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(A4) Budget for Meetings


John Simkin

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The E-HELP project has budgeted for 6 meetings over three years (50,820 euros). It also budgeted for visitors to these meetings (79,640 euros).

We have these meetings are extremely important. So also are visiting speakers. However, I would suggest for the Citizenship Project we have more meetings but less visitors. For example, we could have nine meetings for 75,000 euros and only spend 50,000 on visitors. What do people thinnk?

We also need venues for meetings. I assume the final meeting should be organized by the host organization and will probably take place in the Brighton area. Any other volunteers?

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As far as I am concerned, and probably I won't be the only one, I have a serious problem in attending to so many meetings. It will be even more difficult next year, when, I hope, Citizenship project will overlap with EHELP project.

I am sure I won't get permission to attend to 5 or 6 meetings a year! I wish I got it.

I agree that maybe we are having too many visitors in EHELP, but in this new Citizenship project I think that bringing visitors from other countries inside and outside the EU and making them to contribute can be a major asset of the project.

Probably, intead of inviting a large number of visitors, we should select a few colleagues from some relevant countries or areas that would collaborate all over the project and contribute seminars, resources... in a significant way.

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I don't object to the proposed number of meetings (I mean John's). I will ask tomorrow (for permission) but I find it possible for us to host one of these meetings. Still I will come back tomorrow with the permission required from my "bosses".

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After a telephone conversation I confirm the full availability of our institution to host one of these meetings. There is a full commitment of our institution to this project.

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I asume that every institution will host at least a meeting. Reunions can be held at schools or in other places such as hotels. My institution is committed to host one meeting in a first round and then, if necessary, we will hold a second meeting in our different institutions.

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I can confirm that we can host a meeting.

The school year in Sweden starts in mid-August and continues right up to the very beginning of June. I'd suggest that any visit to Kalmar falls within the September - May period, so that you've got the opportunity to both visit schools and meet teachers of citizenship (perhaps our school-based training mentors' network).

The weather's not too bad here both in Spring and Autumn (January and February are good months *not* to come to Sweden, if you don't like the cold!).

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I think that bringing visitors from other countries inside and outside the EU

Visitors have to be from Europe. That is 'Europe' as defined by Socrates.

The E-HELP project has budgeted for 6 meetings over three years (50,820 euros). It also budgeted for visitors to these meetings (79,640 euros).

It is worth noting that e-Help application was criticised as 'excessive' on the staff and consultancy costs. 79,640 was not simply to bring people to meetings. Largely it was hoped we'd be able to pay people to produce content.

I also think it is unrealistic to expect members to attend more than three meetings in a year. Also remember that you will probably not be able to hold a meeting in the first six months.

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As far as I am concerned, and probably I won't be the only one, I have a serious problem in attending to so many meetings. It will be even more difficult next year, when, I hope, Citizenship project will overlap with EHELP project. I am sure I won't get permission to attend to 5 or 6 meetings a year! I wish I got it.

I suggested more meetings for several reasons. It has been my experience of the Virtual School and E-HELP that members are more productive just before and during meetings. The idea that you are going to attend a meeting where you will be talking about what you have done since the last meeting, is a great motivator. Also, if the meetings are well-organized, as they have been with E-HELP, a great deal gets done.

Meetings are also very enjoyable and a great deal of work gets done without people being aware of it (some of our best ideas have come while consuming good wine and food).

I am aware that attendance at these meetings will be a particular problem for Juan Carlos because of the E-HELP project. Is it possible to just attend the meetings on the Saturday and Sunday. Maybe your school would allow you to take a flight on the Friday afternoon?

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Yes, my school will permit me... but my wife? :huh:

Anyway, whatever the majority decides is Ok.

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No doubt you will find a number of ways of explaining Juan Carlos :huh:

However I do coincide with John that meetings do act as powerful motivators. Once again agree with him on the fact that good ideas appear at unsuspected times, whether they are attending a presentation or enjoying a bit of relax ;)

So I go for a number of meetings similar (or slightly small) to the initially proposed

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Visitors have to be from Europe. That is 'Europe' as defined by Socrates.

Richard,

In Worthing we talked about inviting visitors from former European Soviet Union countries (Russia, Ukraine...), Palestine, Israel, US...

Do visitors from member countries of the Council of Europe (Russia and so on) are eligible?

I do think that to get some long term associates commited to the project will be a most important asset.

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Richard,

In Worthing we talked about inviting visitors from former European Soviet Union countries (Russia, Ukraine...), Palestine, Israel, US...

Do visitors from member countries of the Council of Europe (Russia and so on) are eligible?

I do think that to get some long term associates commited to the project will be a most important asset.

There is a list somewhere :) I'll try and find it. If I remember it includes Israel but excludes Russia and definately USA. I had some Americans I wanted involved in e-Help. Not possible.

Richard,

In Worthing we talked about inviting visitors from former European Soviet Union countries (Russia, Ukraine...), Palestine, Israel, US...

Do visitors from member countries of the Council of Europe (Russia and so on) are eligible?

I do think that to get some long term associates commited to the project will be a most important asset.

There is a list somewhere :) I'll try and find it. If I remember it includes Israel but excludes Russia and definately USA. I had some Americans I wanted involved in e-Help. Not possible.

3.1 Participating countries

In principle, SOCRATES is open to:

· the fifteen Member States of the European Union: Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Greece,

Spain, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria, Portugal, Finland,

Sweden and the United Kingdom;

· the EFTA/EEA countries2: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway;

· the accession candidate countries:

the associated countries from Central and Eastern Europe: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic,

Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia;

Cyprus, Malta and Turkey.

The participation of the countries listed above which are not Member States of the European

Union is dependent on completion of the formal legal procedures. These are expected to be

completed in time to enable all the countries listed to participate already with effect from the year

2000, except for Turkey for which 2000 is a preparatory year and which will not begin to participate

until a somewhat later date. Before submitting a request for support, applicants are advised to

confirm with their National Agency which countries are already eligible, or to consult for this

purpose the SOCRATES Internet site indicated in Section 9 of Part I of these Guidelines below.

Please note that participation of institutions and persons from the non-EU countries is subject to

the conditions as set out in Section 6.1 (eligibility criteria) below.

Under certain Actions of the programme, limited financial support may also be available to enable

persons or institutions from countries other than those listed above to participate in certain

activities on an ad hoc basis. The necessary information on this will be included in the annual and /

or specific Calls for proposals and the relevant Application Forms.

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Socrates Programme Guidelines for Aplicants

The institutions which are co-ordinators or partners in projects must:

· be located within one of the countries mentioned in section 3.1 above (these are the countries that were mentioned by Richard);

· correspond to one of the profiles indicated in section 3.2 above (in the case of

Comenius 1 and 2, only the types of institutions specified by national authorities are

eligible; a list of these types of institutions is available from National Agencies on

request);

4. Individual persons applying for support must be either:

· nationals of the countries mentioned in section 3.1 above;

· or nationals of other countries, provided that they are either permanent residents or are

registered as stateless persons or hold refugee status in the participating country from

which they wish to go abroad within the programme;

However, I cannot draw the conclusion that visitors must belong to those countries. The guidelines deal with instititutions whicha are co-ordinators or partners and individuals who apply for financial support, not with experts who are invited to certain meetings. Probably, there is a "legal vaccuum" on that.

Anyway,

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However, I cannot draw the conclusion that visitors must belong to those countries. The guidelines deal with instititutions whicha are co-ordinators or partners and individuals who apply for financial support, not with experts who are invited to certain meetings. Probably, there is a "legal vaccuum" on that.

I can't find any documents that suggest otherwise and the Technical Assistance Office stopped giving technical assistance from January 1st. But I think I might have asked about this at a meeting. It is worth remembering that Comenius were a little unhappy with how we intended to manipuate the concept of 'consultancy'. Try ringing the national Socrates office.

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