Capacity Building Project

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The South Baltic Cross-border Cooperation Programme runs from 2007 to 2013 with a budget of about 57 MEUR. The analysis of the last two application rounds showed that, although there is a strong interest and demand for funding cross-border co-operation, there is a significant discrepancy between the number of applying institutions and the number of successfully applying institutions. As a result, resources are being wasted. This is caused by a significant lack of knowledge and experience in the cross-border projects’ development among the Programme’s potential beneficiaries. In addition, the pool of applicants is dominated by institutions having broad experience in different territorial European cooperation programmes, with the number of newcomers to cross-border co-operation being very small.Therefore, there is a need for the Capacity Building Project, whose aim is to better attract the target group to the South Baltic Programme and to strengthen the capacity of the target group to prepare and later implement good projects within the Programme. The project aims at bringing newcomers to the SBP, particularly from local authorities and NGOs, who constitute the target group of the Project. The specific objectives of the Project are to • Analyse the barriers that hamper the smooth development of projects • Disseminate information about the Programme to wider range of potential beneficiaries • Train potential partners of the Programme • Facilitate development of joint project proposals of cross-border character. Through Associated Organizations and participation in regional cross-border events, the Project will be able to get to its target group and to promote the SB Programme. Based on questionnaires and interviews with potential project developers, obstacles for project realization will be explored, which will in turn be a basis for the creation of training materials. Also, the needs of the target group for cross-border cooperation will be assessed. The main focus of Component 4 will be put on generating project ideas and supporting the development of successfully created project ideas through “rent-an-expert" facility. It is anticipated that as a result of Project activities many project themes will be identified and the target groups will better overcome obstacles and realize their potential for cross-border co-operation. In addition, the target groups will submit cross-border project applications with enhanced quality to the South Baltic Programme. The results of the Capacity Building Project will also help to better tailor funding programmes for the next funding period.

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