1. Interreg Vb Atlantic Area Call 1 - Applicants support workshop
Guillaume Le Palud
UK Contact Point, Atlantic Area Interreg Programme
Belfast 26/10/2016

2. Feedback on call 1 stage 1 425 EoIs received, 407 eligible
102 EoIs invited to stage 2:
38 on Innovation & Competitiveness (Priority 1)
22 on Ressource Efficicency (Priority 2)
7 on Territories Risk Resilience (Priority 3)
35 on Biodiversity, Natural & Cultural assets (Priority 4)
-> worth €259.5M. €175.5M available

3. Next steps and deadlines
Call open on October 31st
Call closes on December 19th
Projects appraisals over 1st quarter 2017
Decisions late-March, early April 2017

4. Update on Brexit implications
HM Treasury announcement:
All projects contracted before UK leaves the EU will have funding secured post Brexit if they meet 2 criteria:
Value for money
Strategic fit with UK priorities
-> Essential for your applications!
Exact mechanisms are still to be discussed

5. Questions?

6. Few general ETC principles
4 cooperation criteria that characterise territorial cooperation projects:
Joint development: the project idea and scope are jointly conceived by the partners.
Joint implementation: the activities, outputs and results are jointly realised by the partners.
Joint staffing: all partners have equal responsibility for joint staffing roles and their application within the project.
Joint financing: all partners contribute financially to the project resources.

7. Project development: what are the general expectations?
Needs
What are the changes needed?
Rationale
How changes matches Programme objectives?
Goals
How changes will be performed?
Inputs
What budget, timeline and skills?
Activities
What work plan and work packages?
Outputs
What products, services and solutions?
Capitalization
How disseminate and promote outputs?
Results
What are the societal benefit of outputs?
Evaluation
Did the results lead to changes needed?
Value for money Are the project costs in line with market value?
Are the project intervention:
- efficient, getting the most from the available resources
- effective, meeting the objectives and achieving intended results?

8. Project’s intervention logic
Project Objectives & Results
Work plan & Budget
What are our common needs and potentials?
What do we want to change?
How will it be different? (short and long term impact)
What do we need to deliver to obtain this change?
How will we do it?
What resources & partners do we need to do this work?
Project Idea
Project Outputs & Indicators
SWOT SO
Activities
Impact
Change
Programme

9. Project development: what are the general expectations?
Response to needs and strategic relevance:
Projects should demonstrate they deliver wider strategies (EU/national/regional/local) including Regional Smart Specialisations Strategies.
Projects must demonstrate both the need and its strategic relevance to qualify.
Programme will not support basic research projects without needs evidenced.
Project innovation: Programme seeks to play a role in the intermediate stages of the innovation chain. Projects should focus on applied research and include a testing or implementation phase.

10. Project development: what are the general expectations?
Transnational and Territorial relevance:
Problems identified cannot be efficiently solved by individual regions
Projects demonstrate an integrated approach to regional development, combining thematic and territorial dimensions
Partnership structure :
Complementary expertise
Balanced split of activities and budgets
Balanced representation in terms of: Member States, governance levels (European, national, regional…), and sectors (e.g. public, private and third sector).

11. Project development: what are the general expectations?
Management system :
Risk management plan should be developed in order to mitigate any risks to achieve their goals
Management procedures and structures should be adapted the size of the project
Good project management includes monitoring of its own implementation processes and results. Ongoing internal evaluations must be integrated to ensure lessons learnt and recommendations can be applied during the project’s lifetime
Budget and value for money :
Project budget has to be designed and used in accordance with the principles of economy, efficiency and effectiveness.

12. Project development: what are the general expectations?
Work plan
Each work package is broken down into activities linked to deliverables, i.e. a product or service that contributes to the development of the project’s main output.
Work packages include several aspects and are structured according to:
Objective
Definition of partners roles and responsibilities
A set of activities and actions (no more than 6 actions per work package)
Deliver one output at least (for thematic work packages only)
A start and an end date

13. Project development: what are the general expectations?
Capitalisation: take into account lessons learnt or research from previous projects at regional/national or EU levels, demonstrating your added value. Aim is to implement existing solutions by optimising, adapting or improving them.
Projects’ sustainability : 3 dimensions of sustainability have to be considered:
Financial sustainability: Financing resources for follow-up activities and investments or for covering future operating and maintenance costs will be available?
Institutional sustainability: What structures will allow the results of the project to continue to be in place after the project end? And how?
Political sustainability: What structural impact will the project have? Will it lead to improved policies, legislation, plans, codes of conduct, methods, etc.?

14. Project development: what are the general expectations?
Communication of outcomes : The relevant target groups and stakeholders must be reached and shall be informed of the project outputs and results. This requires:
Definition of the communication strategy and objectives, including tools and approaches for the publicity measures to disseminate the project’s activities and results beyond the partnership and in the Atlantic Area.
Explanation of how partners are involved (who will do what)
Strategies to reach communication and capitalisation objectives
Link the communication activities and deliverables to reach the relevant target groups and stakeholders
Chosen activities and tools to fit with the defined communication approaches (as per intervention logic model)

15. Project development: what are the UK expectations?
Projects objectives and results should be a response to an evidenced need: identify and evidence the “market” failure and the demand for the solution offered by the project.
Clear rationale for ETC funding
Need for the project objectives to be SMART: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Time-bound

16. Project development: what are the UK expectations?
Applications to set out a compelling intervention logic

17. Project development: what are the UK expectations?
Create a measurable and sustainable change, beyond “simple” delivery of outputs: what are the actual outcomes? On short and medium terms.
Projects can deliver change beyond what is being measured by the programme. Essential to outline this.
Anticipate how you will measure and assess them. What are the baseline and targets?
Value for Money / return on programme investment

18. Project development: what are the UK expectations?
Risk management systems in place: can be foreign concept in other AA countries. Might be a need to educate partners.
Essential to take into consideration following Brexit announcement.

19. Focus on outputs and indicators
Each action must produce at least one output
Each output has to be linked to an indicator
20 indicators for the programme
Allow projects to demonstrate achievements towards the objectives, in terms of outputs (how much and how well did the project do?) and results (is anyone better off and has anything improved?).

20. Focus on outputs and indicators
The main outputs must clearly contribute to the Programme’s output indicators, which the project must select in the Application Form.

21. Focus on outputs and indicators
Outputs – products of the activities funded
Linked to an indicator
Number of reports, seminars held, renewable energy pilot…
Results – immediate advantages of carrying out activities
Number of regional policy changes, demonstration of the viability of the pilot…
What is the market failure? (context and aim)
Why is it important to all of your eligible programme area? (intervention logic and SWOT in Co-operation Programme)
What is the change that will come about? (Results and impact)
What needs to happen to effect that change? (project objectives)
Who can do that? Where are they? (the right partners)
Why can’t it happen without trans-national co-operation?
What actions, investments and outputs will deliver that change? How will you measure that?
What are you going to spend the money on? (tangible and consistent outputs)
What is innovative about it? Are you sure?
Impacts – Sustainable long term benefits of any activity
Fall in number of long term unemployed, increased regional GDP, potential roll-out of the pilot...

22. AA programme specific requirements
Maximum 9 work packages (WP) and 6 actions maximum per WP:
3 mandatory WP
Project management
Communication
Capitalization (Long term effects sustainability)
1 preparation WP if required, to recover preparation costs
Up to 5 thematic WP, including
Objectives
Methods
Timescale

23. Overview of the IT application system
Project description (section 4)
Opportunity to modify EoI information, if justified
Atlantic Strategy, have a careful read of the strategy to assess your project align

24. Overview of the IT application system
Work Packages (section 5)
System will pre-establish 3 WPs. You can add up to 5.
Similar information for every WP
Partners do not have to be involved in every WP, although balance in delivery is required

25. Overview of the IT application system
Work Packages (section 5)
Same information required for every work package (apart from 1, 2 and 3 requiring specifics).
Consistency in the drafting will be essential, lead partner task

26. Overview of the IT application system
Work Packages (section 5)
System will pre-establish 2 actions. You can add up to an extra 4
Similar information for every action
Highlights difference between outputs and results, deliverable and change

27. Overview of the IT application system
Budget (section 6): all costs in €uros!
For partner with state-aid issues, rate could be reduced
Depends on your organisation status
Make sure you double check your partners location
Not a compulsory section if not relevant to the partners

28. As a project partner, what’s next?
Take into consideration expectations (programme’s, UK, your organisation’s and LP’s) and tailor your involvement accordingly
Input in project work plan (tasks, expected results, risk management…)
Realistically quantify your outputs for each WP
Make sure you have a say in your budget!

29. As a project partner, what’s next?
Budget preparation costs:
Preparation costs: arrangements should be made by projects now, to be included in budget:
€ (€ 800 x number of partners)
Shared between partners, evenly or not
To be allocated to WP Preparation, across eligible budget lines (staff, travels…)
No evidence will be required

30. As a project partner, what’s next?
Budget categories:
Staff:
Flat rate: 20% of direct eligible costs of the project budget excluding staff costs. No evidence will be required
Direct costs: based on real and project related staff expenditure
Overheads: 15% of direct staff costs (if flat rate for staff costs, overheads cannot be claimed)
In-kind contributions: careful assessment of their value
Equipment: full cost or depreciation
T&S: real costs or allowance depending on internal rules
External expertise and services: anticipate and potentially ask for quotes now for accurate budgeting

31. As a project partner, what’s next?
Budget preparation:
Non-delivery costs to be considered (FLC…)
Exchange rate issue: to be decided by non-€uros partners when designing budget.
Always check costs eligibility!
Use the extensive manual, includes audit trail requirements for each budget category

32. As a project partner, what’s next?
Financing plan: secure your match-funding
Ensure your cashflow capacity: establish need for advance payment (5%, deducted from 1st payment claim).
Check your state-aid status: Partners involved in project proposals shall check the State aid implications. In the work package and budget plan descriptions, for each partner, the origin and amounts potentially subject to State aid rules and which rules apply shall be identified.
Partner statement will not be required until project is approved
Feel free to contact me!

33. Questions?

34. Thank you for your attention!
Contact details:
Mail:
Phone: +44 (0)
Website: