Today (January 14th), applications for the pilot grant competition for the POWER project “Cooperation Paths – Support for Entities Implementing International Cooperation” were launched. Through this program, national ESF project implementers will have the opportunity to obtain up to PLN 100,000 to expand their projects with new activities and products developed through international cooperation.
Implementing a project in which results are generated through international cooperation presents significant challenges at every stage – from application preparation to implementation – conceptual, substantive, and organizational. For this reason, many institutions and organizations, even those that have been successfully implementing ESF projects for years (including projects in national partnerships), refrain from undertaking activities that require collaboration with a foreign partner. This is a significant loss, as international cooperation in a project provides numerous benefits both for the project itself and for its implementers – understood as entire entities and individuals involved in the project. The first most frequently mentioned opportunity is the opportunity to exchange knowledge, experience, and even ready-made solutions between partners, as well as to look at various national problems from a new perspective. We are often surprised to discover that similar problems have already been solved in other countries, and these solutions, with minor or major modifications, could be successfully applied here. This transfer of a finished product allows us to avoid potential errors in its creation and leverage existing lessons learned for its implementation. However, the benefits of implementing a project through international cooperation do not stem solely from what we can acquire from abroad. The flow also occurs in the other direction – international cooperation allows us to share our ideas and solutions with other European countries and strengthen the potential and impact of the project by expanding its scope and reach from domestic to international activities. A natural consequence of any international collaboration is, of course, the development of an international network of contacts, and consequently, a network of collaborations that can be used in subsequent projects and activities. For those directly involved, participating in a transnational project means gaining new professional skills, improving linguistic and communication skills, and enriching substantive knowledge. We’ve listed several key benefits of international project collaboration, but it’s important to emphasize that the list is much longer and, in reality, open-ended, as there are as many projects as there are opportunities to generate individual benefits.
Therefore, it’s undoubtedly worthwhile to implement projects in collaboration with a foreign partner, but will simply being aware of the benefits eliminate the barriers mentioned at the beginning of this article? Certainly not. Developing an international project concept and properly framing it as a funding application, and then organizing the project itself, are undoubtedly complex and entail significant responsibility. Often, this complexity and responsibility appear so large and risky that they overshadow the benefits. But what if international collaboration could be tested on a smaller scale? In terms of finances, activities, and results? Then the risk would be significantly lower, without compromising the potential benefits. This is precisely the opportunity offered by the new grant project “Paths of Cooperation – Support for Entities Implementing International Cooperation,” implemented under POWER by the Cooperation Fund Foundation and its international partners.
“Cooperation Paths” open up entirely new perspectives for ESF project implementers. They allow for the addition of an international cooperation component to a standard national ESF project (both POWER and RPO), expanding it to include new activities, and consequently, products and outcomes developed in collaboration with an EU partner. Grants of up to PLN 100,000 are available for this purpose. As a result, national projects can gain added value, and entities implementing them can learn about international cooperation in the friendly environment of a small, lump-sum project, with support from the grantor available at every stage. What does this support involve? The project provides two grant application paths. The first is the INCUBATOR. It was created for those who would like to explore international cooperation for the first time. Participants can qualify for the incubation process based on a fiche, a short form with an outline of their project idea. The incubation participant receives assistance in finding a foreign partner, as well as personalized guidance from a tutor, whose task is to support them in developing a project concept and preparing a full grant application. This means that the tutor is to assist them – firstly – in developing the substantive and organizational concept of the project, which aims to generate a new result in international cooperation, and secondly – in framing it as a grant application, in accordance with the requirements of the competition rules and evaluation criteria. Upon completion of the incubation process, the entity submits a grant application in the same competition as participants in the second track – STANDARD. The STANDARD track assumes that the applicant develops the application and submits it to the competition. Prior to this, they can attend an informational meeting and workshop in their voivodeship and benefit from assistance in finding a foreign partner. This track is intended for entities that already have experience in implementing transnational projects and do not require assistance in developing the concept and application. It’s worth noting that the “Cooperation Paths” operator will also support grantees during project implementation by organizing special thematic training and providing mentor support.
The first call for grant applications under the “Cooperation Paths” program will be announced in February 2019 and, as a pilot, will apply only to entities based in the Mazowieckie Voivodeship. Subsequent nationwide calls will be announced: the first in the second half of 2019, and the next two in 2020. Applicants will be required to indicate in their grant application the project for which they have signed a contract and which will be expanded to include a transnational component, and briefly describe it, justifying the added value of the expansion. This must be a national standard project under the ESF, falling within thematic objectives 8-11. International projects cannot be expanded. Furthermore, the application will also need to describe the grant project itself, i.e., the planned expansion, indicating new results and products, as well as the activities leading to their development through international cooperation. When planning the expansion, it will be necessary to ensure that the grant project implementation period (3-18 months) falls within the implementation period of the standard project, which in turn must fall within the implementation period of the “Cooperation Paths,” which is until May 31, 2021.
If reading this article has encouraged you to explore the “Cooperation Paths,” we invite you to visit the project website – szkoleniaspopracy.pl. We have described key issues related to the project, including available paths and types of support, included the necessary documents – the competition rules, application form, and grant agreement template – and also provided infographics explaining the key elements of the grant competition and possible types of international cooperation. You will also find call announcements and announcements of informational meetings and workshops across Poland there.
