Manifesto to support professional project management in Horizon Europe
European research and innovation collaborative projects are complex: they involve different types of organizations, from several disciplines, coming from different countries with different cultures and background. The management and implementation of these projects is a challenge that requires a range of professional skills and tools (contractual, financial and knowledge management, activity follow-up, monitoring, communication and impact assessment...). Unfortunately, the requirement of professional management is not appropriately considered in the current Framework Programme.
Proposals are all considered as "excellent" by the European Commission at the time of selection for funding but less than one-third are considered as "good to excellent" once they are implemented, due to project management issues.
On one hand, experience shows that the influence of effective and professional project management has a decisive impact on project performance and results. As a result, collaborative project management has been professionalised throughout the years, both internally with the set-up of dedicated EU projects teams, or externally with professional consultants.
On the other hand, the European Commission restrained how the management activities shall be pursued. Subcontracting of project management services or its delegation to another partner is not currently allowed by the participation rules (Art 41.2 of the H2020 Model Grant Agreement) thus limiting the possibilities of the beneficiaries to benefit from this crucial support.
This Manifesto aims to alert the EC about the proper consideration of project management for the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. Future European projects success require effective strategic management as well as professional administrative and financial management.
PROPOSED MEASURES
- Recognize the impact of a real expertise in management (whether this expertise is internal or external, public or private) :
- By allowing the participation of other partners, not just the coordinator, in Project Management activities.
- By allowing the subcontracting of management tasks to professional experts with proven track records.
- Improve the quality of project management by promoting good project management practices such as:
- The delivery of a project management plan at the beginning of the project.
- The dedication of the management activities to a skilled and trained workforce - this should be assessed by the evaluators under the implementation criteria.
- The use of tools designed for collaborative project management, such as secured collaborative platform, during the project implementation.
- The preparation of project results’ exploitation and impact assessment.
The present initiative aims to gather all future Horizon Europe project stakeholders willing to maximise the success of such project by considering Professional project management as a key success factor.
By endorsing the Manifesto, you will :
- Support the Manifesto recommendations towards the European Commission for the implementation of the future Horizon Europe framework programme.
- Receive news about the initiative
SIGN THE MANIFESTO HERE > LINK
Personal details will not be published, only the total number of endorsements per country