As shown by the feedback questionnaire, the addressees reacted positively to their training. They considered it very useful for their job, for enhancing awareness of EU opportunities and possibilities to integrate the MPCs in the European Research Area, and achieving a better understanding of FP projects planning, writing and management. They were also made aware of the importance to measure the impact of projects and build initiatives where the MPCs may act as co-owners. The results pointed out a “thirst for knowledge” about these topics, the efforts made for improving RI in the Mediterranean region, cementing cooperation and partnership through the impressive work done so far, and the future steps. This assessment also highlighted the importance of working as a team during training implementation, sharing documentation and exercises, and exchanging useful suggestions when needed. Sometimes, capacity building activities connected scientists of different background, promoting knowledge exchange and mutual trust, and creating landmarks for promoting high quality cooperation initiatives.
The major trends and changes outlined in this analysis are at the same time opportunities and challenges for institutions in Mediterranean partner countries, which are called upon to play a vital capacity building role in support of cooperation development. As far as training is concerned, the use of “edutainments” tools (educational – entertainments) that actively involved the trainees was quite successful. Seminars with on-line exercises, web-based activities, access to digital libraries, promoting familiarity with EC procedures and websites are examples of the new learning enhancing opportunities that increased connectivity can offer to research centres and institutions in the Mediterranean Countries. This allowed us to share experiences, lessons learnt and best practices. Moreover, combining regular training courses with practical activities gives more opportunity for human interaction and development of the social aspects related to learning. For the future, NCPs suggested that to further motivate scientific communities and spur decision makers to support NCPs and their activities, Regional Fora could be organized periodically to show statistics on co-financed projects, case histories, value added for the Mediterranean Countries involved, in the presence of national policy makers and the major representatives from both EU and MP countries. Training participants also recommended performing systematic monitoring and evaluation in order to consolidate the project implementation conditions and measure their related impacts.
Many problems still need to be solved for improving the process of cooperation in its multiple dimensions: scientific, administrative and financial. The heavy and cumbersome administration of the EU projects is one of the barriers to cope with. In the last years, excellent scientists from the MPCs progressively distanced from the Framework Programme due to the difficulties in handling the administrative aspects of participating in a project, as they have very little technical and administrative support from their administrations - though this aspect is slowly being solved - and to the enormous amount of effort and time required for reporting and other tasks that are not strictly related to scientific activity. One main problem the scientific community faces is the administrative constraint of complying with the principle of strict control of expenses related to the project and the consequent financial and personnel burden for reporting, audits and other activities based on this principle. In contrast, the scientific content and results of the activities and its impacts do not rank among the main issues of the projects.
To stimulate or support the necessary EU-MPC cooperation in research and innovation, further capacity building of administrators in the MPCs is needed and the specific characteristics of international cooperation must be considered in the EU Financial Rules. The “Third Parties”
concept, i.e. support structures or companies for handling the funding received by MPC partners, must be developed and stimulated in order to leave the managerial tasks of accounting and reporting in professional’s hands and provide services to the MPC participants in the cooperation
projects. At this moment in time, there is a wide perception that the opportunities offered by the European Programmes for ST cooperation to the MPCs are much more “difficult to handle” than the Chinese, American, Brazilian or Russian programmes (Rodriguez and El-Zoheiry, 2012), and there is a net transfer of partnering from the traditional European partners to those coming from other Countries.
VI – Conclusions
Capacity building is at the heart of tomorrow’s regional employment, innovation, stability and prosperity. All the Mediterranean countries will benefit from it, if it becomes easier for individuals, research institutes, universities and companies to cooperate. Any obstacle to the cross-border flow of people, ideas and funding has to be removed. Mutual benefits will emerge from increased cooperation between North and South Mediterranean, between academia and industry, between national and European initiatives, between European programmes and activities such as Structural Funds, Horizon 2020, EU neighbouring policy, and so on. Therefore, there is urgent need to capitalise on what has been done so far. Capacity building also facilitates the construction and use of critical mass of competences and stimulates cross-fertilization among national and international research teams. To facilitate capacity building and empowerment of transformative networks, major recommendations concern also the need for a well-structured approach of both
“capacity” and “power” building. Both dimensions – capacity building and empowerment - are key factors. On one hand, it is necessary to strengthen project and institutional management capabilities; on the other hand, it is also necessary to facilitate building up efficient transformative networks and coalitions of change. These networks and coalitions, operating as a bridge between the Southern and the Northern rims, include many different types of people, beyond the scientific communities. Particularly important are: the business sector (that needs to be involved as much as possible in project design and implementation, by matching funds and appropriate public/private partnership mechanisms); the civil society and young researchers. Thus, capacity building should be the interface between Research and Innovation systems that, in general, have only random contacts as they fit different demands and expectations. The creation of mutual acknowledgement and trust between the actors of these systems is a prerequisite to make the most of the efforts in knowledge exploitation in the MPCs.
Thus, the main intervention strategy for capacity building should include a vaster array of actions such as organizational reforms, institutional strengthening, science-policy interfacing, training and networking, as well as participatory approach implementation. Taking into account the new approaches that will prevail in Horizon 2020, notably co-funding and co-ownership, the activities of capacity building may require a combination of various competences from EC and EU/MPC countries. The new schemes of R&D cooperation and new rules of management require that training plan for trainers be prepared. Moreover, training seminars could be followed by twinning activities in order to extend the scope of cooperation while putting capacity building at the core of the new regional strategic Research Agenda. In a time of increased global competition, it is urgent that Europe and Southern Mediterranean countries pool their resources of talent and knowledge for a better and shared future.
Notes __________
1 Some of the several tasks of an NCP: a) Informing, awareness raising (to circulate general and specific information, i.e. calls for proposals, possibilities and rules for participation; organising promotional activities with the European Commission; raising awareness for general EU objectives; giving notices of other EU programmes); b) advising, assisting and training (to explain the modalities for participation; advise on administrative and contractual issues, responsibilities of partners, costs, IPR, etc; assisting in partner search, stimulating participation of new partners; advising in project management); c) Signposting (to inform the European Commission about planned activities and involve EC staff; to signpost the path for other EU network services; to give feedback to the EC; to signpost the path for national or regional funding and support organizations where appropriate). An efficient NCP should represent a centre of expertise on EU RTD opportunities, be impartial, have knowledge of the local research landscape, understand innovation processes, reach the national research community and other stakeholders, have skills in RTD management and financing, be an active and accepted partner of the international system for partner search, be in contact with all the other NCPs. Moreover, it needs to cooperate with other RTD networks at national and regional level, to ensure transnational exchange of experiences and best practice, to have communication skills, and ability to moderate meetings and to organise promotion actions, to assess the work and provide feedback.
2 Within the ST Co-operation Agreement, Jordan has identified energy, sustainable development, health, ICT and agriculture as priorities for international co-operation in research, which will help Jordan authorities in formulating and implementing national Research Strategies.
3 It is the so-called bottom-up approach, which is useful to see the results of each activity but less useful in evaluating the cumulative effects of different types of interventions spread over time. For example, if an organization receives capacity support from a number of different stakeholders in the same area of its work, the bottom-up method is less suited to dealing with the complexity. Additionally, the bottom-up method makes no attempt to measure the overall capacity of an organization. It is only interested in those areas of capacity that are being supported through capacity building activities.
References
EU Commission, 2006. Guiding principles for setting up systems of National Contact Points (NCP systems) for the Seventh EU Framework Programme on Research and Technological Development (FP7). Brussels.
EU Commission, 2007. Towards a Mediterranean higher education & research area. First Euro-Mediterranean Ministerial Conference on Higher Education and Scientific Research (Cairo Declaration - 18 June 2007). http://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/pdf/cairo_declaration.pdf
EU Commission, 2010. Europe 2020. A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. COM (2010). Brussels. http://ec.europa.eu/research/era/docs/en/investing-in-research-european-commission-europe-2020-2010.pdf
EU Commission, 2011. EuroMed-2030. Long term challenges for the Mediterranean Area. Report of an Expert Group. Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. Social Sciences and Humanities Directorate B.
2011. EUR 24740. European Union.
Formez, 2006. Dossier Capacity Building. Programme Empowerment Formez.
Gordon J. and Chadwick K., 2007. Impact assessment of capacity building and training: assessment framework and two case studies. ACIAR Impact Assessment Series Report, 44.
Rodríguez Clemente R. and El-Zoheiry H., 2012. Parallel session 8: Coordination of research and innovation programmes and funding instruments. Report on the Euro-Mediterranean Conference on Research and Innovation. Barcelona, 2-3 April 2012.
http://ec.europa.eu/research/conferences/2012/euro-mediterranean/pdf/euro-med_conference_
consolidated_report.pdf
Simister N. and Smith R., 2010. Monitoring and Evaluating Capacity Building. Is it really that difficult?
INTRAC, Oxford Praxis paper, 23.
Webliography
ERAMED Project: http://www.eramed.gr/opencms/opencms/eramed/Project/index.html EURO-MEDANET Project : http://www.euromedanet.gr/content/display?prnbr=60072 MIRA Project:
– Capacity building in the MPCs for participation in the FP and support to IP (Casablanca, 16-17 February 2012) - www.miraproject.eu
– Evaluation of Contact Points structures of the MPCs (2008). www.miraproject.eu
– Report on Auditing Training Workshop - www.miraproject.eu/workgroups-area/workgroup.wp2/
workgroup-documents-library/training-seminars/audit-training-workshop/Minutes%20MIRA%20 Audit%20Training.pdf/view)
– Report on the IP Training Seminar for Palestine – Deliverable no.18 - www.miraproject.eu
– Report on the Training for officers of the IP of the MPCs regarding specific issues related to the setting and evolution of FP7 projects. www.miraproject.eu