Category: EVENT

The University of French Guiana is organising multiple training sessions for their researchers within the framework of the FORWARD project.

1st, 4th and 8th June 2021: A webinar about managing H2020 projects with two main objectives:

• Managing administrative and financial aspects of H2020 contracts;
• Preventing financial recoveries in case of audit.

17th – 22nd June 2021: A webinar about administrative and financial aspects in Horizon Europe, whose key objective are:

• Providing advice on how to draft Horizon Europe proposals;
• Giving keys elements on how to set up a Horizon Europe project budget.

This training will also provide participants with enhanced skills for:

• Improved use of the «Funding & Tender Opportunities» portal;
• Collaborative projects, single beneficiaries and financing tools;
• Project preparation including submission, eligibility conditions, and evaluation approach.

Initiated under Horizon 2020, the “Widening participation and spreading Excellence” programme aims at boosting the R&I systems in widening countries, fostering their participation in the FP and facilitating collaborative links all across EU. This programme is now open to outermost regions which are eligible for coordinators, offering new opportunities for La Reunion.

To raise awareness of the regional stakeholders about the Widening tools, Nexa, the regional Agency for Development, Innovation and Investment of La Reunion, organised an online workshop on the 19th May 2021.

Opened by Paula Duarte-Gaspar, Head of Outermost regions’s Unit in the DG for Regional policies at the European Commission, the seminar provided key elements to the local researchers and policy advisors with presentations from a panel of experts:

• Kalina Esmein, from the “institut français d’Autriche”, NCP Widening;
• Jean Sciare, Director of the Climate & Atmosphere Research Center at the Cyprus Institute, coordinating a TEAMING project;
• Ewa Domke, Deputy Director for International cooperation and project administration at The Institute of Fluid Machinery Polish Academy, coordinating a Twinning project;
• Bernie O’Rourke, Professor of Sociolinguistics at the University of Glasgow, Chair of a Cost Action.

The R&I local community is now working on a strategic plan to exploit the Widening opportunities with the help of Nexa’s Europe Office Team.

Within the FORWARD project the regional Agency for Development, Innovation and Investment of La Reunion (NEXA) organised a live e-course on how to exploit Horizon Europe as a beginner.

The course shared good practices and a new vision on European programmes.

Nikolaos Floratos, a trainer active in European training industry for more than 20 years, shared his knowledge with the participants in 2 steps:

1. Start thinking and acting like a champion in Horizon Europe;
2. Master public information related to Horizon Europe to your advantage.

The webinar welcomed more than 35 participants from all the Outermost regions and partners of the FORWARD project. Participants are now being contacted by Nexa’s Europe Office Team* to turn the acquired knowledge into actions!

*Nexa’s Europe Office is a regional mutualized support programme which connects regional stakeholders with the most dynamics Research & Innovation networks at EU level. To do so, the team of 3 people specialized in European projects:

• Coach and train researchers and entrepreneurs to get the habits of the best;
• Help the Research&Innovation organizations to design their institutional strategy for Europe;
• Develop marketing and lobbying activities to increase the reputation of the regional Research and Innovation Ecosystem in the RIS3 domains;
• Develop strategic partnerships at political level to include Outermost region Research issues in the work programmes or in EU partnerships;
• Support the building of competitive projects from the identification of calls and the partner search step till the submission and negotiation.

Within the FORWARD project, the Regional Agency for the Development of Research, Technology and Innovation and the University of Madeira organise a face-to-face training programme on Horizon Europe (HE) in Madeira.

The training programme is composed of multiple capcity building sessions, taking place from 25th until 28th May.

• 25th: Training for first-time participants in EU-funded projects
• 26th: Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions
• 27th: Widening funding opportunities
• 28th: HE Pillar III with a focus on private organisations & SMEs

The training course will be presential, with overall 20 participants per session.

Key results of the event will be shared soon. Stay tuned!

The Instituto Tecnológico de Canarias organizes this training program, within the FORWARD project and supported by the Enterprise Europe Network in the Canary Islands.

Objective:

To advise companies and provide them with the tools to so that they can go with the greatest advantages to this funding and inform them about the most relevant “Open Calls” for each project.

Description and methodology:

We have designed a training program adapted to the reality and characteristics of Canary Islands companies and organizations so that, depending on their possibilities and availability of resources, they can access the different “Open Calls”.

The training program will be delivered by experts in European R&D+i programs and will be implemented in four sessions:

1. Session 1. What is cascade funding? Introduction to cascade funding and “Open Calls” including practical examples. May 13, 2021 9:30 – 11:30 a.m. (GMT)
2. Session 2. “Open Calls” training course. Search and selection mechanisms for “Open Calls”. Common formats, approach and contents. Preparation of winning proposals and justification of projects. May 18 and 19, 2021 9:30-11:30 a.m. (GMT)
3. Session 3. Networking for the presentation of proposals to “Open Calls”. Creation of working groups to prepare specific proposals for specific calls. Work will be done in small groups by topic of interest. May 25, 2021 9:30-11:30 a.m. (GMT)
4. Session 4. Workshop and advice for the presentation of proposals to “Open Calls”. Participants will follow a workshop and will work in a guided way for two weeks to prepare their own proposals. May 26 and June 2, 2021. 9:30-11:30 a.m. (GMT)

Access to the program: https://bit.ly/33dfasL

Registration: https://bit.ly/3nJlEJb

The training will be delivered in Spanish.

The European Cluster Meeting is an event organised by PROEXCA, in collaboration with our FORWARD coordinator ACIISI and our partner ITC, and supported by the EU Enterprise Network and the EU Commission.

The aim of this virtual event is to promote the internationalisation of European clusters, facilitate the exchange of experiences, as well as to foster and encourage participation of clusters in European programs.

A workshop on collaboration platforms for clusters will be organised, followed by discussion rooms where clusters will have the opportunity to discuss share experiences and identify partners for potential collaboration within the framework of EU programmes. Participants can also organise B2B meetings through a dedicated virtual platform.

The sectors involved in this event are: blue growth; energy; sustainable tourism; transport and logistics; ICT and digitalization; and the audiovisual sector.

Sign up here and connect to be part of the change!

On the 4th and 5th march, Saint Martin held a webinar on R&I european funds. On the first day, general notions were introduced :

• The general aspects of European funds ;
• European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) ;
• Operational programs ;
• The presentation of the funding & tender portal

The second day was dedicated to understanding how to finance your R&I project within the framework programs.  As for the speakers : the general director from the EC (RTD) gave a detailed presentation on Horizon Europe (pillars, budget..) and new changes in this program such as European institutions which can become shareholders of the companies and open sciences with a better involvement of citizens and policies.

Moreover, the Forward project coordinator from the Government of the Canary Island presented the 8 Thematic Working Groups (TWG) of Forward Work package 3 based on Pillar 2 of Horizon Europe. He precised that all people taking part of TWG will be prepared for future Horizon Europe call for proposals.  Moreover, the coordinator shared the experiences of  ACIISI (the agency of GOBCAN) in FP programs (Macaronight, Athena, Aqua excel).

The Regional Ministry of Economy, Knowledge and Employment, through the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and the Information Society (ACIISI), has opened the registration to participate in the virtual meeting “Possibilities for the participation of Canary Islands entities in Horizon Europe”.

This virtual event, jointly organised by the Canary Islands Agency for Research, Innovation and the Information Society (ACIISI) and the Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology (CDTI), will take place on 15 March at 10:00 (GMT) and will be held in Spanish.

The R&D&I ecosystem of the Canary Islands is convened with the aim of promoting the development of projects eligible for European funding, boosting the research, development and innovation sector with a view to the 2021-2027 European scenario and encouraging the participation of Canary Islands companies and entities in the Horizon Europe framework programme.

Registration form: https://forms.gle/dkbFxMr9skBV3WoX6