Call for proposals — EACEA/04/13 — Under the Lifelong Learning Programme — Implementation of the European strategic objectives in education and training ( ‘ET 2020’ ) (stakeholder cooperation, experimentation and innovation)
Date: 2013-04-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: EU programme, continuing education, cooperation in the field of education, dropout, invitation to tender








C_2013118EN.01002701.xml










25.4.2013   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 118/27





CALL FOR PROPOSALS — EACEA/04/13
Under the Lifelong Learning Programme
Implementation of the European strategic objectives in education and training (‘ET 2020’) (stakeholder cooperation, experimentation and innovation)
2013/C 118/07







Part A —


Support to national implementation and awareness-raising of the objectives of European cooperation in education and training (‘ET 2020’ (1))











Part B —


Support to implementation of innovative policy solutions at institutional level to reduce early school leaving, in line with the priorities set out in ‘Europe 2020’ and ‘ET 2020’




1.   Objectives and description

The general objective of the call for proposals is:
to encourage European policy cooperation to support — through ‘ET 2020’ — countries’ efforts to meet the objectives of ‘Europe 2020’, as reflected in the 2013 Annual Growth Survey and the Rethinking Education Communication, notably: developing skills for growth and competitiveness, strengthening youth employability and reducing early school leaving levels, in a context that prioritises efficient investment in education and training, by:






—


supporting awareness-raising and institutional commitment, coordination and partnership with all stakeholders to promote, in particular, skills for growth and competitiveness and youth employability (part A),










—


supporting the development, testing and evaluation, by means of field trials, of innovative policy solutions to reduce early school leaving (part B).




The call also provides opportunities for ministries and stakeholders to test — in real life situations — the implementation of innovative policies (policy experimentations) addressing European goals.
2.   Eligible organisations

Applications may be submitted by organisations (including all partner organisations) established in countries participating in the Lifelong Learning Programme:






—


the 27 Member States of the European Union,










—


the EEA/EFTA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway,










—


candidate countries: Croatia, Turkey,










—


Switzerland,










—


Serbia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Montenegro (2).




Third country participation is not allowed for this action.
At least one country of the partnership must be an EU Member State (applies only to part B of this call).
Applications must be submitted by a legal person having the legal capacity. Natural persons may not apply for a grant.
Beneficiaries can be national or regional ministries in charge of education and training and lifelong learning policies, and other authorities/bodies and stakeholders' organisations active in the development and implementation of lifelong learning policies. Stakeholders' organisations include European, national and regional associations or organisations whose main activities or core responsibilities are directly linked to any education and training sector, in particular social partner organisations and other national or regional associations that represent the interests of a societal group in the establishment and implementation of lifelong learning policies.

Part A —   Support to national implementation and awareness-raising of the objectives of European cooperation in education and training (‘ET 2020’ (3))
Applications for funding may only be made by national partnerships composed of at least three organisations involving at least one national or regional authority responsible for education and training and lifelong learning policies (pre-primary, schools, VET, higher education and adult learning), and other bodies and stakeholders' organisations directly involved in the development and implementation of such policies.

Part B —   Support to implementation of innovative policy solutions at institutional level to reduce early school leaving, in line with the priorities set out in ‘Europe 2020’ and ‘ET 2020’.
Applications for funding may only be made by transnational partnerships of national or regional ministries in charge of the development and implementation of education and training and lifelong learning policies, or other organisations designated by such ministries to reply to the call.
The partnerships must be composed of at least five organisations involving three or more eligible countries. At least one partner per country must be a national or regional ministry in charge of the development and implementation of education and training and lifelong learning policies or another organisation designated by such ministry to reply to the call, and at least one partner must be an evaluation body. Partnerships should also include other relevant stakeholders, as appropriate.
Signed designation letter(s) from the delegating ministry(ies) must be sent with the paper version of the proposal.
For the purpose of this call, all higher education institutions accredited by Member States (participating countries), and all institutions or organisations providing learning opportunities which have received over 50 % of their annual revenues from public sources over the last two years (other European Union grants for an action excluded), or which are controlled by public bodies or their representatives, are considered to be public bodies. Such organisations are required to state in a signed declaration of honour (included in the application package) that their organisation complies with the abovementioned definition of public body. The Agency reserves the right to request documentation to prove the veracity of this declaration.
3.   Eligible activities


Part A —   Support to national implementation and awareness-raising of the objectives of European cooperation in education and training (‘ET 2020’ (4))
The activities to be financed under this part of the call include:






—


awareness-raising activities stimulating national debates and dialogue linked to the implementation of the four strategic objectives of ‘ET 2020’ to support the ‘Europe 2020’ strategy,










—


establishment of stakeholder fora on national lifelong learning strategies to combat youth unemployment and to promote growth,










—


dissemination and awareness-raising activities under ‘ET 2020’ to enhance learning opportunities through alternative pathways,










—


follow-up actions at national level by linking the results of the open method of coordination to existing national programmes.





Part B —   Support to implementation of innovative policy solutions at institutional level to reduce early school leaving, in line with the priorities set out in ‘Europe 2020’ and ‘ET 2020’
The activities to be financed under this part of the call include:






—


development, testing and evaluation of innovative policy solutions to reduce early school leaving, by means of field trials carried out through transnational partnerships,










—


joint design and testing of innovative policy actions involving a sufficiently high number of educational establishments,










—


analysis, from a policy point of view, of the effectiveness, efficiency and conditions for scalability of policy experimentation results and for transnational transfer of good practices,










—


systematic dissemination at national and European level; facilitating transferability between different education and training systems and policies.





For Parts A and B:
Activities must start between 1 March 2014 and 31 May 2014.
The mandatory duration of projects is 12 months for part A and 36 months for part B. No applications will be accepted for projects scheduled to run for a different period than that specified in this call for proposals.
4.   Award criteria

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

Part A —   Support to national implementation and awareness-raising of the objectives of European cooperation in education and training (‘ET 2020’)






1.


relevance (30 %);










2.


quality of the plan of actions (10 %);










3.


quality of the methodology (10 %);










4.


quality of the Consortium (10 %);










5.


the cost-benefit ratio (10 %);










6.


impact (20 %);










7.


quality of the valorisation plan (dissemination and exploitation of results (10 %)).





Part B —   Support to implementation of innovative policy solutions at institutional level to reduce early school leaving, in line with the priorities set out in ‘Europe 2020’ and ‘ET 2020’.






1.


relevance (30 %);










2.


quality of the plan of actions (10 %);










3.


quality of the methodology (10 %);










4.


quality of the Consortium (10 %);










5.


the Cost-Benefit Ratio (10 %);










6.


impact and European Added Value (20 %);










7.


quality of the valorisation plan (dissemination and exploitation of results (10 %)).




5.   Budget

The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects amounts to EUR 4 million.
Financial contribution from the European Union cannot exceed 75 % of the total eligible costs.
The maximum grant per project will be EUR 120 000 for part A and EUR 800 000 for part B.
The Agency intends to allocate the amount available according to the following indicative proportion: EUR 1 200 000 for part A and EUR 2 800 000 for part B. However, the final allocation depends on the number and quality of the proposals received for parts A and B.
The Agency reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.
6.   Deadline for submission

Only applications submitted on the correct form, duly completed, dated, showing a balanced budget (revenue/expenditure), submitted online (original) and signed by the person authorised to enter into legally binding commitments on behalf of the applicant organisation will be accepted.
Deadline: Monday 16 September 2013, 12.00 noon (Central European Time).
Applications which do not include all the stipulated documents and which are not submitted before the deadline will not be considered.
A complete application consists of the following:






—


one original application package (eForm and its four attachments). To be submitted online as instructed in the eForm User Guide. This version, including its attachments, is considered to be the master version,










—


one paper version to be sent by ordinary or registered mail immediately after the online submission to the following address:





Education, Audiovisual & Culture Executive Agency




Unit P9 — Lifelong Learning: Eurydice and Policy Support




Key Activity 1 — ECET (ET 2020)




Call for Proposals EACEA/04/13 — Part A/Part B (please specify)





BOU2 01/055




Avenue du Bourget/Bourgetlaan 1




1140 Bruxelles/Brussel




BELGIQUE/BELGIË








Applications submitted after the deadline will not be considered.
Applications sent by fax or only by e-mail will not be accepted.
For more details please refer to the general guidelines of the call.
7.   Further information

Detailed general guidelines of the call for proposals and the complete application package are available on the following website:
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/llp/funding/2013/call_ecet_2013_en.php
Applications must be submitted using the forms provided and contain all the attachments, annexes and information as required in the detailed guidelines.


(1)  http://ec.europa.eu/education/lifelong-learning-policy/policy-framework_en.htm

(2)  The participation of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro in the present call for proposals is subject to the signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the Commission and the competent authorities of each of these countries respectively. If, by the first of the month of the grant award decision, the Memorandum of Understanding has not been signed, participants from this country will not be funded and will not be taken into account with regard to the minimum size of consortia/partnerships.

(3)  See footnote 1.

(4)  See footnote 1.