Last week I attended a workshop arranged by the Higher Education European Funding Service (HEEFS), a recently established organisation which exists to provide advice and guidance to the HE sector on EU funding opportunities and programmes. Their objective is to increase participation and success of UK HEIs in EU funding, and to support the drive of many universities towards internationalisation.

HEEFS focuses primarily on non-FP7 funding, and as the title suggests this workshop was all about funding for arts and cultural projects. This kind of funding can be very difficult to source for universities, so this was a welcome briefing on other options.

Like many of these events, it was a bit of an “information dump”, and most of the information given here can be found in various places online already. However, in its own way that’s useful because EU funding information can be difficult to find and interpret. I apologise in advance if this post is a little dry (and long); my intention is that it will be helpful as a reference guide in future. I’ve offered my own commentary (in green) after a description of many of the funding schemes.

The day began with a general overview of the kinds of funding on offer. Broadly the programmes discussed here mainly involve:

• Annual calls for proposals
• Grant rates of between 50 and 90% of total costs
• Transnational partnerships involving 2 or more partners in separate countries (often EU Member States)

UK university involvement in these funding streams has increased from 2.4% of projects in 2008 to 14% of projects in 2010.

Culture Programme

The Culture Programme was established to enhance the cultural area of the EU, to promote cultural diversity and intercultural dialogue, and to promote culture as a catalyst for creativity within the framework of the Lisbon Strategy. The three specific objectives of this programme are:

• Promotion of transnational mobility of people working in the cultural sector
• Support for the transnational circulation of cultural and artistic works and products
• Promotion of intercultural dialogue

This programme covers all aspects of arts and cultural sectors, except audio-visual, which is supported under the Media Programme (discussed below). A range of different cultural organisations can apply, e.g. theatres, museums, professional associations, universities, cultural institutes and public authorities

There are three strands within the Culture programme of interest to universities. All three offer funding opportunities on an annual basis. I’ll summarise each in turn below.

Strand 1: Support for Cultural Projects

1. Multiannual cooperation projects (strand 1.1) must involve at least 6 partners from 6 different countries, and must last between 3 and 5 years. These attract funding of between €200K and €500K at a rate of 50% of total costs. Deadline: 1st October 2010

2. Cooperation projects (strand 1.2.1) must involve at least 3 partners from 3 different countries, and may last for up to 2 years. They attract funding of between €50K and €200K at a rate of 50% of total costs. Deadline: 1st October 2010

Comment: Clearly, this is a lighter version of the multiannual projects and it was generally felt that this would be more attractive to universities. However, it should be noted that the grant rate of 50% is relatively low. You can fund the remaining 50% through either in-kind contribution (staff time) or other funding/income, but questions were raised about the sustainability and affordability of running a number of these projects at once. Cooperation projects are probably best used to support and expand an activity that is planned to take place anyway.

3. Cooperation projects with third countries (strand 1.3.5) must involve at least 3 partners from 3 different countries as above, plus 1 partner from a third country. Eligible third countries are identified each year, and for 2010 there is only one: Mexico. Again, these projects last up to 2 years and the funding levels are the same as for standard cooperation projects, as above. Deadline: 3rd May 2011

Comment: If you have (or plan to approach) partners in Mexico, then this is the funding scheme for you! Otherwise, there’s nothing to see here. Next year the EC will select different eligible countries, and may select more than one.

4. Support for European cultural festivals (strand 1.3.6) is a new strand to support festivals which have a European dimension and contribute to the general objectives of the Culture Programme. You can apply to support either one edition of the festival or 3 annual editions and funding is for no more than €100K per year at 60% intervention rate. Deadline: 15th November 2010

Comment: This sounds attractive until you read the small-print which states that applicants must be able to demonstrate that their main activity is festival organisation, that only festivals having held at least 5 editions are eligible, and that only those festivals which have involved 7 EU countries in the previous year are able to participate. Essentially it’s for existing festivals which already have a significant European dimension. So it could be useful for anyone looking to expand something which has already been running.

Strand 2: Support for organisations active at the European level in the field of culture

The general objective is to support the long term work of organisations pursuing an aim of general European interest in the field of  culture. There was only one element of this strand which was identified as potentially interesting for HEIs:

Advocacy networks must have been in existence for at least 1 year and must have members from at least 15 countries. €75K to €120K per annum is available (at a rate of 80% of total costs) to support the operating costs of the network in relation to a specified programme of activity. Deadline: 15th September 2010

Comment: Although the grant rate is more attractive than other parts of the Culture programme, the eligibility criteria (number of countries involved) here may be difficult to achieve for newer networks.

Strand 3: Support for analyses and the collection and dissemination of information

Cooperation projects between organisations involved in cultural policy analysis (strand 3.2). The idea is to support cooperation between organisations which have direct and practical experience in the analysis, evaluation or impact assessment of cultural policies at a local, regional, national or European level. This requires at least 3 organisations from 3 different countries and may have a duration of between 1 and 2 years. The funding on offer is up to €120K per project with a grant rate of 60% of total costs. Deadline: 1st October 2010

Comment: This strand offers the most likely avenue for some cultural based research, but interested applicants should bear in mind that new studies or data collection are not covered, so it is for synthesis and analysis of existing data only.

Visiting Arts, based in London, is the UK’s new Culture Contact Point for all of the above schemes, although you can get advice directly from HEEFS. Visiting Arts has advice and guidance available at the official website: http://www.culturefund.eu/ and it was mentioned that you can contact them to find European partners for some of these activities (see my Concluding Remarks below on other ways to source partners). Generally, these schemes have a 1 in 3 success rate, according to HEEFS, although this is starting to decrease in some areas.

Lifelong Learning Programme

The Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) is probably familiar to most in the HE sector as the home of the Erasmus student and staff exchange scheme. However, there is more to LLP than Erasmus. This is a vast programme with lots on offer for HEIs.

In general the LLP offers opportunities to work in partnership with organisations in other countries to:

• Develop new curricula (e.g. a module in entrepreneurship in arts & culture)
• Develop new approaches to teaching and learning
• Develop new methods, including virtual learning
• Establish and develop networks

All of the above is concerned with the development and advancement of pedagogy in lifelong learning. The timetable for the 2011 application round for all LLP schemes is as follows:

Call for proposals: September 2010

Deadline for applications: End February 2011

Selection results announced: Late July 2011

Projects commence: Sept/Oct 2011

While all of the streams summarised below can obviously be used to support culture and arts projects, they can be applied to any discipline, unless there is a priority stated within the call.

Erasmus

Within Erasmus, in addition to the student exchanges, there are several other areas which could provide funding for HEIs.

1. Curriculum development projects are concerned with supporting the process of innovation and upgrading in HE. The priorities of this scheme include modules and programmes which clearly define and promote learning outcomes and competences (subject specific and generic) in line with national and EU qualifications frameworks, aiming at future skills. There’s also a priority to focus on development of programmes and modules in which ICT tools and services are used to allow distance learning and virtual mobility.

The kind of activities supported are designing integrated programmes (e.g. bachelors, masters or doctoral level) leading to a recognised joint degree; development of curricula and modules for continuing education; and modules in highly interdisciplinary areas. Maximum funding is €150K/year at a 75% contribution rate. Maximum duration of the project would be 3 years, but note that the maximum EC contribution to any project regardless of length is €300K.

Comment: The contribution rate is higher in LLP than it was in the Culture programme, making these projects more attractive and potentially more sustainable. Note also that these projects are solely to do with design and development of curricula, not delivery.

2. Modernisation of HE prioritises lifelong learning strategies aimed at helping HEIs become ‘continuing education centres’ or ‘open learning centres for their regions’. There is also an emphasis on improved access arrangements for disadvantaged people, and quality enhancement, improved governance, or diversified funding.

Typical actions covered by this funding include activities to make HEIs more attractive and more responsive to the needs of the labour market, citizens and society at large. Funding is as above.

Comment: The focus on “open learning centres” and improving access arrangements indicates that this scheme might be useful to fund projects looking at the idea of HEIs as open social centres (e.g. the Sumac centre in Nottingham). This is something that staff at Lincoln’s Centre for Educational Research and Development are exploring at present.

3. Cooperation between HEIs and Enterprises supports structured partnerships with business in order to accelerate knowledge transfer, increase student/staff placements into enterprises and vice versa, and enhance the career prospects of graduates through the provision of entrepreneurial skills.

Activities could include developing special courses for upgrading knowledge and skills of employees (including language skills), promoting mobility and entrepreneurship, and developing provision for part-time students. Funding is as above.

Comment: There was some discussion about the fact that lots of UK universities already carry out activities like this. This could be an opportunity to transfer this good practice to other HEIs and enterprises in different countries by forming a network and applying to this scheme.

4. Virtual Campuses, as the name suggests, supports the development/mainstreaming of innovative ICT based content, services, pedagogies and practice. One of the priorities is providing open educational resources across Europe. There is also a focus on development and dissemination of strategies and approaches to establishing sustainable virtual campuses, and promoting cooperation and exchange of experience among decision makers in the area of virtual campuses. Funding is as above.

Comment: Several project possibilities readily suggest themselves, particularly if your institution is already active in this area. For example, Lincoln’s Centre for Educational Research and Development and School of Natural and Applied Science have recently completed a JISC-funded project, Chemistry.FM, which created an open educational resource for the first-year introduction to chemistry course taught at Lincoln. The virtual campus strand could potentially be used to share this good practice with other HEIs across Europe.

5. Academic Networks. The objectives are to promote European cooperation and innovation in specific subject areas. The priority areas identified for 2010, but not fulfilled were:

• Literature
• Philosophy
• Linkage between culture and education
• Interculturalism and multilingualism
• Entrepreneurship and innovation
• Cross-disciplinary topics

Comment: It’s likely that some or all of these topics will occur again in the 2011 call. The maximum project duration is 3 years, and maximum grant available is €200K per year at 75% contribution of total costs. However, the minimum number of project partners is 31 from 31 different countries. Therefore it’s likely that this funding stream would mainly be used to grow existing networks, rather than establishing new ones.

6. Structural Networks. The objective is to help improve and modernise a specific aspect of HE, with priorities including access to HE and mobility, and HE organisation and management. Funding is as per Academic Networks above, however minimum number of partners is 5 from 5 different countries.

Here are two examples of successful Erasmus projects:

http://www.polifonia-tn.org/

http://ippcva.com/home.html

Comenius

The Comenius programme focuses on schools education and partnerships, although HEIs can be part of the networks.

1. Schools Education – Partnerships. The objectives here are to improve initial or in-service teacher training, and to develop strategies or exchanges to improve the quality of teaching and learning. A central issue here is the development of approaches that support acquisition of the key transversal competencies, i.e. language, literacy and ICT. Development of language learning in schools also features highly within this funding stream.

Expected outcomes include: a new curriculum; training courses; methodology; teaching strategy; teaching materials. Projects can last anywhere up to 3 years, with a maximum grant of €150K available per year. The contribution rate is 75%, and the minimum number of partners is 3 from 3 different countries.

2. Schools Education – Networks. Objectives here are to promote European cooperation and innovation in specific thematic areas of importance to schools. This differs from the Partnerships strand above – although both involve consortia and collaboration, the emphasis here is on: developing high quality early childhood education and care; supporting entrepreneurship and links with the world of work; making science and technology education more attractive; and development of special needs education.

The kinds of activities supported include the promotion of educational innovation and best practice, such as comparative analyses, case studies, and the organisation of working groups, seminars or conferences. The funding requirements and project duration is as above for the Schools Partnerships, with the exception that a minimum of 6 partners from 6 different countries are required.

Here are some examples of successful Comenius projects:

http://www.pixel-online.net/

http://www.um.es/childrensliterature/site/

Leonardo da Vinci

Leonardo da Vinci focuses on vocational education and training, and priorities include developing vocational skills considering the labour market needs (new skills for new jobs). Technical requirements of the scheme are: project duration should be 1 – 3 years; maximum grant available is €200K/year up to a total maximum of €400K at a rate of 75% of total costs. The minimum number of partners is 3 from 3 different countries.

Comment: An example of a successful project probably best serves to illustrate the possibilities of this funding stream. The Virtual training centre for shoe design aims to develop shoe design training capable of virtual delivery using an internet portal. This met at least two of the programme aims: to develop the quality and attractiveness of VET training (through a virtual learning environment developed for the project) and to develop the skills and competence of VET trainers (through the updating of existing curricula and being involved in a network which enabled them to share best practice with partners).

Grundtvig

This scheme is concerned with adult education although there are opportunities here for HEIs. Specifically HEEFS identified two in the form of Grundtvig Adult Education Partnerships and Networks.

The goal of partnerships is to develop innovation and/or disseminate innovation and good practice with a potential for significant impact. The activities supported here include improving content and delivery of adult education; improving adult education at a system/policy level; improving the accessibility of learning opportunities for adults; and improving the management of adult education. Partnerships can last between 1 and 3 years, and the maximum grant available is €150K/year up to €300K in total. As before the contribution rate is 75% and a minimum of 3 partners from 3 different countries are needed.

The objective of networks is to strengthen the link between the various actors in adult education, to improve the quality, European dimension and visibility of activities of common interest in the field of adult learning and to help make lifelong learning opportunities more widely known and available to citizens. The activities supported here include information exchange, training project coordinators, disseminating good practice; and promotion of educational innovation and best practice. Networks are on a larger scale than partnerships – you require a minimum of 10 different partners from 10 different countries to be eligible.

Comment: It’s worth restating here that many of these opportunities can be applicable more widely than arts and culture projects. The key thing is to address the central objectives of the programme and scheme. In the case of Grundtvig this is adult education, but your project could focus on any subject or group of subjects, as long as it meets the aims of the scheme. A good example of this is the project eMULTIPOETRY. From their website:

eMultipoetry is an educational poetry project realised as part of the European Union’s Grundtvig Programme. The project is run by cultural institutions in Poland, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and Greece. As part of the programme we are creating a new multi-language international online space for poetry. And not only for “high” and recognised poetry. We enable our users to systematically write and translate poems at the level they are actually at with opportunities to improve their own abilities and making international contacts and exchanges.

Media Programme

The overall objectives of the programme are to:

• Preserve and enhance European cultural and linguistic diversity and its cinematographic and audiovisual heritage, and guarantee its accessibility to the public and promote intercultural dialogue;
• Increase the circulation and viewership of European audiovisual works inside and outside the European Union;
• Strengthen competitiveness of the European audiovisual sector in the framework of an open and competitive European market favourable to employment, including promoting links between audiovisual professionals

Although there are opportunities for distribution and promotion of audiovisual works, the primary interest for HEIs – and particularly with the arts and cultural disciplines – is seen to be within the training element of the Media Programme. The focus here is on improving the skills of professionals within the sector.

There are two types of training which are eligible for support through the Media programme: initial and continuous training. Both support training across any of the following skills within the audio-visual sector:

• production (e.g. digital production, 3D animation, HDTV)
• post-production (visual effects)
• distribution
• marketing using new media/social media
• new markets
• economic/business skills associated with the sector
• legal and financial aspects of co-production
• understanding and accessing international markets
• script development

Initial Training

These projects must be delivered by transnational consortia of at least 3 partners from 3 different countries. They can be delivered at any level of higher education and may or may not lead to formal qualification. For example, you could use this funding to support a full academic programme of study or a specific module or workshop. You could alternatively deliver an online course. Initial Training projects usually last 12 months and the grant rate is 50% of eligible costs. The maximum budget available is €2M. The calls for proposals are expected to be announced in January 2011, with a deadline for submission of April 2011.

Comment: The scheme is very flexible in its breadth of coverage, especially since it does not have to lead to a formal qualification. However, the contribution rate of 50% of total eligible costs is low – sustainability of the courses would have to be considered before undertaking this kind of project. Also, the requirement for a consortium may be off-putting, especially since the Continuous Training projects don’t have this requirement.

Here’s an example of a project funded through the initial training scheme: http://www.screenacademyscotland.ac.uk/

Continuous Training

As mentioned, there is no consortium requirement here, although the courses must be open to professionals across the EU. The focus here is on providing ongoing training to existing professionals, e.g. producers, writers, directors, editors, animation professionals etc. Like the initial training projects, these can last for up to 12 months, and support is provided at a grant rate of 50% of total costs. However, unlike initial training projects you can charge fees to participants which would help to sustain the projects over the longer term. Scholarships (covering at least the cost of participation fees) must be made available to 15% of participants.

The calls are expected in January 2011 with an anticipated deadline of July 2011. Projects are likely to commence in January 2012.

There are many examples of funded projects here. I’ve included a summary of what the project entails after the link so you can get an idea of what you’d have to do to be successful in this scheme:

http://www.megaplus.mediaschool.es/ (A postgrauate degree course in audiovisual management. The programme consists of 14 weeks residential training, a 3 month internship in a European company, a final evaluation week, and a second 3 month internship)

http://www.animwork.dk/en/about_the_animation_workshop.asp (2 courses, including 3D animation features, TV series and Games for animators with a basic grasp of the classical principles of animation and an understanding of 3D character animation.)

http://www.europeanfilmacademy.org/activities/ (A multi-disciplinary seven-day workshop for professionals planning to step into the process of stereoscopic filmmaking.)

Concluding Remarks

In addition to the overview of the schemes above, HEEFS also commented on the application process itself. They pointed out that a successful application must have commitment from within the institution at an early stage, early commitment from international partners, a realistic timetable, and, crucially, a coordinator prepared to take on the responsibility of drawing together the different parts of the bid. It’s therefore never too early to start thinking about an application, even where the calls are not yet out there is a sufficient degree of continuity in most of these schemes from year to year. So you can make good progress in identifying potential partners and gaining institutional support.

On the issue of partners, HEEFS gave the standard advice that the best partners are usually the ones you’ve worked with in the past. If you haven’t taken part in an EU project before, then other sources of partners are below. I’ve tried to order these from best to worst, but all are viable options and you could find a strong, trustworthy partner through a partner search facility:

• Ask other partners to suggest a partner based on their experiences
• Contacts made through exchange programmes
• Through academic networks, e.g. people you meet at conferences
• Ask your students or staff who have previously worked in Europe
• Partner search facilities

None of the above negate the need for research into the partners you select. You should at least consult their website and potentially also check financial information before committing to partnership.

HEEFS are available to help with applications to any of the above funding sources. They can also work with HEIs to map opportunities against institutional objectives and can be included as partners in a project to meet the Commission’s audit requirements. If you’d like to know more, please get in touch with them: heefs@ljmu.ac.uk