MANAGING EU FUNDS
Syllabus
EN
IT
Learning Objectives
LEARNING OUTCOMES:
The course will offer an overview of the main strategies of the European Union to create value in the Member States. It also describes the main financial initiatives and programmes, exploring the relationship between financing programmes and funded projects.
The course will adopt a practical approach in which students will work in groups and, starting from a call for projects of the European Commission, they will define their initial project "idea", developing it into an actual project "proposal" to be presented in response to the call.
To this end, Logical Framework Approach design tools and typical project management planning tools will be used. The course ends with a final day of groups presentation during which the project's quality and ability to use the tools will be assessed and the suitability of the students will be evaluated.
By combining theory and practice, the course aligns with the objectives of the degree course, developing managerial skills that are useful in some of the main areas of the degree course (consulting, human resources, procurement).
The primary learning outcomes of the course are to:
- Become familiar with the European strategies for creating value at the supra-national, European and local level throughout the program/project logic.
- Understand the opportunities for public, private and non-profit organizations derived from the European funding system.
- Be able to identify the opportunities and design "relevant, feasible and sustainable" projects to secure European grants.
Through the stated objectives, the course contributes to the objectives of the Degree Course by deepening the theory and practice of business management issues useful for addressing: strategic issues, framing them within a development project; sustainability issues, connecting them to the innovation of business management systems as well as supply chain management. In this way, the teaching is designed in line with the evolution of professional demand in the national and international labor market.
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
At the end of the course, students are expected to have a knowledge of the European Union's strategies for creating value in Europe, the primary role of the program/project logic in fostering the EU strategic objectives, and the different functions covered by the European Commission, Member States and private/public/non-profit organizations that are potential beneficiaries of the grants.
Furthermore, students are expected to acquire helpful knowledge to identify the main opportunities deriving from the European funds and link these opportunities to the mission/vision of a public/private/non-profit organization.
The course aims to transfer this knowledge so that students are able to understand and apply it.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to distinguish and apply essential project design/management skills necessary for writing a reliable and feasible project proposal.
Thanks to a practical approach, students are also expected to develop project design skills such as stakeholder, problems and objectives analysis of a specific context in which the project will be implemented, the project logic and performance using the LogFrame Matrix, the primary project management tools for planning activities, time and budget of the project.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS:
Students will be able to interpret current trends critically in the European Union and make autonomous judgments on potential opportunities for public/private/non-profit organizations, reaching out to the relevant stakeholders for the project design and implementation.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
By addressing project design challenges, students will be able to acquire team-building, problem-solving and presentation skills. Significantly, teamwork will improve these skills.
LEARNING SKILLS:
Students will acquire the necessary learning skills to embark, fully autonomously, on further project design in the field of European Funds.
The course will offer an overview of the main strategies of the European Union to create value in the Member States. It also describes the main financial initiatives and programmes, exploring the relationship between financing programmes and funded projects.
The course will adopt a practical approach in which students will work in groups and, starting from a call for projects of the European Commission, they will define their initial project "idea", developing it into an actual project "proposal" to be presented in response to the call.
To this end, Logical Framework Approach design tools and typical project management planning tools will be used. The course ends with a final day of groups presentation during which the project's quality and ability to use the tools will be assessed and the suitability of the students will be evaluated.
By combining theory and practice, the course aligns with the objectives of the degree course, developing managerial skills that are useful in some of the main areas of the degree course (consulting, human resources, procurement).
The primary learning outcomes of the course are to:
- Become familiar with the European strategies for creating value at the supra-national, European and local level throughout the program/project logic.
- Understand the opportunities for public, private and non-profit organizations derived from the European funding system.
- Be able to identify the opportunities and design "relevant, feasible and sustainable" projects to secure European grants.
Through the stated objectives, the course contributes to the objectives of the Degree Course by deepening the theory and practice of business management issues useful for addressing: strategic issues, framing them within a development project; sustainability issues, connecting them to the innovation of business management systems as well as supply chain management. In this way, the teaching is designed in line with the evolution of professional demand in the national and international labor market.
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
At the end of the course, students are expected to have a knowledge of the European Union's strategies for creating value in Europe, the primary role of the program/project logic in fostering the EU strategic objectives, and the different functions covered by the European Commission, Member States and private/public/non-profit organizations that are potential beneficiaries of the grants.
Furthermore, students are expected to acquire helpful knowledge to identify the main opportunities deriving from the European funds and link these opportunities to the mission/vision of a public/private/non-profit organization.
The course aims to transfer this knowledge so that students are able to understand and apply it.
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING:
At the end of the course, students are expected to be able to distinguish and apply essential project design/management skills necessary for writing a reliable and feasible project proposal.
Thanks to a practical approach, students are also expected to develop project design skills such as stakeholder, problems and objectives analysis of a specific context in which the project will be implemented, the project logic and performance using the LogFrame Matrix, the primary project management tools for planning activities, time and budget of the project.
MAKING JUDGEMENTS:
Students will be able to interpret current trends critically in the European Union and make autonomous judgments on potential opportunities for public/private/non-profit organizations, reaching out to the relevant stakeholders for the project design and implementation.
COMMUNICATION SKILLS:
By addressing project design challenges, students will be able to acquire team-building, problem-solving and presentation skills. Significantly, teamwork will improve these skills.
LEARNING SKILLS:
Students will acquire the necessary learning skills to embark, fully autonomously, on further project design in the field of European Funds.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites are foreseen. A general understanding of management tools is suggested.
Program
Day 1 – 2h - Seminar: Introduction to the course. European Funding opportunities for public and private organizations.
Day 2 – 2h - Seminar: The European strategy for creating value throughout program/projects management
Day 3 – 2h - Laboratory: Project Cycle Management - From a project idea to a project proposal: the project charter
Day 4 – 2h - Laboratory: Using the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) for relevant, feasible and sustainable projects - stakeholders analysis and "problems' tree" to map the "as is" of the project context
Day 5 – 2h - Laboratory: Using the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) for relevant, feasible and sustainable projects - From problems to objectives: the "objectives' tree" for designing the expected "to be" project environment
Day 6 – 2h - Laboratory: Using the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) for relevant, feasible and sustainable projects - Defining the project logic with the LogFrame Matrix
Day 7 – 2h - Laboratory: Using project management tools for defining activities, partnerships and budget (part 1)
Day 8 – 2h - Laboratory: Using project management tools for defining activities, partnerships and budget (part 2)
Day 9 – 2h Laboratory: Laboratory: Finalize group presentations
Day 10 – 2h (Groups' projects presentations)
Day 2 – 2h - Seminar: The European strategy for creating value throughout program/projects management
Day 3 – 2h - Laboratory: Project Cycle Management - From a project idea to a project proposal: the project charter
Day 4 – 2h - Laboratory: Using the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) for relevant, feasible and sustainable projects - stakeholders analysis and "problems' tree" to map the "as is" of the project context
Day 5 – 2h - Laboratory: Using the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) for relevant, feasible and sustainable projects - From problems to objectives: the "objectives' tree" for designing the expected "to be" project environment
Day 6 – 2h - Laboratory: Using the Logical Framework Approach (LFA) for relevant, feasible and sustainable projects - Defining the project logic with the LogFrame Matrix
Day 7 – 2h - Laboratory: Using project management tools for defining activities, partnerships and budget (part 1)
Day 8 – 2h - Laboratory: Using project management tools for defining activities, partnerships and budget (part 2)
Day 9 – 2h Laboratory: Laboratory: Finalize group presentations
Day 10 – 2h (Groups' projects presentations)
Books
Class slides represent the main reference for the students (essential materials). Along the course, the teacher will give the students updated european institutional materials on European institutions, Next Generation EU, European programmes and financial framework (materials useful for further study).
Bibliography
European Commission (2004). Project Cycle Management Guidelines (Vol. 1). available at: https://international-partnerships.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2020-09/methodology-aid-delivery-methods-project-cycle-management-200403_en.pdf
Teaching methods
Conventional lecture mode (frontal lesson) and interactive (the students will be required participate actively in the class discussions and group work).
Exam Rules
At the beginning of the course, starting from a real European Call for Projects, each group will identify an initial project idea to be developed with the teacher's support. At the end of the course, each group is asked to present their own elaboration to the rest of the class.
The final grade will be expressed as: suitable/not suitable
The suitability of students will be assessed throughout the course, considering their active participation in teamwork and the final group presentation of the work. During the final presentation, the teacher will evaluate the comprehensiveness of the tools adopted, the quality of the project design, the effectiveness in presenting the work, and the ability to organize the presentation in the team. In summary, the final project will be evaluated according to the following evaluation criteria:
- relevance of the project to the themes of the European funding call used for the exercise
- feasibility of the project proposal through the use of a set of indicators linked to the project objectives
- sustainability of the project proposal, i.e., demonstrating the ability of the product/service to be economically sustainable after the end of the project.
Non-suitability will be assessed in case of essential deficiencies and inaccuracies in the knowledge and understanding of the topics, limited capacity for analysis and synthesis, frequent generalizations and limited critical and judgment skills; the arguments are presented in an inconsistent way and with inappropriate language.
The final grade will be expressed as: suitable/not suitable
The suitability of students will be assessed throughout the course, considering their active participation in teamwork and the final group presentation of the work. During the final presentation, the teacher will evaluate the comprehensiveness of the tools adopted, the quality of the project design, the effectiveness in presenting the work, and the ability to organize the presentation in the team. In summary, the final project will be evaluated according to the following evaluation criteria:
- relevance of the project to the themes of the European funding call used for the exercise
- feasibility of the project proposal through the use of a set of indicators linked to the project objectives
- sustainability of the project proposal, i.e., demonstrating the ability of the product/service to be economically sustainable after the end of the project.
Non-suitability will be assessed in case of essential deficiencies and inaccuracies in the knowledge and understanding of the topics, limited capacity for analysis and synthesis, frequent generalizations and limited critical and judgment skills; the arguments are presented in an inconsistent way and with inappropriate language.