A1. A difference should be made between the country where a Cultural Route headquarter/management board is located (i.e. registered office) and the countries which are crossed by the Cultural Route/where the Cultural Route has members/where activities related to it are implemented.

As set in each call “In order to be eligible for a grant, an applicant must: be the legally constituted body in charge of the certified “Cultural Route of the Council of Europe” network”. Therefore, a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe crossing other countries than those belonging to one/more EU macro-regions can apply to the call for proposal. The project submitted by the Cultural Route must however be implemented in and “focus exclusively on the countries” of the EU macro-region (only the chosen one), to which the specific call for proposal refers, “even if the Cultural Route extends beyond [that Region] geographical scope” (Call for proposals, VI. Evaluation and selection procedure, 2. Eligibility criteria).

Therefore:

• the Cultural Route might be located outside or extend beyond the EU macro-regional strategy (the one chosen) geographical scope;
• the Cultural Route headquarter/management board might be located in a country outside the chosen macro-region.

But:

• the activities that the Cultural Route aims at implementing through the mini-grant must take place in the chosen macro-region, with due regard being paid to the relevance of the Cultural Route’s heritage for that macro-region (the criteria defined under the call for proposal section VI. Evaluation and selection procedure, 2. Eligibility criteria list these requirements in detail).

(Answered on 7 December 2018)

A2.The number of mini-grants which will be awarded for each macro-region is not defined (i.e. not necessarily 2 grants will be awarded in the framework of each macro-regional call for proposal), without prejudice to:

• the maximum amount which can be awarded per grant (i.e. 10.000EUR);
• and to the maximum amount allocated for the four calls for proposals as total budget (i.e.80.000EUR).

For more information, you can refer to the call for proposal, Part.III Budget available: “The Council of Europe intends to award, under the four calls for the Adriatic and Ionian, the Alpine, the Baltic Sea and the Danube Macro-region, eight grants of a maximum amount of 10 000 Euros (ten thousand Euros) each. Subject to availability of funds and possible extension of the Project initial duration, the Council of Europe reserves the right not to award all available funds, and/or to redistribute the available funds in a different manner depending on the project proposals received and on the outcome of the call for proposals”.

(Answered on 7 December 2018)

A3. “Projects proposals shall produce an added value to the Council of Europe and the European Commission’s effort in the domain of Cultural Routes and macro-regional strategies. […] they shall help enhancing the common identity within the macro-regional strategy” concerned (Calls for proposal, I. Introduction, Pag.1).

“The activities carried out in the framework of the grant-system must be in line with the objective of the European Union macro-regional strategy” for the Region concerned (i.e. either EUSAIR, or EUSALP, or EUSBSR, or EUSDR individually considered) (calls for proposals, IV. Requirements, pag.4).

I.e. Each call for proposal refers to one specific EU macro-regional strategy (i.e. EUSAIR, EUSALP, EUSBSR, EUSDR) and is tailor-made to reflect its objectives and specificities. Each project proposal must therefore be consistent with the specific call for proposal with reference to which the application is submitted, making sense in view of the specific macro-regional strategy, its objectives, its Action Plan, with a view to contribute to enhancing the identity and visibility of the respective macro-regional strategy.

It is advised to check the Action Plans and projects implemented or ongoing for each macro-regional strategy concerned, in order for the Cultural Route to plan an activity which can be integrated in that context and linked to what is already existing.

E.g. A project submitted within the framework of the Call supporting the Adriatic and Ionian Region must reflect and contribute to the objectives of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region and of its Pillar 4 (“diversification of the Macro-regions tourism products and services along with tackling seasonality”) ^[1] on sustainable tourism and help at enhancing the common identity of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, even if the applying Cultural Route extends beyond the geographical scope of that Macro-region. In this last case it is important that well-defined activities in the part of the Cultural Route which contained in the of application of the Adriatic and Ionian Strategy are planned and implemented, so that the project contributes to enhance the visibility and common identity within that specific area.

^{[1] Please note that the objectives differ from one Macro-region to the other. The specific objectives of each Macro-region are listed in each call for proposal under the section I. Introduction and IV. Requirements.}

(Answered on 17 December 2018)

A4. Yes, in principle cross-sectorial projects interesting different Priority Areas/Action Groups/Pillars are possible, without prejudice to the main PA/AG/Pillars concerned¹, which are set in the calls for proposals. Opting for a cross-sectorial project should not infringe on the project correspondence to the specific requirements.

^{[1] As indicated in the calls for proposals}

(Answered on 17 December 2018)

A5. As set in each call for proposal, project/actions not focusing exclusively on the macro-region to which that given call for proposal refers to will not be considered (IV. Requirements, 6.The following types of action will not be considered, pag.6). In addition, the project proposals should target key stakeholders exclusively in the area of the macro-regional strategy to which each single call for proposal refers (IV. Requirements, 4. Target stakeholders, pag.5).

The project proposal must be tailor made on the selected specific macro-regional strategy, not only in terms of geography, but also in terms of identity and relevance for the objectives and actors of the strategy.

I.e. Even if a Cultural Route stretches across different macro-regions, the project proposal must be specific and focus about one area of macro-regional strategy exclusively. Projects proposals which do refer and are planned to be implemented outside the geographical scope of the macro-regional strategies will be excluded, as would not comply with the objectives and requirements of the present calls for proposals.

E.g. the Via Francigena stretches throughout the Alpine Region, as well as the Adriatic and Ionian Region. The project proposal, depending on the very type of project/activity itself and of its meaning and value needs to be specific and focused on one Region, hence to focus on the part of the Cultural Route winding through that chosen Region, either the Alpine Region or the Adriatic and Ionian Region, not both Regions at the same time. It is vital that that part of the Cultural Route would gain visibility as an outcome of the macro regional strategy.

(Answered on 17 December 2018)

A6. Joint ventures among different Cultural Routes crossing the same macro-region are possible in principle due regard to the aim of the calls for proposals of “enhancing the common identity of that given Region” (Calls for proposal, I. Introduction, Pag.1). These joint ventures are welcome if they contribute to enhance the identity and visibility of the corresponding macro regional strategy.

It must however be noted that each grant can be awarded to a single “legally constituted body in charge of the certified Cultural Route of the Council of Europe network” (VI. Evaluation and Selection procedure, 2. Eligibility criteria, pag. 8/9).

Furthermore, as envisaged in each call for proposal, “the Council of Europe intends to award […] grants of a maximum amount of 10.000 Euros” (III. Budget available, pag.4).

I.e. Synergies among Cultural Routes are possible, but since each grant can be awarded only to one Cultural Route, the Cultural Routes who aim at a joint venture must apply with individual project proposals (i.e. 1 Cultural Route/ 1 project proposal/ 1 application) indicating that the submitted project would fall within a cooperation with another Cultural Route.

(Answered on 17 December 2018)

A7. “The Council of Europe reserves the right not to award all available funds, and/or to redistribute the available funds in a different manner depending on the project proposals received and on the outcome of the call for proposals” (III. Budget available, pag.4).

i.e. The award of mini-grants for exemplary actions reflects a competitive process of project submission, assessment and evaluation. The projects submitted will indeed be assessed by an Evaluation Committee, which will decide on the award of the grant.

(Answered on 17 December 2018)

A8. As set in the calls for proposals “conferences, events or missions or studies, if not required for the implementation of the means of action” will not be considered (IV. Requirements, 6.The following types of action will not be considered, pag.6). The submitted projects must be measurable and result-focused.

Conferences and workshop per se are not eligible actions; projects which exclusively consist of conferences/workshops will therefore not be considered for the award of the mini-grants. However, in the event of a conference/workshop being useful in view of the implementation of the project proposed, the conference/workshop might be acceptable and subject to the assessment of the Evaluation Committee. Due regard must be paid to the fact that the calls for proposals are meant at awarding grants for supporting new activities/projects, tailor-made on the calls for proposals requirements and objectives, not activities which fall within the ordinary calendar of activities of a given cultural Route, which would anyway put in place.

I.e. The conference/workshop might be part of the project proposal, it cannot make up the project proposal itself, for which the funding is requested.

It is possible in principle that a project submitted within the framework of the present calls for proposal is meant at being further developed at a later stage. The project proposal, even if conceived as preparatory must anyway be designed to bring to result already with reference to these calls for proposals (objectives and requirements) and with reference to the funding thereby requested, in order to be considered. The Evaluation Committee will assess each specific case.

(Answered on 17 December 2018)

A9. As indicated in the attachment “Estimated budget”, the applicant is requested to “Indicate whether the grantee commits to contribute by means of an in-kind contribution, or by means of a financial contribution. In the first case, the in-kind contribution shall be described, while in the second case, the amount and the currency of the financial contribution shall be indicated in the box.”

Furthermore as set in the calls for proposals, the applicant is requested to “Indicate how the grantee commits to contribute by means of an in-kind contribution (in this case please indicate the description in the application form)” (IV. 5. Budgetary requirements).

Therefore:

• The description of the Cultural Route’s contribution in terms of human resources must be entered in the “Estimated budget” at the line 9 (namely, the line titled “Contribution by the grantee”). Should the Cultural Route be able to estimate the amount to which this human resources-contribution corresponds, this should be entered in the same budget line. Please note that in the “The lines 12- 56 of the budget table have to refer exclusively to the expenditures foreseen to be covered by the grant.” (calls for proposals, IV. 5. Budgetary requirements).
• The description of the Cultural Route’s contribution in terms of human resources must be entered also in the application form (section 11. Co-funding).

(Answered on 30 January 2019)