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PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION ORGANISATIONS Charlotte Roffianen Aleš Zupan

PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION ORGANISATIONS Charlotte Roffianen Aleš Zupan. PRESENTATION OF THE TRAINER. Aleš Zupan: 2000-2003: EU Delegation in Slovenia 2004-2008: Setting-up Cross-border cooperation Programme in Serbia

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PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION ORGANISATIONS Charlotte Roffianen Aleš Zupan

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  1. PROJECT OPPORTUNITIES FOR CONSUMER PROTECTION ORGANISATIONSCharlotte RoffianenAleš Zupan

  2. PRESENTATION OF THE TRAINER Aleš Zupan: • 2000-2003: EU Delegation in Slovenia • 2004-2008: Setting-up Cross-border cooperation Programme in Serbia • 2009-2012: Regional socio-economic development programme – grant management • Preparation of more than 50 project proposals • Participation in project, programme implementation • EU procurement procedures

  3. FUNDING PRINCIPLES AND OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN NATIONAL PROGRAMMES

  4. FUNDING PRINCIPLES – 1 • DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OPERATIONAL AND PROJECT SUPPORT • OPERATIONAL: Supporting an organisation through a period of time aimed at implementing their regular activities • PROJECT: Supporting an organisation in implementing specific project task or assignment !! Thegreatmajorityofschemessupports ‘’project’’ funding • WHAT IS PROJECT: A set of activities and results with clear objectives and fixed time frame

  5. FUNDING PRINCIPLES – 2 • HOW TO OBTAIN ‘’PROJECT’’ FINANCING • HAVING A VALID ‘’PROJECT’’: A specific targeted project, or by packing your regular activities into a ‘’project frame’’ • FINDING APPROPRIATE FUNDING OPPORTUNITY: The main questions being: • is the funding opportunity covering my type of organisations? (eligibility of applicant/partner) • is the funding opportunity covering the type of activities i am implementing or planning? (eligibility of actions/activities)

  6. FUNDING PRINCIPLES – 3 • WHAT ARE ‘’GRANT SCHEMES’’, ‘’GRANT FINANCING’’ • An amount of funds allocated for financing of specific project • ‘’Grant’’ means that the funds are a subsidy, they don’t have to be returned, re-paid back • The applicant usually provides a small percentage of co-financing (for instance 10%) !! Funding initiatives are using different rules but the basic principle is always the same – preparation of project is a basis

  7. NATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES – 1 • EU CIVIL SOCIETY FACILITY • Publishedeachyear (assumed in 2014 also) • Eligibilityofapplicant: Civilsocietyorganisationestablished in Serbia (examp. 2013) • Eligibilityofactions: DevelopmentofCSOs on locallevel (promotecivicinitiatives, networkingofCSOs, buildingcapacitiesofCSOs to provideservices at locallevel) (example 2013)

  8. NATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES – 2 • CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION PROGRAMME • Programmes implemented in cross-border regions – all neighbouring countries, with exception of Macedonia • Eligibility of applicants: sectoral associations, non-governmental organisations (example SRB-BiH 2011) • Eligibility of actions: Cross-border intiatives targeting exchange of people and ideas to ehance the professional and civic cooperation (capacity building, networking, joint education) (exaple SRB-BiH 2011)

  9. NATIONAL OPPORTUNITIES – 3 • BILATERAL SUPPORT - Programmes financed by foreing embassies or support organisations (Example of Embassy fund, Norwegian embassy, German GIZ) • NATIONAL PROGRAMMES - Financing of the activities of consumer protection organisations by the national funding – Ministry of external and internal trade and telecommunications

  10. INFORMATION RESOURCES • For EU supported programmes: • Web-site of the EUD in Serbia, link ‘’kako do fondova’’ • Europe-Aid web-site • For bilateral funding: • Web-sites of foreign embassies • For national funding: • Web-site of the Ministry of Trade !! Networking, exchange of information within the sector

  11. COMMON MISTAKES AND CHALLENGES IN PREPARATION OF PROJECTS

  12. CHALLENGES IN PREPARATION - 1 • NEED vs CHALLANGES: The focus of the project is too often on the narrow need or interest of the organisation, rather than on challenges of environment and target groups • MARGINAL RELEVANCE: The activities are sometimes only marginally connected to calls for proposals or the activities proposed in project don’t cover sufficiently activities required by call for proposals

  13. CHALLENGES IN PREPARATION - 2 • PLAN OF ACTIVITIES: Delays often occur in implementation of activities. The activities are sometimes not properly reflected in budget. The separation of tasks within the project team is not clear. • RESULTS AND INDICATORS: Absence of quantified indicators. Results are poorly presented or are non-realistic. • BUDGET: Unrealistic costs (unit costs too high). Budget does not correspond to the activities. Unclarities as regards co-financing contributions.

  14. CHALLENGES IN PREPARATION - 3 • SUSTAINABILITY: Poor or unrealistic description of project sustainability. • PROJECT TEAM: Poorly presented separation of tasks and duties within the project team. Presence of experts which don’t have clear obligations. • MONITORING: Lack of clarity as regards internal monitoring of activities/results and eventual evaluation. • INTERNAL PROJECT LOGIC: All the elements have to have clearlogical place in the project

  15. PRACTICAL EXERCISE IN PROJECT DEVELOPMENT – OUTLINE AND METHODOLOGY

  16. PROJECT STRUCTURE Budget Partnership Sustainability Activities and results Project team Challenges of environment and target groups, Objectives

  17. PROJECT ELEMENTS • All elements are necessary, project structure is not complete without having all elements covered • The elements are closely connected, without clear connection and logic the project does not make sense Result 1 Activity 1 Specificobjective 1 Result 2 Activity 2 Result 3 Activity 3 Challenges Specificobjective 2 Result 4 Activity 4 Partnership, sustainability, projectteametc. Project budget

  18. METHODOLOGY • DESCRIPTION OF THEORETICAL BASIS FOR EACH ELEMENT. The elements described beforehand all have specifics and key issues • EXAMPLES OF CALLS FOR PROPOSALS. Development of project ideas and projects on the basis of concrete calls for proposals • STEP-BY-STEP APPROACH, EACH ELEMENT BUILDING ON THE PREVIOUS ONE. As mentioned earlier the logic is the key element in the project. The exercise will demonstrate logical building of the project

  19. PRACTICAL EXERCISE • Examplesofconcretecallsforproposals • Identifyingpotentialprojects in theareaofconsumerprotection • Example 1: Nationalprogramme: EU CivilSocietyFacilitySerbia • Example 2: Europeanprogramme: EuropeforCitizens • Elements: (1) Challengesandobjectives, (2) Activities, Resultsandindicators, (3) partnership, sustainability, projectteam, (4) projectbudget

  20. Challenges, objectivestargetgroups

  21. CHALLENGES – 1 • Challenges are deficiencywithinthetargetgroups or geographical territory, askingforpreparationandimplementationofproject • Challenge vs Need. The project does not start from the formulation ‘’what is needed’’, but from formulation ‘’what is not working, what can be improved (by our project)’’ • Realism. The challenge needs to be sufficiently well defined and framed. For instance we have to estimate what level of challenges can we resolve (we cannot save the world, but we can improve informing of our citizens)

  22. CHALLENGES – 2 • Coherence with the objectives of programme. In case when we apply for a funding programme, our challenge needs to be closely coherent with the objectives of the programme. • Resolvable. The challenge needs to be realistically resolvable within the experiences, knowledge and resources that we have to our disposal. • Justification. Challengesneed to bejustified, ideallywithstatisticaldata, linkswith strateg. Etc.

  23. Examples: Poor socio-economic status of our citizens, ecological issues are evident, poor health of citizens, poor informing etc.

  24. OBJECTIVES – 1 • Objective is description/definition of the status/ situation we aim to achieve with our project • Answering the challenges. The objectives are directly linked to challenges. They are in a way an opposite state of the challenge. If the challenge describes lack or absence of something, the objective describes the desired state. • Transparent. The objectives need to be clearly defined, indicating exactly what will be achieved within the project • Realistic. The objectives need to be realistically presented, in line with our experiences, resources, funds available

  25. OBJECTIVES – 2 • Overall vs. Specific objectives. • The overall objectives are describing broader objective (for instance improvement of socio-economic situation, raising health levels of citizens). Ourprojectonlypartiallycontributes to theoverallobjective. • specific objectives describe the limited state, which will be achieved directly by our project (providing registry of healthy products or organising training for unemployed). Theprojectfullyrealisesthespecificobjective(s).

  26. TARGET GROUPS – 1 • Targetgroups are theindividualsandorganisationswhich are beingtargetedbyprojectactivities. • Cleardefinition. Thetargetgroupsneed to beclearlydefined. Theprojectneeds to showexactlywhichgroups or individuals are concerned. Wheneverpossiblethetargetgroupsneed to bequantified. • Logicallinkingwithchallenges. Theapplicantneeds to presentclearlythelinkagebetweenthechallengesandtargetgroups. Theneedsoftargetgroupshave to bereasonablyandlogicallyjustified. • Examples: childrenwithspecificneeds, olderconsumers, consumerprotectionorganisationsetc.

  27. Results, activitiesandindicators

  28. RESULTS – 1 • Activities are defined as ‘’definite’’ element, describing what will be delivered within the project (deliveries of a process) • Logic. The results need to provide direct response to specific objectives. Delivery of results should ensure fulfilment of these objectives. • Clarity. The results need to be defined clearly, indicating exactly what (outputs) will be delivered within a project.

  29. RESULTS – 2 • Realistic. The results need to be planned in realistic manor. The available resources, finances and timing needs to be taken into account. • Milestones. Milestones define at which time point of the project the results will be delivered • Examples: Trainings delivered, a number of consumers advised, information sessions implemented, web-portal established

  30. INDICATORS – 1 • Quantifieddescriptionofresults, allowingmonitoringandevaluationofprojects’ success. • Whatcanbemeasures. Theindicatorsneed to bedescribed in a waythattheycanbemeasuredandquantified • Logic. Theindicatorsneed to belogicallylinked to theresults, in a waythey are definingresults • Realistic. Theindicatorsneed to bepresentedrealistically, withinavailable time, resourcesandfinances

  31. BUDGET • Balanced budget. The size of budget needs to correspond to the amount and type of activities and results. Cost-benefit principle needs to be taken into account. • Aspects of implementation. Implementation phase needs to be taken into account – all costs need to be registered and documented!!

  32. BUDGET PRACTICAL – 1 • Budget is estimated on the basis of required resources, not on the basis of general financial needs or expectations • Calculation: Number of units x value of units = total cost • Typical costs: • Human resources: salaries, long or shor term • Travel costs: national or international • Purchase of equipment: computer equipment etc. • Enagaggement of external services: printing, promotion, consultancy services, studies etc.

  33. BUDGET PRACTICAL – 2 • Steps in preparation: • Step 1: Estimationofresourcesneeded.

  34. BUDGET PRACTICAL – 3 • Steps in preparation: • Step 2: Estimationofunitcost: • Salaries: monthlysalary, dailyfee • Travelcosts: monthly lump-sum or costof one flight • Equipment: costof one pieceofequipment • Brochures: costof one copy • Studies, promotionactivities: costpercontract

  35. BUDGET PRACTICAL – 4 • Steps in preparation: • Step 3: Calculation: • Salaries: number of months x monthly fee • Travel costs: number of flights x cost of one flight • Equipment: number of computers x cost of one piece • Brochures: number of copies x cost of one copy

  36. BUDGET PRACTICAL – 5 • Exampleofbudget table:

  37. CONCLUSIONS • Once the project is developed we should opt for independent review and check by someone not directly involved in the preparation of the project • Particular attention needs to be dedicated to checking the feasibility in implementation – are the activities and results realistic in given time and resources frame • Checking the project against evaluation criteria • Going back to call for proposals and checking all the administrative and procedural conditions • Using lessons and experiences to up-grade performance with future proposals/activities

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