Managing ECML projects

Expert meeting (EX)

Meetings of the project team at different stages in the course of a project for a 2-day period in Graz. In exceptional cases one additional meeting day can be funded by the ECML. Associate partners can participate at their own cost.

Typical number of events: 1-2 per year
Days: 2

Network meeting (NW)

2-day network meeting of the project team in Graz together with members of the active project network, focusing on a specific aspect of the project, such as initiating national sub-projects, develop/piloting resource materials, organising case studies or involving participants from an earlier workshop, with the task of following up an aspect of the workshop (maximum 14 participants).

Typical number of events: 1
Days: 2
Complementary information: Preceded by a preparatory meeting (1 day) and an optional follow-up meeting (1 day) for the team in Graz

Workshop (WS)

The central component of the project. The project team prepares and moderates a 2-day workshop, held in Graz, with participants selected and nominated by the National Nominating Authorities of all member states of the ECML upon the basis of a participant profile specified in the project description.

Workshops can serve a number of purposes: as a launch event for setting up the project; to develop innovative approaches to meet the needs of practitioners and contribute to the development of project results; to focus on the training of multipliers; to disseminate the results of the project to specific target groups.

Typical number of events: 1
Days: 2
Complementary information: Preceded by a preparatory meeting (1 day) and an optional follow-up meeting (1 day) for the team in Graz

Webinar

This enables projects to reach and interact with a wide cross-section of the project’s target audience; webinars require preparation on an organisational and content level but give the team an opportunity to promote the project to practitioners working in the area who they might not otherwise reach (technical support and hosting will be offered by the ECML).

Typical number of events: 1
Complementary information: Preceded by a preparatory online meeting with the ECML secretariat

The ECML requires three experts in addition to the coordinator to form a project team. Team members should, as far as possible, reflect a range of relevant professional expertise, a balance of language profiles and geopolitical spread from within the ECML member states. They must work each in a different ECML member state. In exceptional cases, applications from non-member states as team members can be accepted (with a maximum of one project team member from a non-member state).

In principle, projects have a coordinator with overall responsibility for team and project management and 3 team members. Within its team, each project should cover the following roles:

1. Website correspondent
2. Second language documentalist
3. Communications officer

Project teams can be supported in their work by associate partners. These are persons with a specialisation in the area of work who become involved with a project team on a voluntary basis (perhaps to pilot resources or to provide background research) and who help raise awareness of the project and disseminate the final outputs. The names and contributions of associate partners are made visible on the project webpages.

The ECML also welcomes third-party funding from the institutions of the associate partners. If this is likely to be available, a reference to this support should be made in the application.

This task requires significant leadership, communication and project management skills as well as previous experience of project work, preferably in an international context. The coordinator should have a direct link to the target audience of the project.

The working time that coordinators dedicate to project work varies considerably. However, based on feedback from current and past coordinators, we believe this work amounts to approximately 20 to 25 hours per month. We strongly recommend that prospective coordinators secure the approval and recognition of this European cooperation from their employers before submitting an ECML project proposal. Ideally, involvement in an ECML project should bring benefits to the applicant’s institution.

Most of the events take place in Graz. Between meetings, projects are largely coordinated via e-mail or other types of distance communication.

The project coordinator liaises with the ECML secretariat on all matters related to the project. He or she will be required to enter into an individual contractual relationship with the ECML. This contract will be based on the project as described in the proposal and will be limited in scope and duration to the life of the project and its related activities.

The coordinator is responsible for the running of the project on the basis of an action plan agreed with the ECML and for the monitoring, reporting and evaluation of project progress and results. The project coordinator oversees, in cooperation with the website correspondent, the content and quality of the project website set up by the ECML for each individual project. This website, hosted on the Centre’s web server, is intended to provide both transparency and visibility of project processes and results, thus promoting participation and dissemination on a wider level.

In summary, the project coordinator’s responsibilities include:

• leading the project team and coordinating the project
• all matters related to project content
• implementing the agreed action plan to the agreed standards and deadlines
• regular liaison with the ECML secretariat on all project-related matters
• ensuring the effective preparation and delivery of all project events and meetings and production of all necessary documentation
• taking responsibility for the effective flow of information between team members, participants in project activities, and the ECML
• ongoing evaluation of project activity and reporting on project progress to the ECML
• submission of the project outputs to the ECML
• participation at meetings for coordinators: 16 November 2023 and in January 2024.

One of the languages of the project must be either French or English. The project coordinator will require at least C1 level in written production on the scale of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages in the selected language and at least B2 in the other working language of the project.

Team members will be responsible for assisting in the preparation and delivery of the project outputs and outcomes according to the plan agreed for the project. Team members will also be assigned one of the 3 roles outlined below; alternatively, these roles can be shared, provided all 3 team members have the necessary skills

Website correspondent

In addition to the responsibilities as team member, the website correspondent will be responsible for the updating and further development of a project website (established and hosted by the ECML) and the production of documents/materials related to project content in liaison with the project coordinator, the second language documentalist and the ECML webmaster. Competence in digital literacy and the use of social media is useful for this role – technical skills are not essential to take up this function.

Second language documentalist

In addition to the responsibilities as team member, the second language documentalist will be responsible for ensuring that key documents related to project content are available in the second language of the project; for publishing key project terminology in both languages; for maintaining a second language version of the project website and for liaising with the ECML concerning language questions. The second language documentalist will therefore require at least C1 level in written production in the second working language of the project team according to the scale of the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages.

Communications officer

In addition to the responsibilities as team member, the communications officer is expected to communicate information on the ongoing work, expected outcomes and benefits to relevant target audiences as appropriate. The communications officer will also be responsible for promoting ongoing communication among the project network established. Competence in the use of social media is required.

Associate partner

Associate partners are persons with a specialisation in the area of work who become involved with a project team and are financed by their institution or national authorities. This special form of cooperation has been widely used within the ECML’s current programme to further promote cooperation at institutional level and/or as a means of familiarising a non-member state with the activities of the ECML.

The ECML is responsible for logistics, budgetary matters and financial management relating to the running of all projects within the programme, as well as for the production of the final project outputs.

The contribution of the Centre includes:

• covering the travel and subsistence costs of team members (although not for associate partners) and participants for the meetings and events included within the action plan of the project;
• annual coordination fees for each of the team members (not for associate partners). A total annual coordination fee of 6 000 Euros is available in each year of the project to be split among team members. This amount represents a token recognition of team members’ commitment to the project;
• the technical preparation and design of online ressources/publications;
• provision of relevant documentation and materials for events;
• advice and guidance at all levels of the project:
  • from the ECML secretariat (i.e. support for management, content, technical, website, dissemination, evaluation, project promotion, documentary);
  • from a designated external ECML programme consultant to assist in quality assurance matters
    logistical and financial management of meetings (e.g. invitations, assistance with travel and accommodation and payment);
• technical support for the development of a website, live streaming, webinars and online surveys;
• promotion of the project and its outputs to key target groups in all 35 member states;
• proofreading, layout and hosting of online publications/resources;
• interpretation of the project workshop into two working languages;
• support for the translation of project outputs.