AER has been looking closely to the EEA and Norway Grant since a long time ago. This grant proposes fundings on topics of interest for AER members, such as civic participation, youth unemployment and social disparities. Mutual exchange projects are traditionally set on bilateral exchanges but last year the Grant Operator started a consultation on transnational projects. AER was the only European network of regions participating in that consultation, bringing experience on project application and the specific needs and expectations of regions.

Now that the results of this consultation process are finally tangible, the EEA and Norway Grant have launched an all new Fund for Regional Cooperation that supports regional cross-border and transnational project initiatives. The motto is “shared solutions to common European challenges”. The first call for projects is about 15 million euros.

What the fund is about?

The Fund supports regional cross-border and transnational projects. Innovation is a key word. Projects have to develop innovative ideas, practices and knowledge to propose new solutions  for the five priorities:

• Innovation, Research, Education and Competitiveness

• Social Inclusion, Youth Employment and Poverty Reduction

• Environment, Energy, Climate Change and Low Carbon Economy

• Culture, Civil Society, Good Governance, and Fundamental Rights and Freedoms

• Justice and Home Affairs.

The purpose is to reduce social and economic disparities on the European Economic Area and to strengths the collaboration the beneficiary countries and Norway, Iceland and Lichenstain (the donor countries).

Activities eligible for funding should focused on knowledge sharing, good practice exchange and capacity building.

How and what organisations can participate?

The Fund perfectly fits regions. Regions are fully eligible organisations to apply for funding. Regions along with organisations owned or partly owned by regions and associations of regions. Other types of organisations from institutions, non-for-profit and profit sector can be part of or lead projects. No maximum  is set for entities per project but the minimum requirement is the participation of three countries.

Organisations from all the European countries (with the exception of Switzerland) and neighbour ones have access to the Fund, with different roles. There are 15 beneficiary countries from EU member states, from Latvia to Greece, from Portugal to Cyprus. Then, other 10 called “third countries” can be part but not lead projects. In this list there are European countries not in European Union, as Serbia, Albania and Ukraine, but also outside Europe, as Russia and Turkey.

Entities in the donor countries (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway), EU member states and international organisations may participate in the projects as expertise partners.

What the application process looks like?

The call is organised in a two step process. First, organisations have to submit a concept note. In case the concept note will be successful, the project consortium will present the detailed project proposals. The first deadline is set on July 1st 2018. The second one is later in the year, December 2018.

The co-financing, the contribution from the project partners, is advantageous. Depending on the type of organisation, it goes from 0% up to 15% of the awarded budget. The minimum grant per project is EUR 1 million.

Projects would run from summer 2019 to maximum April 2024. There is no minimum duration.

For further information please check the programme website or contact the funding operator (tel +48 22 339 45 40).

If you are interested to engage in projects related to cultural heritage or other topics, please do not hesitate to contact Mr. Luca Magri, from the AER Secretariat.