PA Trainings 2009 – the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia
As the 1st CfPs closed first in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and then in Albania, in August and September respectively, CBIB started with the organization of trainings for potential applicants on the subject of how to prepare good quality project proposals in these two countries.
In addition, the 2nd Call for Proposals for the programme between these two countries is expected soon, thus it was of paramount importance to work with the Potential Applicants, both those who already applied under the 1st CfP and those who will only do so under the 2nd CfP, in order to prepare them on time to meet the challenges of this rather complex process.
The trainings were announced in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia on August 10th, 2009 through both national newspapers and CBIB e-mail alert. The registration was open until August 24th, 2009. The potential applicants in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia showed great interest in the trainings – over 300 applications were received.
Applicants were divided in groups according to their place of residence and level of previous knowledge on the subject. Out of 8 trainings in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 5 were intermediate and 3 were initial courses.
| PA Trainings in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date | Location | No of Participants | |
| 1 | September 15th-16th, 2009 | Struga, Hotel Solferino, (initial) | 20 |
| 2 | September 17th-18th, 2009 | Prilep, Support and Development Foundation, (initial) | 17 |
| 3 | September 22nd-23rd, 2009 | Veles, Forum Foundation, (initial) | 18 |
| 4 | September 24th-25th, 2009 | Bitola, Hotel Milenium (intermediate) | 24 |
| 5 | September 28th-29th, 2009 | Skopje, Hotel Continental (initial) | 21 |
| 6 | September 30th-October 1st, 2009 | Skopje, Hotel Continental (initial) | 18 |
| 7 | October 20th-21st, 2009 | Gostivar, Hotel Ignatia (initial) | 12 |
| 8 | October 22nd-23rd, 2009 | Gostivar, Hotel Ignatia (intermediate) | 25 |
| 155 trainees took part in 8 trainings during September and October | |||
Objective:
The purpose of the trainings was to prepare all interested potential applicants to gain knowledge on the approach and logic in the preparation of grant proposals based on EC procedures, application and evaluation process.
The main objectives of the course were the following:
- Potential applicants have a general understanding on IPA, IPA II programmes, the cross-border programme implementation: what is a Call for Proposals (CfP) and the role of the Guidelines for Applicants (GfA) in the CfP;
- Understand the role of the different CBC management structures;
- Understand the logical framework approach (LFA) and the link between the different levels in the LFA;
- Understand stakeholder and problem analyses;
- Understand the role of preconditions and assumptions in the LFA;
- Understand the role of indicators and their formulation process;
- Understand the principles of the activity based budgeting;
- Understand the link between the project development process based on the LFA and the filling in of the application form.
The trainings were organized as two-days courses. Each day consisted of a morning and an afternoon session that were implemented in combination of theory with exercises, i.e. “learning by doing”.
Due to the relatively short duration of the training, most of the topics were presented in plenary sessions and followed by “buzzing” – group discussions. Group exercises were organised on the following topics: stakeholder, problem and objective analysis and development of intervention logic.
Most of the trainees found the trainings very useful and adequately corresponding to their needs, as well as significantly improving their knowledge on project preparation. The main suggestion expressed by the trainees was that such intensive courses, with great amounts of information and useful tips presented, should last longer – three-day courses would have been more suitable.
Check our section Photo Gallery for pictures from the trainings!