Our way of dealing with the pandemic crisis was to design our first web cultural activity and to move towards new directions and develop new collaborations. For this purpose, as a company, together with 5 other partners, amid the quarantine, we have submitted a proposal to the European Commission’s Creative Europe programme and specifically to the sub-programme “Cultural Cooperation Projects in the Western Balkans”. The Creative Europe programme funds transnational cooperation projects to help European cultural organisations work together across borders.
Writing, editing and submitting a project proposal to a European programme may be a difficult and frightening process for an organisation that has not involved in any similar work before. Our recent experience proves it is not.
That is why we are sharing some lessons learnt from this procedure.
Concept Note: Step one: finding the Idea. In our case, the idea for the proposal had emerged long ago through the various projects and activities we have implemented related to the subject of Intangible Cultural Heritage and Folklore Culture. The framework and deadlines of the programme gave us a specific plan so that we find partners and capture the idea in the form of a project with a specific structure, work packages, schedule and budget.
Tip: In a “concept note” of maximum 2 pages we recorded the idea, the challenge it faces, the value it brings and finally the expected goals and results of the project.
Guidelines: Each funding opportunity is accompanied by a rich informative material that includes instructions, templates and forms required for the preparation and submission of the proposal. It may be obvious, but before any action, careful reading of the instructions (Call Guidelines, Guidelines for Applicants) answers many questions, especially in terms of criteria and evaluation process.
Tip: The best practice is to regularly review the guidelines throughout the whole process.
Consortium: The experience, know-how and interdisciplinary value brought by each partner in the consortium is the most crucial part of the proposal and the project as a whole. We have participated in other proposals for European projects as partners, but in this case we took the lead in finding and finalising the project consortium. We started with an internal call for cooperation in our network of partners. Open communication, transparency and flexibility in what each partner has to offer ensure good cooperation and clear roles both in the writing of the proposal and then in the implementation of the project. Together we re-formed the final idea.
Tip: A good exercise before drafting the proposal is to create a plan where each partner undertakes a specific work package depending on their expertise. In this way, overlapping of tasks is avoided and the cooperation model is clarified.
Proposal writing and Budget:
It is no coincidence that the writing of the application remained for the end. Without the previous steps, any writing loses its essence. The time required is about 1 to 2 months for writing, reviewing, editing and composing the budget.
The documents describing the project required by the Creative Europe programme are:
Application form
Detailed description of the project
Budget of the Project
By having first completed the detailed description and budget of the project, the application is quite easy.
Tip: It is important a third party to read all this work and find where the proposal lags behind. Meaning, with a critical approach, any weaknesses or unsubstantiated references in the text and in the conception of the project will be pointed out, in order to find the mechanisms for strengthening the idea at each level of implementation.
The outcome of such a process is the combination of many factors. With the completion of the submission, however, we have only gained from this experience and we are already preparing ideas and collaborations for future projects.
Concluding, we would like to thank the Greek Creative Europe Desk, which responded quickly and straightaway to any question we had, greatly facilitating our work.
Do you have any questions or would you like to make a comment?
Happy to receive your messages at info@peripatos.net
Photos by Georgie Cobbs and Joanna Kosinska on Unsplash
