Sharing solutions for better regional policies European Union | European Regional Development Fund Jason Martinez Policy Officer | Interreg Europe JS On the second call 20 April 2016  Info Day in Nicosia

2 Summary  Lessons learnt from the first call  Few points about application  About assessment

3 LESSONS LEARNT

4 7 eligibility criteria All to be fulfilled to be eligible! Number of failed criteria Number of projects 1 criterion63 2 criteria14 3 criteria8 4 criteria1 Eligibility

5  High rate of ineligibility (33%)  Main cause of ineligibility: letters of support and partner declaration (missing or incorrect) Make sure all documents are provided and correct. Don’t prepare them at the last minute.

6 Ineligibility criteria per country Not in the list (72) Letter of support missing (48) Letter of support incorrect (30) Partner declaration incorrect (48) Application problem (18)

7 Eligibility Lessons learnt integrated in 2 nd call application pack: 1/ Improved instructions in the application pack:  Reformulation of the criteria and their meaning  Warning messages included in different documents 2/ Full online application  Compulsory documents to be uploaded on iOLF  Project summary no longer necessary

8 Quality: common weaknesses Criterion 1: Topic addressed  Needs to be clearly in line with priority axes  Needs to be focused and as specific as possible  Needs to be reflected in all policy instruments addressed

9 Quality: common weaknesses Criterion 1: Policy instruments  Needs to be precisely defined (e.g. indication of the specific priority addressed)  For Structural Funds: the instrument addressed needs to be the Operational / Cooperation programme itself

10 Quality: common weaknesses Criterion 3: Policy relevance of partners  Policy relevance = involvement of an organisation in the policy making process and capacity to influence to policy instrument  Core elements of the quality of partnership (dedicated questions in section B.2 of the application form)  Letter of support is not sufficient to demonstrate policy relevance of a partner

11 Quality: common weaknesses Criterion 3: Geographical features  Coverage: going beyond transnational area

12 Quality: clarification Criterion 3: mixing more and less developed regions (GDP)  Mix more and less developed regions (GDP)

13 Quality: common weaknesses Criterion 3: multiple involvement  Involvement in numerous applications is demanding and is not recommended  Be strategic: select only the most relevant project(s) for your region  Justify in case you are involved in several applications (section B.2 of the application form)

14 Quality assessment: conclusion Importance of the application form Fairness and equal treatment principles:  Application Form = the only basis for assessment  same information requested from all  same technical requirements for all (e.g. text limits)  Application form has to be self-explanatory Additional information / clarification not possible after submission

15 ON APPLICATION

16 Recommendations for applicants  Read the programme manual and check assessment criteria  Start from your need  Be specific, make sure the topic addressed is focused and reflected in the policy instruments  Take the learning process seriously  First activities, then budget planning  Communication serves your project

17 In the application form Policy instruments

18 HoCare Operational Program "Competitiveness and Sustainable Development" Objective: “Promotion of holistic, integrated, complex and multiparameter solutions that will enhance the competitiveness of the priority sectors”. “Expansion of the ability of the RTDI system to produce results of high standards and utilize them for the benefit of the competitiveness of the economy and social advancement/progress” “Development of substantial/valid links and synergies between the elements of the guardable helix” In sectors: “Health: ehealth… In addition, the Environment and the ICT were defined as important sectors of horizontal character” and “ICT: ICT Application, Future Technologies” Priority or Measure Concerned: Priority Axis 2: “Fostering the use of ICT” Priority Investment 2c: “Enhancing ICT applications for e-government, e-learning, e- inclusion, e-culture and e-health”.

19 CHRISTA Pafos Regional Strategic Tourism Development Plan As part of the repositioning strategy of Cyprus, Pafos had decided to prepare their own vision for tourism development and to create a separate product (regional brand) utilizing and investing in the available merits. This resulted in the 'Pafos Regional Strategic Tourism Development Plan' launched in 2008 with a 5 year implementation horizon initially. The Strategy places particular emphasis on cultural & heritage tourism. Cultural Tourism ranks as first priority category, considered one of the fast growing segments of the global tourism industry, with huge benefits. Cultural Tourism is associated with current expectations of travellers on learning a different way of life and understanding of another culture, is among the special forms of tourism which are designed to target specific segments and is considered as a product with high growth prospects. There is great need of updating and upgrading this policy instrument, in the light of the rapidly changing tourism demand and developments in the cultural status of Pafos, such as the selection of Pafos to be the 2017 European Capital of Culture. The Strategic Plan must have a new target year of 2020 and beyond. A key purpose of the upgraded and enhanced policy instrument is the preparation of Action Plans. There is scope of interfacing with the 'Operational Programme Competitiveness & Sustainable Development'; the improved policy instrument can form the basis for mainstreaming into European Structural and Investment Funds.

20 In the application form Territorial context

21 In Cyprus, home care is currently provided by Municipalities and Community Councils on local level (these are the two levels of local authorities in Cyprus). According to the Law, Municipalities have the right for provision of social services (in general, including social/health care) through the establishment of local social foundations and the establishment of local programs for supporting the target groups according to their needs. Home care is provided to people in need (mostly elders). All such programs run by the local authorities are evaluated, controlled and partially funded (after approval) by the central government through financing schemes provided by the Social Welfare Services. In the last years, due to the bad situation of the economy (financial crisis – Cyprus is currently under an MOU for support through the financial mechanism of European Central Bank, the IMF and the European Commission) financing for these type of activities has been reduced and minimized by the central government, therefore, most Municipalities are facing huge economic problems on maintaining local social care services (including home care) totally through their own budget. As a result there are a lot of local social/health foundations that have already stopped their activities, in opposition to the continuously rising need for such services. Preventive measures and new ways of managing and implementing home care services are currently very highly needed, especially if their application would result to the reduction of the budget required for covering the needs for general local social care activities and services. Therefore, the generation of innovative Home Care solutions (i.e. ehealth) in regional innovation chains (that would also reduce the cost of these services) is a need and is an issue which has to be tackled by smart policy instruments, in particular by Structural Funds. HoCare : Operational Program "Competitiveness and Sustainable Development"

22 Pafos is a diverse province with developed tourist waterfront, urban areas, with inland plains, hilly and mountainous areas includes a large number of municipalities. It has rich history and tradition, archaeological sites, cultural and religious monuments. Particularly archaeology and mythology of the area and its connection with the goddess of love Aphrodite, is notable. It has a rich flora and fauna with various endemic species while the region is the Akamas National Forest Park. Pafos is a remarkable milestone for tourists with special interest in culture. It has museums, cultural monuments, archaeological sites, churches, traditional products, cultural events, traditional cuisine, etc., the coexistence of which gives it a unique beauty. The cultural value of Paphos further strengthened by existing myths that surround the area, In addition to the existing cultural infrastructure of the province including theaters, and other places that host modern cultural activities (arts, visual arts, music, etc.). Pafos has been selected to be the European Capital of Culture (ECoC) for This experience will be shared with the project partners and the activities of Pafos2017 ECoC will support the project and the legacy will be further exploited in the project activities. Pafos as ECoC suggests making the best of its openair sites by turning them into an OpenAir Factory of Culture. With its archeological sites, its squares, its streets, its other artistic events, it can bring the cultural activities of the city closer to the visitors. “Linking Continents, Bridging Cultures” is the dynamic “motto” main characteristic of Pafos2017. Inspired by its geographical position, since it has always been the crossroad of Eastern Mediterranean, and by its modern multicultural reality, Pafos aspires to become the first ECoC which will link the East and the West, bridge people and cultures, and it will also be a place of cultural collaboration and peaceful coexistence. CHRISTA : Pafos Regional Strategic Tourism Development Plan

23 What is learning process? Learning process = interregional exchange of experience building on experiences and practices Based on: identification, analysis & transfer of knowledge and practices How: through a well-thought process supported by seminars, study trips, workshops, staff exchanges, peer reviews, etc.

24 Why is it so important? Cornerstone of an interregional cooperation project Catalyst for generating policy change in the involved regions Territorial need Results

25 PHASE 1 PHASE 2 How to organise it? Learning Acting

26 How to organise it? No magic recipe but a few important ingredients: A.Ensure learning at different levels B.Ensure the quality of each learning activity C.Ensure an integrated approach

27 3. Regional stakeholders learning 2. Organisational learning 4. External / EU level learning 1. Individual learning Go beyond individual / organisational learning! A. Multidimensional aspect of learning

28 A. Multidimensional aspect of learning Policy making is complex:  usually an organisation cannot change a policy alone Stakeholder group:  increase the chance of policy change Necessity to involve relevant stakeholders in the learning process (travel and accommodation costs eligible if paid by a partner)

29 B. Quality of activities For all learning activities, importance of:  Preparation - Before  Implementation - During  Follow-up (documentation and monitoring) - After

30 C. Integrated approach  How to ensure the overall coherence of the learning process?  What are the main steps to reach the objectives and ensure the quality of action plans?  What are the activities needed and in which order? Can be more or less complex but

31 C. Integrated approach No ‘one-size-fits-all’ Different parameters influencing the process:  History of the partnership  Number of partners  Duration of phase 1  Topic addressed  ….

32 C. Integrated approach No ‘one-size-fits-all’ but 3 steps commonly adopted: Step 1 Analysis of partners’ situations with local stakeholders and identification of valuable experience and practices Step 2 Review of identified practices supported by interregional exchange of experience activities (e.g. study visits, thematic workshops) with view to transfer Step 3 Further investigation of good practices with local stakeholders and finalisation of action plans backed up with further interregional/ bilateral events

33 Ingredients in the application form Overview in section C.4

34 In the application form Detailed description of activities in D.1

35 In the application form C4: objectives, target groups and activities D1: Workplan per semester

36 ON ASSESSMENT

37 Selection procedure 2-step procedure  I. eligibility assessment fulfilment of technical requirements  II. quality assessment 2 step qualitative evaluation Detailed description in the programme manual (§5.3):

38 Eligibility principles  Technical yes or no process  No correction possible  Only eligible applications are further assessed

39 Is your answer ‘yes’?  Is your application complete (application summary, partner declarations, support letters)?  Is the application filled in according to instructions?  Is it in English?  Are all partner declarations:  Signed and dated  With name of partner identical to application form  With stated amount covering at least the amount of partner contribution  With no amendments to the standard text

40 Is your answer ‘yes’?  Are all support letters:  Attached to the application form  Signed and dated by relevant organisation (check the country-specific list!!)  With name of partner(s) identical to application form  With no amendments to the standard text  Are at least 3 countries of which 2 are EU members involved and financed by Interreg Europe?  Is half of the policy instruments related to Structural Funds?

41 Quality assessment 2nd step for eligible applications 2-step approach 1.strategic assessment 2.operational assessment Scoring system (0-5) Decision by monitoring committee

42 Strategic assessment Criterion 1: Relevance of proposal Criterion 2: Quality of results Criterion 3: Quality of partnership Only projects reaching at least an adequate level (≥3.00) are further assessed for operational criteria.

43 Operational assessment Criterion 4: Coherence of proposal & quality of approach Criterion 5: Quality of management Criterion 6: Budget and finance Only projects reaching at least an overall adequate level (≥3.00) are recommended for approval (with conditions) to the monitoring committee.

44 Assessment provisional timing May - June 2016Eligibility check June – October 2016Quality assessment End 2016Decision & notification Early 2017Negotiation of conditions Early 2017Effective start date of projects

45 Useful links Programme manual  Application pack  Online application/ reporting system  Interreg Europe community 

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