application is deemed ineligible, a letter indicating the reasons will be sent by e-mail to the coordinator. The eligibility criteria will be assessed on the basis of the information provided in the application form.

6.1 Eligible applicants

Eligible applicants are public and private organisations active in the field of education, training and youth or other socio-economic sectors or organisations carrying out cross-sector activities (e.g. cultural organisations, civil society, sport organisations, recognition centres, chambers of commerce, trade organisations, etc.).

National Agencies or other structures and networks of the Erasmus+ Programme, receiving a direct grant from the Commission in accordance with the legal basis of the Programme17 are not eligible to participate. Nevertheless, the legal entities hosting the Erasmus+ National Agencies or the structures and networks mentioned above, as well as entities affiliated to these legal entities, are considered eligible applicants.

Legal entities having a legal or capital link with a beneficiary, which is neither limited to the project nor established for the sole purpose of its implementation may take part in the project as affiliated entities, and may declare eligible costs as specified in Section 11.2.

Only legal entities established in the following programme countries are eligible:

•   the 28 Member States of the European Union;

•   the EFTA/EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway;

•   EU candidate countries: the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey.

For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the project. If the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the project period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, you will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible, to participate) or be required to leave the project on the basis of grant agreement Article II.16.3.1 (a).

The minimum partnership composition requirement for this call is 4 eligible organisations from 4 different programme countries.

If networks are involved in the project, the consortium must include at least 2 organisations which are not members of the network(s) and the consortium has to represent at least 4 eligible countries.

In order to assess the applicants' eligibility, the following supporting documents are requested (via the Participant Portal):

 for a private entity: extract from the official journal, copy of articles of association, extract of trade or association register, certificate of liability to VAT (if, as in certain programme countries, the trade register number and VAT number are identical, only one of these documents is required); or a

• Public entity: copy of the resolution or decision establishing the public company, or other official document establishing the public-law entity;
• Consortium: in addition to the supporting documents referring to their legal status, consortium members will submit letters confirming their participation to the project,
• Entities without legal personality: documents providing evidence that their representative(s) have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf.

Associated partners: Additionally, the project may benefit from the involvement of associated partners. These organisations can contribute to the implementation of specific tasks/activities and/or support the dissemination and sustainability of the project. In principal, they will not benefit financially from the EU grant and associated partners can be established both in Programme or partner countries. For that purpose, applicants shall identify such associated partners in the 'Detailed Project Description' which is part of the Application Package and confirm this list at the stage of notification of project results.

 

6.2 Eligible activities and project duration

Only activities taking place in Programme countries (see Section 6.1) will be considered eligible for funding. Any costs relating to activities undertaken outside these countries or by organisations that are not registered in the Programme countries are not eligible.

Exceptionally and on case by case basis activities that involve other countries than the Programme countries can be granted but must have the prior and specific authorization from the Executive Agency.

Activities must start either on 31st of December 2018; 15th or 31st of January 2019. The project duration must be 24 or 36 months.

However, if after signing the agreement and after the start of the project it becomes impossible for the beneficiaries, for fully justified reasons beyond their control, to complete the project within the scheduled period, an extension to the eligibility period may be granted, if requested before the deadline specified in the grant agreement. The maximum extension is limited to 6 additional months.

 

 

7. EXCLUSION CRITERIA

7.1 Exclusion from participation

An applicant will be excluded from participating in calls for proposals procedure, if it is in any of the following situations:

a) it is bankrupt, subject to insolvency or winding up procedures, its assets are being administered by a liquidator or by a court, it is in an arrangement with creditors, its business activities are suspended or it is in any analogous situation arising from a similar procedure provided for under national legislation or regulations;

b) it has been established by a final judgement or a final administrative decision that the applicant is in breach of its obligations relating to the payment of taxes or social security contributions in accordance with the law of the country in which it is established, with those of the country in which the authorising officer is located or those of the country of the implementation of the grant;

c) it has been established by a final judgement or a final administrative decision that the applicant is guilty of grave professional misconduct by having violated applicable laws or regulations or ethical standards of the profession to which the applicant belongs, or by having engaged in any wrongful conduct which has an impact on its professional credibility where such conduct denotes wrongful intent or gross negligence, including, in particular, any of the following:

• i. fraudulently or negligently misrepresenting information required for the verification of the absence of grounds for exclusion or the fulfilment of selection criteria or in the performance of a contract, a grant agreement or a grant decision;
• ii. entering into agreement with other persons with the aim of distorting competition; iii. violating intellectual property rights;
• iv. attempting to influence the decision-making process of the Agency during the award procedure;
• v. attempting to obtain confidential information that may confer upon it undue advantages in the award procedure;

d) it has been established by a final judgement that the applicant is guilty of any of the following:

• i. fraud, within the meaning of Article 1 of the Convention on the protection of the European Communities' financial interests, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 July 1995:
• ii. corruption, as defined in Article 3 of the Convention on the fight against corruption involving officials of the European Communities or officials of EU Member States, drawn up by the Council Act of 26 May 1997, and in Article 2(1) of Council Framework Decision 2003/568/JHA, as well as corruption as defined in the legal provisions of the country where the authorising officer is located, the country in which the applicant is established or the country of the implementation of the grant;
• iii. participation in a criminal organisation, as defined in Article 2 of Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA;
• iv. money laundering or terrorist financing, as defined in Article 1 of Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council;
• v. terrorist-related offences or offences linked to terrorist activities, as defined in Articles 1 and 3 of Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA, respectively, or inciting, aiding, abetting or attempting to commit such offences, as referred to in Article 4 of that Decision;
• vi. child labour or other forms of trafficking in human beings as defined in Article 2 of Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council;

e) it has shown significant deficiencies in complying with the main obligations in the performance of a contract, a grant agreement or a grant decision financed by the Union’s budget, which has led to its early termination or to the application of liquidated damages or other contractual penalties, or which has been discovered following checks, audits or investigations by an Authorising Officer, OLAF or the Court of Auditors;

f) it has been established by a final judgement or final administrative decision that the applicant has committed an irregularity within the meaning of Article 1(2) of Council Regulation (EC, Euratom) No 2988/95;

g) in the absence of a final judgement or where applicable a final administrative decision, the applicant is in one of the cases provided in (c) to (f) above based in particular on :

• i. facts established in the context of audits or investigations carried out by the Court of Auditors, OLAF or internal audit, or any other check, audit or control performed under the responsibility of an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body;
• ii. non-final administrative decisions which may include disciplinary measures taken by the competent supervisory body responsible for the verification of the application of standards of professional ethics;
• iii. decisions of the ECB, the EIB, the European Investment Fund or international organisations;
• iv. decisions of the Commission relating to the infringement of the Union's competition rules or of a national competent authority relating to the infringement of Union or national competition law.
• v. decisions of exclusion by an authorising officer of an EU institution, of a European office or of an EU agency or body.

h) where a person who is a member of the administrative, management or supervisory body of the applicant, or who has powers of representation, decision or control with regard to that applicant (this covers the company directors, members of the management or supervisory bodies, and cases where one person holds a majority of shares), is in one or more of the situations referred to in points (c) to (f) above.

i) where a natural or legal person that assumes unlimited liability for the debts of that applicant is in one or more of the situations referred to in point (a) or (b) above.

If an applicant is in one of the situations of exclusion listed above, it should indicate the measures it has taken to remedy the exclusion situation, thus demonstrating its reliability. They may include e.g. technical, organisational and personnel measures to prevent further occurrence, compensation of damage or payment of fines. This does not apply for the situations referred in point (d) of this section.

In the cases provided in (c) to (f) above, in the absence of a final judgement or where applicable a final administrative decision, the Agency may exclude an applicant provisionally from participating in a call for proposals where their participation would constitute a serious and imminent threat to the Union's financial interests.

7.2 Rejection from the award procedure

An applicant will not be awarded a grant for this procedure if:

1. a)  it is in an exclusion situation established in accordance with the above Section 7.1;

2. b)  it has misrepresented the information required as a condition for participating in the procedure or has failed to supply that information;

3. c)  it was previously involved in the preparation of an application for a call for proposals where this entails a distortion of competition that cannot be remedied otherwise.

The same exclusion criteria apply to affiliated entities.

Rejection from this procedure and administrative sanctions (exclusion or financial penalty) may be imposed on applicants or affiliated entities where applicable, if any of the declarations or information provided as a condition for participating in this procedure prove to be false.

The applicants should be informed that the Agency may publish on its internet site the following information related to the exclusion and, where applicable, the financial penalty in the cases referred to in points (c), (d), (e) and (f) of the Section 7.118:

(a) the name of the applicant concerned;
(b) the exclusion situation;
(c) the duration of the exclusion and/or the amount of the financial penalty.

In case of a preliminary classification in law (i.e. absence of a final judgement or a final administrative decision), the publication shall indicate that there is no final judgement or final administrative decision. In those cases, information about any appeals by the applicant, their status and their outcome, as well as any revised decision of the authorised officer, shall be published without delay. Where a financial penalty has been imposed, the publication shall also indicate whether that penalty has been paid.

The decision to publish the information is taken by the Agency either following the relevant final judgement, final administrative decision or preliminary classification in law, as the case may be. That decision shall take effect three months after its notification to the economic operator.

The information published shall be removed as soon as the exclusion has come to an end. In the case of a financial penalty, the publication shall be removed six months after payment of that penalty.

In accordance with Regulation (EC) No 45/2001, where personal data is concerned, the Agency shall inform the applicant of its rights under the applicable data protection rules and of the procedures available for exercising those rights.

7.3 Supporting documents

Applicants must sign a declaration on their honour certifying that they are not in one of the situations referred to in the above Sections 7.1. and 7.2, filling in the relevant form attached to the application form accompanying the call for proposals. If applicable, the relevant documentary evidence which appropriately illustrates any remedial measures taken should be provided in annex to this declaration.

This declaration is part of the Application Package (see Section 14.3).

 

8. SELECTION CRITERIA

Applicants must submit a declaration on their honour, completed and signed, attesting to their status as a legal person and to their financial and operational capacity to complete the proposed activities.

8.1 Financial capacity

Applicants must have stable and sufficient sources of funding to maintain their activity throughout the period during which the action is being carried out and to participate in its funding.

The applicants' financial capacity will be assessed on the basis of the following supporting documents:

1. Low value grants (equal or inferior to EUR 60.000): - a declaration on their honour

2. Grants of more than EUR 60.000:

• -  a declaration on their honour;

• -  the financial statements (including the balance sheet, the profit and loss accounts and the annexes) of the coordinator, for the last two financial years for which the accounts have been closed;

• -  a completed financial capacity form, filled in with the relevant statutory accounting figures, in order to calculate the ratios as detailed in the form.

The documents required under point 1 and 2 shall be submitted only for the coordinator of the project.

The declaration on honour is submitted as an annex to the application form. The financial statements and the financial capacity form are required at a later stage of the selection process.

The verification of financial capacity shall not apply to public bodies, or to international organisations.

For the purpose of this call, public bodies, as well as schools, higher education institutions and organisations in the fields of education, training, youth and sport that have received over 50 % of their annual revenue from public sources over the last two years shall be considered as having the necessary financial, professional and administrative capacity to carry out activities under the Call for proposals. They shall not be required to present further documentation to demonstrate that capacity. Such organisations are required to declare (at the stage of the notification of the selection results) that their organisation complies with the above-mentioned definition of public body. The Agency reserves the right to request documentation to prove the veracity of this declaration.

If, on the basis of the documents submitted, the Agency considers that financial capacity has not been proved or is not satisfactory, it may:

• request further information;
• propose a grant agreement without pre-financing;
• propose a grant agreement with a pre-financing paid in instalments;
• propose a grant agreement with a pre-financing covered by a bank guarantee (see section 11.4 below);
• where applicable, require the joint and several financial liability of all the co- beneficiaries;
• reject the application.

Operational capacity

Applicants must have the professional competencies as well as appropriate qualifications necessary to complete the proposed action. In this respect, applicants have to submit a declaration on their honour, and, for those applying for a grant above EUR 60.000 must include in the Application Package:

 a description of the profile of the people primarily responsible for managing and implementing the operation (accompanied, where appropriate, by a list of relevant publications) within each partner institution showing all their relevant professional experience;

 

9. AWARD CRITERIA

Eligible proposals will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

1) Relevance of the project (30%)

an exhaustive list of past or current projects related to the selected objectives of the call, implemented by the applicants.

Purpose: The application is relevant to the chosen general and specific objectives of the call outlined in section 2, in the selected Lot. The project features are consistent with the features described in the call.

Consistency: The different components of the application are mutually relevant and consistent. The application is based on an adequate analysis of challenges and needs, the objectives are realistic and address issues relevant to participating organisations and the immediate and indirect target groups. Evidence of the effectiveness of the selected good practice(s) action(s) is provided.

Scaling up: The application demonstrates the potential for scaling up good practice(s) at different levels (e.g. local, regional, national, EU) and sectors. The scaling up is likely to generate impact not only at the level of the different partner organisations but also at system and/or policy level.

European added value: The application brings added value at EU level, through results that would not be achieved at country level alone, and there is potential for transferring results to countries not involved in the project. The project outcomes have the potential to feed into the relevant EU policy agendas.

2) Quality of the project design and implementation (20%)

Strategic plan: The application establishes a clear strategy building on a feasibility analysis and identifies the necessary activities for testing, adapting, disseminating and scaling up the good practice in the new context.

Structure: The work programme is clear and intelligible and covers all project phases.

Management: The project management plan is sound with adequate resources allocated to different tasks, clear cooperation and decision-making processes. The budget shows cost effectiveness and value for money. There is coherence between tasks, roles and financial resources allocated to partners. The financial management arrangements are clear and appropriate as well as the design of the proposal

Evaluation: Specific measures for evaluation of processes and deliverables ensure that the project implementation is of high quality. There is a clear quality assurance plan which also covers project management adequately. The monitoring strategy includes risk identification and a mitigating action plan.

3) Quality of the partnership and the cooperation arrangements (20%)

Configuration: The partnership is capable of ensuring full achievement of the project's objectives. They ensure coverage of all necessary skills, expertise and experience in the areas covered by the selected lot, including for the dissemination and up scaling involving major players and policy makers.

Adequate allocation of time and input among the partners is ensured. Skills and competences of the partnership are complementary.

Commitment: Each participating organisation demonstrates full involvement

corresponding to its capacities and specific area of expertise.

Cooperation: The cooperation arrangements are balanced. The roles attributed to each partner guarantee a good balance between analysis work and exploitable outputs for dissemination, scaling up and policy making. Effective mechanisms are proposed to ensure coordination, decision making and communication between the participating organisations, stakeholders and any other relevant party.

4) Impact, dissemination and sustainability (30%)

Dissemination: There is a clear awareness-raising, dissemination and communication strategy that ensures reaching the relevant target groups as well as the general stakeholders and the general public during the lifetime of the project. This strategy includes plans for making any produced materials accessible through open licenses.

Exploitation: The application demonstrates that the selected best practice(s) can be  successfully disseminated and scaled up, create a wider impact and influence systemic change. The exploitation approach is clearly described and the proposed measures to exploit the project results are potentially effective.

Impact: The foreseeable impact, notably for the identified disadvantaged groups and systems, is clearly defined and measures are in place to ensure that the impact can be achieved. The results of the activities are likely to be significant. The project outcomes have the potential to support long-term changes, improvements, or developments for the benefit of the target groups and systems concerned.

Sustainability: The application includes appropriate measures and resources to ensure that the results and benefits can be sustained and up-scaled beyond the project lifetime.

 

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