Two Minutes Tuesday #7 The partnership: contribution, tasks and responsibilities

In this article, we will analyse in detail the sections dedicated to the description of how and why partners are involved in different project activities in terms of contributions, tasks assigned and responsibilities.

In an Erasmus+ application form for a Strategic Partnership these sections can be the following:

• How did you choose the project partners and what will they bring to the project? Does it involve organisations that have never previously been involved in a Strategic Partnerships project?
• How will the tasks and responsibilities be distributed among the partners?

As Learnable, over the last years, we have changed the way we design these sections, so we can give to the evaluator all the information for analysing the partnership’s potential and effectiveness. This final layout has been defined through a comparison of previously approved projects and suggestions provided by the evaluators.

In the previous article “Two Minutes Tuesday #2 How to create a successful partnership in 5 steps”, we defined 5 useful steps for defining your partnership. 

In short, we underlined the importance of using the following qualitative criteria when you have to select the organisations involved in your project proposal: 

• expertise on the project topic
• interest in achieving the project results
• resources for carrying out the project activities
• capacity of involvement of the project target groups and analysis of their needs 
• sustainability potential

The logical framework could be: we have a project idea < we need specific expertise and resources < we demonstrate that the partners have the needed expertise and resources.

You should describe to what extent the single partners have the needed expertise and resources (how you have chosen the partners) and how they will use their expertise and resources for achieving the project goals (what they will bring to the project).

All you describe here must be well founded by the single descriptions of the project partners included in the dedicated section. 

A good distribution is the key. Make sure to demonstrate to the evaluator that different competences, tasks and roles have correctly distributed so to cover all the project aspects ensuring a good balance also from the geographical point of view. 

It may happen that not all the organisations interested in being part of your partnership have been previously involved in  Erasmus + projects. In this case, don’t worry. To have a few newcomers (remember the balance) is considered an added value. The European Commission supports the inclusion of new organisations without experience in this field. It is good to foresee for these partners some kind of support by the more expert ones in order not to compromise the project results.

Based on the different competences of the partners you should describe their roles and responsibilities. 

To describe these elements you should have:

You must describe a very clear and detailed overview of the partnership’s roles and responsibilities. You should have defined these aspects even before, at the beginning of the project idea. Making a good plan means you have decided in advance who is doing what and why.

As a project coordinator, you have the big picture of the potential contribution of the partners involved but the decisions about roles and responsibilities must be the results of a shared agreement.

From the very beginning, in a dedicated section, you have described each single partner with relevant information about its expertise on the topic of the project. Considering that, the tasks assigned must be in line with these descriptions.

For sure the coordinator will have a lot of responsibilities regarding the management of the project. But the project is made from the contribution of each partner, no one excluded. The point is: every organisation must actively participate in the project activities to achieve the project’s results.

Having a good partnership is a prerequisite for the success of the project. In the next article, we will see how participants could contribute significantly to reach the project’s objectives!