COMENIUS REGIO PARTNERSHIPS GUIDANCE FOR UK APPLICANTS 2012

This guidance document consists of: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Introduction Eligibility criteria Choosing your partner Types of activities Submission guidance Funding

Annex 1: How to complete sections D and E of the application form Comenius Regio grant applications should be submitted by 21 February 2012 to: Comenius Regio Applications British Council 10 Spring Gardens London SW1A 2BN

NB. The Comenius Regio application form is not an online application form and one signed original and two photocopies must be sent in hard copy to the above address and by 21 February 2012.

All application documents, including these guidance notes for UK applicants, are available on our website at: http://www.britishcouncil.org/comenius-applicationsforms-and-guidance.htm

GUIDANCE TO UK APPLICANTS ON HOW TO APPLY FOR COMENIUS REGIO GRANTS

1. Introduction

You are advised to read the Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) Guide 2012 carefully before starting to develop your application. The guide is available at www.britishcouncil.org/comenius-background-reading.htm However as this is a long and complex document, we suggest you read at least the following sections:

Part 1 General Provisions

Section 1 General Overview of the Lifelong Learning Programme Section 2 What is the Life-Cycle of a partnership? Section 3A Procedure for Submitting Grant Applications Section 3B Procedure for the Assessment and Selection of Applications Section 4A General Financial Considerations Applicable to All Actions Section 4B Types of Financing Section 4E Partnerships Section 4F Multilateral Partnerships, Projects, Network Accompanying Measures, Observation and Analysis (with reference to Comenius Regio)

Part 2a Sub-programmes and Actions Comenius Section Part 2b Summary Fiche for Comenius Regio Partnerships The information in these notes will summarise and build on the information contained in the LLP Guide 2012.

2 Confirming your institutions eligibility Comenius Regio Partnerships are bilateral partnerships between two local or regional authorities, each with a role in school education, in different countries. Only these authorities may apply for funding. A list of all eligible institutions, in all the eligible countries, of the Lifelong Learning Programme can be found at: http://ec.europa.eu/education/comenius/doc/listregio_en.pdf Each of the two local or regional authorities must involve at least one school and one other organisation from its region or municipality in the project. The school should be one of those eligible for the Comenius School Partnerships programme; the other organisation can be any organisation or institution in the region which contributes to the project. For example, it could be a museum, youth club, NGO, association, training institute, library or local company.

3 Choosing your partners You can base a Regio Partnership on: existing co-operation with another region or municipality in Europe; an existing school partnership; or on contacts through other European networks and initiatives. There is no partner search facility for interested Regio applicants yet, but the Comenius National Agencies will help disseminate requests via their networks. Please contact the British Council if you need support in finding a partner.

4 Types of activity Regio Partnerships focus their work on clearly defined themes. These could includen, for example, the organisation of school education, co-operation between schools and other local partners (e.g. providers of formal or non-formal learning), or common problems faced in school education (e.g. new approaches in the organisation of schooling, disadvantaged pupils and early school leaving, teacher qualifications and competence). The partnerships should help local and/or regional authorities to improve their educational offer to young people. The main purpose of Regio is not to involve pupils or students directly but to promote the development of structured cooperation between the partner regions in the area of school education. Examples of the range of activities that can be carried out in Regio Partnerships include:

Project meetings between all institutions involved in the partnership Exchanges of staff involved in school education (e.g. teacher exchanges, study visits of staff working in the local/regional school administration)

 Action research or small studies Job shadowing Exchanges of experience and good practice with partner regions / municipalities abroad Peer learning activities and common training sessions Conferences, seminars and workshops Awareness raising campaigns Co-operation with other partnerships in related subject areas, including mobility to network events if relevant, sharing experience with other institutions in the region Joint self-evaluation activities Dissemination of project experiences and outcomes Drafting, publishing and disseminating documentation related to the co-operation activities Regio Partnerships can be combined with already existing activities, e.g. in Town Twinning or other European educational programmes, but should clearly create additional cooperation activities as well as a deepening of any existing cooperation in the field of school education.

5 Submission guidance Before completing your application, please ensure that it fulfils all the requirements listed in the Checklist in the application form. The application form should be completed by the relevant authority in the coordinating region (Partner region 1) of the proposed Regio Partnership, in close cooperation with the partner region (Partner region 2). It should give full details of the Partnership including the details of all partners (regional / local authorities, schools and other organisations), all planned mobilities and the grant requests for both partner regions. The coordinating region (Partner region 1) should send a copy of the completed form to their counterpart local authority in the partner region (Partner region 2). The authorities in each partner region should complete and sign the declaration (between sections B and C of the form) on their own copy. Each partner should then submit their own copy to their National Agency by 21 February 2012, attaching letters of intent from each of the organisations participating from within their region (letters of intent are not needed from any of the organisations involved in the overseas region). Partner region 2 must not change any of the

information contained in the form completed by the coordinating region (Partner region 1): both copies of the form submitted to the respective National Agency must be identical (except for the Declaration). Please note that the form should be completed well in advance before the deadline so that both participating regions are able to post its copy of the application on time. Please ensure you send one original signed copy and two additional photocopies. The application must be signed by the local or regional authority only; the other partners must instead sign a letter of intent stating their intention to participate in the partnership. These letters must be attached to the application form. A model letter of intent is included in this guidance as Annex 1. The application form should provide the organisational details of all organisations or institutions participating in the project. At least 6 organisations (3 in each region/country) are necessary to form a Comenius Regio Partnership. The number might be higher (e.g. if several schools are involved). Please also ensure that you have completed all relevant sections of the Application Form fully, as it will be assessed as received. The British Council will NOT contact you for replacement/further information if parts of your form are missing or left blank (but MAY contact you over minor eligibility issues if these can be corrected quickly). We recommend that you send your application by recorded delivery and keep proof of postage in case your application is delayed or gets lost in the post. Without proof of postage, we cannot accept re-submission of lost application forms. All applications will be acknowledged within two weeks of the deadline. 6 Funding guidance Please also refer to Annex 2: How to complete sections D and E of the application form. All funding requests must be made in Euros. Comenius Regio provides funding for mobility on the basis of lump sums (related to the minimum number of mobilities conducted by each partner), and other nonmobility costs on the basis of a contribution (maximum 75%) towards non-mobility costs. Comenius is based on the principle of co-funding and beneficiaries are expected to contribute with at least 25% of co-financing to the non-mobility partnership costs. A "mobility" is a trip abroad as part of a Comenius Regio Partnership either to the partner institution or to an event which relates to the objectives of the Comenius

Regio project. One mobility refers to one trip by one person to another country participating in the Lifelong Learning Programme. Granting lump sums for mobilities eases the burden on applicants, who do not have to calculate the cost of each trip in detail. For other costs, the approach is flexible enough to allow financing of a wide range of activities. Eligible costs To be considered as eligible, costs must satisfy the following general criteria: They must relate to activities involving countries that are eligible to participate in the programme They must be incurred by the project partners They must be connected with the partnership (i.e. relevant and be directly linked to the execution of the partnership in accordance with the work plan)

They must be necessary for performance of the partnership

They must be reasonable and justified and they must accord with the principles of sound financial management, in particular in terms of value for money and cost effectiveness They must be generated during the lifetime of the project They must be actually incurred by the beneficiary and be recorded in their accounts in accordance with applicable accounting principles, and be declared in accordance with the requirements of the applicable tax and social legislation They must be identifiable and verifiable The LLP Guide also lists expenses which are definitely not eligible (see Chapter 4F). Please note that indirect costs are not funded under Comenius Regio Partnerships; costs relating to mobility are covered by the lump sum. Comenius Regio funding is divided between mobility costs and non-mobility costs as follows:

Mobilities The table below sets out the maximum lump sum amounts available to UK applicants for mobilities within Comenius Regio Partnerships. As in other partnerships, one mobility corresponds to one trip abroad, carried out by one person working for one of the organisations included in the application. The National Agency of each country will determine the actual amount applicable for Regio applicants in that country. There are two sets of rates for mobilities: one for partners located up to 300 km from each other, and one for partners located more than 300 km from each other.

Partnership categories Small number of mobilities Limited number of mobilities Average number of mobilities High number of mobilities

Number of mobilities 4 8 12 24

long distances (over 300 km) 4000 8000 10000 20000

short distances (up to 300 km) 2000 4000 5000 10000

See section 4.E. Partnerships in the LLP Guide General Provisions Additional (non-mobility) costs Comenius Regio funding for other project expenditure is divided into four main categories: 1. Staff costs: costs relating to statutory or temporary staff, based on real daily staff cost rates which cannot exceed the maximum eligible costs indicated in the LLP Guide, part 4.F. (Table 5a: Maximum eligible daily rates (in EUR) for Staff costs). Costs relating to the following categories of staff can be included: Statutory staff, having either a permanent or a temporary individual contract with a partner of the consortium. To be considered in this category, staff must report to the relevant partner organisation as an employee. Temporary staff recruited through a specialised external agency by any of the consortium partners. Applicants should base the project budget on real daily staff cost rates, which cannot exceed the maximum rate indicated in Table 5a in the LLP Guide, part 4F. Any surplus will be considered as ineligible. The veracity of these costs may be the subject of an audit. Costs related to staff working through subcontracting shall be included under the category "Subcontracting costs" (see below). Staff members of project partners are not allowed to operate in a subcontracting capacity for the project. 2. Subcontracting: The total costs for subcontracting may not be more than 30% of the total project costs, including work such as translation, interpretation, and printing. Costs entailed by procurement contracts for the purposes of carrying out specific and limited work for the project, can be considered eligible when awarded by a partner to an external body, organisation or individual (only if not employed by any of the

Partner organisations of the consortium). This includes work such as translation, interpretation and printing, etc. In order to maintain the concept of the project partnership, the management and the general administration of the project may not be subcontracted by the applying local / regional authority. Costs are based on a verifiable estimate or, if the subcontractor is identified, on the basis of an offer. The estimate / offer will cover all costs (i.e. subcontractors staff costs plus travel costs, etc). All costs incurred through subcontracting must be mentioned under the "subcontracting" category. The category "Other costs" can only contain costs incurred by the partners themselves. The applicant will award any contract to the tender offering best value for money, that is to say, to the tender offering the best cost-benefit ratio, in compliance with the principles of transparency and equal treatment for potential contractors, care being taken to avoid any conflict of interests. The following specific European Union rules with regard to procurement apply to subcontracting under Regio Partnerships: Contracts with a value below 12,500 can be paid on a presentation of an invoice Contracts with a value between 12,500 and 25,000 are subject to a procedure involving at least three tenderers (quotations) Contracts between 25,000 and 60,000 are subject to a procedure involving at least five tenderers (quotations) For contracts of a value over 60,000, national rules with regard to procurement apply.

3. Equipment: purchase, rent or lease of equipment if justified and necessary for the project, depreciated in accordance with tax and accounting rules. The total cost for equipment may not exceed 10% of the total project costs. Please also note the following: The purchase, rent or lease of equipment (new or second-hand), including the installation, maintenance and insurance costs, is considered eligible. Equipment is only eligible when specific and necessary for achieving the goals of the project/action. Proposed equipment costs must always be clearly explained and specifically justified. The rules for procurement apply to the purchase of equipment as well as subcontracting (see above). Equipment must be depreciated according to the relevant tax and accounting rules of the applicant. In the application these costs can be estimated; detailed calculations

will have to be provided at the final report stage. Only the portion of the equipment's depreciation corresponding to the duration of the project and the rate of actual use for the purposes of the action may be included within the budget. The applicant must explain the depreciation rules applied. If the nature and/or the context of its use justify different treatment, this should be duly justified. We recommend equipment is purchased at the start of the partnership to ensure you are able to claim the maximum cost of the item(s) as the final amount approved is assessed against date of purchase, percentage of use and depreciation rules. 4. Other project costs on the basis of real costs: costs not covered by other cost categories such as dissemination of information (e.g. one-off press releases or publicity shots), the purchase of copyrights and other Intellectual Property Rights, the purchase of information materials (books, studies and electronic data), rental costs, the purchase of consumables (paper for printing publications, blank DVDs etc), travel costs for experts or speakers at conferences. Only activities which are specific and necessary for achieving the goals of the project can be considered eligible. Such proposed costs must always be duly justified.

Annex 1 Model letter of intent Please use this text for the letter of intent to confirm your organisations commitment to participate in your Comenius Regio Partnership.

LETTER OF INTENT To cooperate in a Comenius Regio Partnership I, the undersigned, [name of person legally authorised to represent the participating organisation] representing [name of participating organisation], agree to participate as a partner in the Comenius Regio Partnership project: [Name of Project] The application form for this project is being submitted to the British Council by [name of lead UK organisation]. I hereby confirm that my organisation will fully participate in the above-mentioned project, if it is approved for funding by the British Council, and will carry out the roles defined for my organisation in the application. Signature: Name: Position: Date:

Annex 2 How to complete sections D and E of the application form This example should only demonstrate the logic behind the forms. It is not taken from a real application or complete. Figures are rounded in order to ease calculation. D. Proposed activity data Work programme: planned activities of each participating organisation Please summarise in the table below the planned Partnership activities for both partner regions in the Partnership. Please present the activities for both academic years 2012/13 and 2013/14, in a chronological order. The eligibility period of activities starts on 1 August 2012 and ends on 31 July 2014. D.1 Planned project activities (other than mobility) Partner region 1 Approx. starting date MM/YY Activity description (organisation of an event, publication, study, website, etc.) Teacher training seminar on "Cultural awareness and creativity" Publication of seminar results and developed teaching materials Exhibition of art works made by pupils; teaching material Integration of art exhibitions in school work . Activity description (organisation of an event, publication, study, website, etc.) Teacher training seminar on "Technical inventions, creativity and research" Using the expertise of local companies in schools Publication of seminar results and developed teaching materials ..

Authority

01/13

Authority

04/13

School 1 Other organisation [Name of Organisation] Partner region 2

01/13 05/13 . Approx. starting date MM/YY

Authority

02/13

Other organisation Authority

02/13 05/13

. [Name of Organisation] Add rows if necessary

D.2 Planned mobilities What is counted as "a mobility" is one trip abroad by one person. Only transnational mobility (i.e. travel abroad) counts for the calculation of the minimum mobility numbers. Please note that mobility activities can take place only between organisations included in this application or to events organised by the partnership project. Mobility may only be undertaken by staff of the organisations included in this application. Please note that any participation of pupils in mobilities has to be justified with regard to the aims of the partnership. In case you plan to involve pupils in mobilities, please indicate this in the column "Planned mobility description". A justification has to be annexed to the application. Partner region 1 Approx. starting date mm/yy 09/11 09/11 09/11 02/12 Planned mobility description Project meeting Project meeting Project meeting Teacher Training Seminar Sending Org 2 Duration Destination (place and organisation) 3 Region 2 3 Region 2 3 Region 2 5 Region 2 No. travelling 2 1 1 5

Authority School 1 Other organisation School 1

Partner region 2 Approx. starting date mm/yy 09/11 09/11 01/12 01/12 Planned mobility description Preparation meeting Preparation meeting Teacher training seminar Teacher training seminar Sending Org 2 Duration Destination (place and organisation) 3 Region 1 3 5 5 Region 1 Region 1 Region 1 No. travelling 2 1 5 5

Authority School 1 School 1 School 2

1 "In-country" mobility to or from Overseas Countries and Territories and ultra-peripheral regions of the EU will also be considered as transnational mobility, e.g. mobility by a beneficiary from mainland France to a partner in Martinique. 2 Please indicate if the mobility is done by the local or regional authority, a school or other organisation.

E. Requested EU funding E.1 Mobility Funding requested and estimated number of persons participating in mobility (per participating organisation. For each of the participating organisations, please select the "Partnership type" that best corresponds to your Partnership work plan for the whole 2 year duration. The Partnership type indicates the minimum number of mobilities to be conducted and the lump sum amount related to it. Each lump sum type is linked to a minimum number of mobilities to be carried out during the grant agreement period these minimum numbers have to be respected when entering the numbers of persons taking part in mobility activities into the table. The lump sum amounts for each Partnership type are defined at national level and they can vary from one country to another. Please make sure that, for each of the participating institutions, you have selected the grant amounts applicable in the country and for the programme in question. Please indicate the exact distance between the two applicant institutions (in km). DISTANCE: 1000
Partnership type [Table E mobility action types] Nr of planned mobilities Grant amount requested () [Table G National lumpsum amounts]

Partner Region 1 Partner Region 2

COM-12M COM-8M

12 8

10 000 6.400

E.2 Other (non-mobility) costs In order to fill the following table please refer to part 4.E and 4.F of the LLP Guide. Please note that Indirect costs are not eligible for funding support in Comenius Regio Partnerships, Other (non-mobility) costs in Comenius Regio Partnerships can only be funded up to a maximum of 25.000 EUR per partner region, Travel and subsistence costs have to be covered by the mobility lump sum; this also includes local transport during the mobility. When filling in the table, please make sure that you use the right cost category for your expenses and that you base your calculation on eligible costs only.

Staff costs: costs relating to statutory or temporary staff, based on real daily staff cost rates which cannot exceed the maximum eligible daily rates indicated in the LLP Guide, part 4.F. Subcontracting: cost entailed by procurement contracts, including work such as translation, interpretation, printing. Equipment: purchase, rent or lease of equipment if justified and necessary for the project, depreciated in according with tax and accounting rules. Other project costs on the basis of real costs: costs not covered by other cost categories like rental costs, purchase of consumables, travel costs for experts or speakers at conferences.

More detailed information on cost categories as well as the eligibility of costs can be found in the LLP Guide 2012, chapter 4.F. Staff costs
Partner region incurring the costs Staff category N of working days Cost per working day (in EUR) Costs (in EUR)

Partner Region 1 Partner Region 1 Partner Region 1

Administrator 20 Trainer 5

153 334

3060 1670

total 4730 Subcontracting

Partner region incurring the costs Service or task subcontracted Costs (in EUR)

Partner Region 1 Partner Region 1 total Equipment

Partner region incurring the costs

Translation of seminar results and training materials Print of seminar results 7500

3500 4000

Equipment

Costs (in EUR)

Partner Region 1 Beamer for exhibition and seminars Partner Region 1 total 1500 Please indicate the depreciation rules applicable in your institution: Electronic devices and IT equipment are depreciated over 3 years.

1500

Partner region 2 Partner region 2 Partner region 2 Partner region 2 total Please indicate the depreciation rules applicable in your institution:

Other costs on the basis of real costs

Partner region incurring the costs Type of costs Costs (in EUR)

Partner Region 1 Partner Region 1 Partner Region 1 Partner Region 1 total

Material for art exhibition (canvas, frames, ) Rent conference venue for teacher training seminar Invitation experts 7000

2500 2000 2500

E.3 Total requested grant amount Please indicate below the total project costs and the total amount of your grant request per partner region.

Please note that the grant will cover the lump sum amount for mobility plus maximum 75% of the total nonmobility costs of the project. Indirect costs are not funded in Comenius Regio Partnerships.

Partner region 1

Partner region 2

A. Lump sum amount Staff costs

10 000 4 730

6 400 6 300

Subcontracting

7 500

6 500

Equipment

1 500

Other costs B. Total non-mobility project costs Total project costs (A+B) Total grant amount (A + max 75% of B)

7 000 20 730 30 730 25 547

5 300 18 100 24 500 19 975

Annex IV Budget examples This annex provides concrete examples for Comenius Regio budgets. It aims to explain the different rules by giving concrete examples
General rules:
Partner region (example) Comments

A. Lump sum amount

10 000

as defined in the relevant table

Staff costs

4730 Not more than 30% of total project costs Not more than 10% of total project costs

Subcontracting

7 500

Equipment

1 500

Other costs

7 000 Maximum amount to be granted is 25000, but the total non mobility project costs can be higher The total grant amount consist of the lump sum amount (A) and maximum 75% of the total non-mobility projects. Please note that the grant amount for non-mobility costs can NEVER exceed 25000.

B. Total non-mobility project costs Total project costs (A+B)

20 730

30 730

Total grant amount (A + max 75% of B)

25 547

Example A Partner region (example) 16.000 Comments as defined in the relevant table

A. Lump sum amount

Staff costs

15 000 Below 30 % of the total project cost Below 10 % of the total project cost

Subcontracting

9 000

Equipment

5 000

Other costs B. Total non-mobility project costs Total project costs (A+B) Total grant amount (A + max 75% of B)

11 000 40 000 56 000 41 000

16 000 lump sum plus 25 000 Comment: 75% of 40 000 is 30 000. This amount exceeds the maximum amount of 25 000. Therefore the total grant amount includes only the maximum amount eligible for the partnership in total.

Example B Partner region (example) 10 000 6 500 Comments

A. Lump sum amount Staff costs

7 500

Subcontracting 4 000 Equipment 7 000 Other costs B. Total non-mobility project costs Total project costs (A+B) Total grant amount (A + max 75% of B) 25 000 35 000 28 750 24 444 34 444 28 333 The final grant amount has to be reduced accordingly to the reduction of equipment costs. This amount exceeds the 10% threshold. It has to be reduced to 3444

Please note that the calculation of the final grant amount at final report stage follows the same basic principles. At final report stage it is based on eligible costs reported by the beneficiary. It still has to respect the thresholds for equipment and sub-contracting and also the final grant amount for nonmobility costs is a maximum of 4775% of the non-mobility costs incurred.

Example C Approved budget at application stage A. Lump sum amount Budget at final report stage 10 000 Comments

10 000

Staff costs

6 500

6 800

If the minimum number of mobilities has been conducted, the lump sum can be paid in full A higher amount can be accepted if it can be covered by a max shift of 10% of the budget from another cost category. In this case it would be possible to shift budget from subcontracting to staff costs. In both cases it does not exceed the 10%.

Ok Subcontracting 7 500 7 000 Ok Equipment 3 000 2 800 Ok Other costs B. Total non-mobility project costs Total project costs (A+B) Total grant amount (A + max 75% of B) 7 000 24 000 34 000 28 000 6 800 23 400 33 400 27 550

10 000 lump sum + 17550 ( 75% of the eligible non mobility costs) At final report stage the final grant amount for non-mobility costs is a maximum of 75% of the total nonmobility costs.