The 4th Call of the WBF Move Grants for individuals was open on 20 February and will remain open to application until 20 March 2024. Today (27 February), a team of WBF Secretariat met online over 50 participants, answering their questions and providing a briefing of the application process.
Good morning uh we hope you can hear us you are all muted so it’s easier for us to to speak first uh nevertheless it’s very very nice to see that you are so many people interested in move grand for the WB region I presented myself I am arinda
Tosa I am move Grand uh manager and here with me is iier program manager we both work on this mechanism and we follow up the whole process of uh applicant grantees so we are very much involved in the whole uh move process in the region uh so today is the first info
Session of the February call uh we have prepared prepared a short presentation for you and um you may either ask questions uh by chat during the presentation or you may wait until the end and then make make your question so our presentation is short I will just share it it has the key
Information um that we have for so for those that don’t know us Western balcans SP is the regional organization established by the ministry the Foreign Affairs of Albania bosnov Co Montenegro North Macedonia and Serbia and the mission is to support People to People links through Regional
Projects we have a strategy uh where we base our work and one of the Strategic uh objectives of the of the wbf is the Diversified and segmentation of the grand program portfolio wbf until now for six years has supported granes in the region but at organizational level so we have supported many projects
Throughout uh six call for proposals organizations and during this time it was seen as necessary to diversify our grant portfolio and open up also to individuals so uh why did we uh why did we open Move Grant we open Move grants because first of all we know that there is lack of
Support for mobility in the region and we wanted to support such relevant aspect um um of Logistics in the region and make people meet each other in order to know better the region the interest was very high we have done a survey last year in December and uh that’s where we based
Also the design of our mechanism it is completely complementary to the other programs that we support and in fact we have grantees from the organizations that we have supported that apply for individual grants as well and vice versa and if you don’t know we piloted this grant mechanism in 20
2023 with three calls in uh March June and October and we have supported up to now 84 project individual project and we must say that actually it was a surprise but uh the results were very very good and individuals have performed in an excellent way why we called it move because the
Idea is that we support not not only physical Mobility but moving synergies mindset culture ideas in order to break the Prejudice and that still exist in our in our region and that is why for us it is important to see move uh beyond the the the physical mobility in in the
Region just a summary uh so you may know a little bit better uh last year we uh as as I said we supported 84 projects and you may see here the percentage of the fields of interventions that we have supported so it is very diverse and applicants come from different fields we have
Researchers students professors journalists artists musicians doctors so it is very wide and very diverse this is also because the Mobility Grant mechanism it is very flexible and also uh accept um ideas and proposals from at least Seven Fields of interventions that are arts and culture Sports media peace building Economic Development digital Innovation
Environmental Protection and climate change and education and scientific exchange and as you may see we have quite a wide presence geographically in the region and uh we are very proud to say also that we have a lot of applicants that come from the non Capital so uh it is very good to see
That people are active from all around the region and gender balance we say this because it is important to say we have a very nice number of applicants almost 5050 come com from females and males so Mobility grants Mobility grants uh aim to give access to movement and
Participation in a wide range of initiatives or activities to ensure professional or personal exchange of experiences in a certain field uh this Mobility grants should be cross border meaning that people need to move from their Contracting party to another Contracting party with the aim maybe to establish Partnerships to exchange ideas
And to get to know each other better the February 2024 call for proposals is dedicated only to individuals only to individuals and not to organizations so your application need to be individual if for example you would like like to participate to a Regional Conference or to a Regional
Training together with a colleague from your University organization you need to do both um an application because it is individual the maximum Grant amount is €4,000 and as as I said the mobility needs to involveed at least one other Contracting party what is important for us is that the region of dimension of
All projects is important so if you have for if we have for example an application an applicant that says I want to do a research to go from Belgrade to Scopia this is valid eligible completely fine but if we have another applicant to again from Belgrade
And he said I want to do a research in copy gorita the regional dimension of the application is why so this means that it will be scored higher so please consider this during your application as much as the mobility is uh wide in the region you will get more
Scores who are the eligible applicants eligible applicants need to be at least 18 years old to apply the day of the application deadline to have citizenship of one of the following Contracting parties of the western Balkans so meaning from Albania bosnov Kosovo monteno North Macedonia and Serbia and
Be part of a legal public or nonpublic organization or institution established in one of the Contracting parties in the region why do we say be part because uh it is not obligatory to be employed it can be even a student at the University or engage in an intership you could be
An artist that is anchored in an association or in an organization but the important thing is that you are anchored somewhere so which are the areas of intervention these are seven areas of intervention that we have identified as uh interesting for individuals nevertheless we would like to highlight
That this is not exhaustive meaning that there is if there is something missing here you may apply um and we may see that another field of intervention can be of relevance nevertheless this is quite diverse and it includes a lot of uh types of activities uh what actions are eligible
So your action may be composed by one or a set of activities when we say activities it means mobilities so if a researcher wants to make three researches in three CPS Contracting parties uh they need to be considered separate so if a professor wants to go
To uh pogor for an exchange or a visiting lecture if he wants to go for a research in Pristina and if he wants to go for an research or exchange in Tayo these are considered three mobilities but these three mobilities need to be arranged within a time frame of six
Months not more we have for example uh projects of gr that have applied with a very simple proposal standing I am applying now in October because I want to participate to this very important conference uh with this Regional topic that is happening in March so it is
Within the range of six six month this is important for us because mobilities that we support are shortterm uh activities not longterm and you may see this also from the size of the grant that we can support only shortterm mobilities uh actions must have clear Regional relevance and and please keep
This in mind when you apply when you write your application so it shouldn’t be just for the purpose of having a um a personal benefit or gain but it should be somehow related to our region uh we have had for example applicants applying for uh a very specific training that
Didn’t have any participants from the region it was purely business um it was not related whatsoever to these people to people links in the region that we promote and um honestly we try to support the projects that uh lead us to see that there is exchange that is meeting with with people from
The other Contracting parties that there is some kind of regional relevance to the to the proposal in exceptional situation we have supported also Al actions that go beyond the western balans region but this is very exceptional because we support only those uh um applications that have uh in their scope to promote a
Very good Regional uh practice or best practice in the region a very good example of regional cooperation to be promoted in the European Union and whatsoever so please see is very exceptional what types of activities do we support we support a wide range of activities as you may see in the list it
Is study research exchange trainings and capacity building internships conference and event attendance when they have Regional Dimension artistic and cultural projects policy development advocacy field research um establishment of Partnerships Sports uh proposal for example we have from North Macedonia a grantee that is a teacher in uh in
Sports for people with disabilities and he is going in the region to exchange experiences with his peers in order to improve his teaching curricula for example and organized tournaments of uh Sports uh for people with the with disability so the the type of activities that we support are very very wide and
Diverse what kind of cost we support this is a very important slide because this shows you what we actually concretely support and we support strictly the mobility of people meaning we do not support organization of events or activities what we support is transportation and travel insurance cost
In the region which may be flight ground transportation public transportation it needs to be uh it needs to be uh specified in the budget then we support accommodation with um threshold fee up to 65 EUR per night we support daily allowance with a fee that goes up to 4
€40 uh per day uh registration fee is only the cases where you want to uh uh participate in a Regional Conference that applies um um a registration fee and we can support it as well we have done that for congresses for training we have done that visibility cost that goes
Up to 7% of the budget so it’s a small amount and Bank Fe is if applied so if you see uh this is strictly related to your movement no organization of activities are um allowed and actually no payment is foreen we have had questions from researchers professors
But do I get paid because I go to make the research we cannot do that we can support your Mobility but uh this is um the eligibility of cost that we have we know it is limited but we know that supports um the movement and it is quite sufficient
Because from 84 projects that we have supported actually uh 84 have gone well so this means that the mechanism works and it’s really fine so how does this work we opened our uh application p on 20th of February that is closing on 20th of March we take up
To two months for evaluation and selection of grantees and this means that the ones that will be awarded will start their project uh by 1 of June um sometimes when we see that the elected grantees have very very urgent activities we may accelerate it a little
Bit but this is the time frame that you need to consider this year we will actually have only two calls the first call that is open now and the second call that will be open in October so if you are planning to apply for a move grant for
Activities that go from June to uh the end of November please apply now if you want for next year you apply in October and then you have from February to July now applications will be gathered until 20th of March we will have the evaluation and selection process which
Actually it is quite complex and we would like very much for you to see all the steps that we go through and that we filter the applications just to show you that your proposals uh are read by at least two persons are discussed by a panel and are approved by the ministri
Of Foreign Affairs so it is very transparent and it’s very uh let’s say crosschecked by four eyes principle this is the presentation as you see this is the first online info meeting that we’re having actually I’ve made a mistake there it’s 27th of February and we will have two other
Meetings on 5th of March and 12th of March so uh there is also chance if you have any friends any colleagues that they want to participate to this kind of invitation uh we have two more meetings that we will be online so I’m uh now I’m going up out from
The from the sharing the screen and we are open to have your questions do you have any question for us okay I will start you can you can check the the chat box yeah okay I will do so um I see Sarah that says can we do Mobility
Research in more than three countries so this is a little bit exceptional for us uh we see Case by case uh in general we accept up to three mobilities not more because we U sometimes individuals try to overdo if these are very short uh researches of one week maybe we
Can we can accept because in six month it can be done but if these are researches that go up to one month Etc you see the length of your mobilities uh in general we try to to to stay within the three mobilities so three CPS um thank you another one AI
Morina um uh he he says can we follow conferences in the other European countries or only in the western Balkan uh Contracting parties we do not support participation in the European CPS we support mobility within the region we tend to choose most of the applications we tend to choose that are within the
Region most of the ones that apply to go beyond the region only for par participation in a conference without having an ulterior uh motive to promote a regional best practice Regional cooperation examples Etc we don’t so if you want to participate and you are invited because you want to share a very
Good Regional practice then it it may be eligible um and about the expenses for participation in the conferences as I said we support Transportation accommodation daily allowance we support a registration fee for example if you want to participate to a big Regional Conference in the region but that applies a regional uh uh
Uh registration fee we can support it or if you want to go to a fair because you are an individual an entrepreneur that want to establish partner ships that want to meet with your peers and the fair applies a registration fee we can do that as
Well uh Albert Tusa says hello I am a new employee hired in a local government EU office it is permissible to apply for exchange programs in local government in three Western Balan countries and is a letter of acceptance from the institutions of the three countries required before applying
Thank you for your questions very relevant yes of course you can apply for an exchange program to go to other three local institutions in the region uh and uh during the application Phase we don’t ask for any additional document so what we ask is only to list the host
Institution where you are going because we need to know you in your application you need to name the h institution where you intend to go if you are selected and your application passes only then during the Contracting procedure we ask you to deliver the invitation letter from the
Host institutions this is to save you time uh so please contact your host institutions before applying at least that they know that your intention is to go and then after you are elected you can ask them for the invitation M uh vieta how is possibility for Education about health and breast cancer
In other states uh Violeta I don’t understand fully the question uh we have we have uh for example um grantees that work in organizations that work on a specific topic that may Health maybe social welfare maybe working with women or marginalized communities and based on
The topic that they work with they go to the they go to the other CPS to meet with peer organizations to exchange experience and maybe learn more about their advocacy their tools for communication so this is actually what we can we can support uh can we plan a small amount of budget
For a mentor in the other CP no you can meaning the application is individual and the costs are related only to you as an applicant we cannot support with your contract another person so um no this is not eligible does the organization Milena says does the organization you are part
Of have to do anything with the project of the move Grant or the move Grant or you just need the applicant to be part of the organization you just need to be part you just need to be angor you don’t even have to be employed whatsoever
Because it can happen that you are as a consultant as a collaborator I mean there are different fors of being part um what you would need from your organization if selected just a letter that you are anchored or employed or engaged in this organization but for the rest the grant is given
Completely to the individual program progam just to agree the schedule and the program with the host institution yes with the host institution of course with the organization where you will go but this is for the organization of being part not the hosting with organization where you are
Going you need to agree the program or whatever you need to do to do there you need to have some kind of document that says I’m going to stay there for three weeks but to do what is this an internship program this is the training just to be to be
Specific um from orid perpet will you have individual Mentor session uh we have individual mentor sessions for the granes that are selected meaning these are Ino sessions for the applicants the application is very simple really you need to register on the platform and fill in it’s very short and simple and
After the individuals are selected we have Mentor mentoring session to explain to them in detail how they should implement the project how they should keep keep the invoices do the report so it is very a a guiding process it’s it is you are not left alone uh when you
Have the grant you have the support of wbf and just for you know since you are a lot of people from the region each TP each Contracting party has own program manager so by the time that you are selected for example if you come from North Macedonia you will have a leer and
He will guide you in your local language for anything so it is a very uh assisted process can we apply with a project who has won a ground from another call at the same time so if it is a call that is not wbf I mean not to overlap the activi
Yes uh uh meaning it should not be overlap with the calls of wbf first of all because it is not allowed to have two Grands with WB but if you have for for for um for example um a grant for mobility in the region from another organization and you state it in the
Application we would need the documents in order not to overlap activities or expenses because it’s very important for us to check that there is no double fin so you are free to apply you need to justify it and why it is important for you to get another
Grant and of course provide the if you are selected we will ask documents uh that prove that the activities that you want to do are not covered by the other Grant uh plat is there are three people from kosova who want to attend the same event in Montenegro should apply separately or
Together in only one application thank you flatra for your question they need to apply separately because the application is individual and if you are selected you will you will sign the contract so it is namely it’s individual the other two colleagues need to apply to it would be good that
If you are planning to go to the same conference and your are colleagues to mention somehow this because anyhow we will we will see that uh you are going to the same to the same plan um Alma kovich are the participants coming from an NGO which is currently undergoing established process eligible to
Apply uh so um this is Case by case I mean we need to see but if um you may apply even by being anchored in another organization if your organization doesn’t have yet a legal status uh this means that you are not anchored somehow or for example if you
Say that our organization is being processed by the court then we would us please provide us this document that the intention is and it is going to be done we know how bureaucracy is and we will evaluate this case by case but um competition is quite high so in order to
Have a safer application maybe it is better to apply with an organization that is already established so uh page seven of the guidance registration Fe shall strictly relate to the activity which is indicated in the proposal no other fee shall be considered yes we had to add this to be
Very clear because some applicants thought that the fee might be applied for payment or um unrelated to the activity this is what we need to say that the fee the registration fee is only related to the activity that you want to go to the mobility this is the meaning of this uh
Of this PHA this means that no other fee is allowed if you want to go to a conference you put the conference as the mobility that you are going there and that the conference supplies a registration fee um we have another Alma kovich is a private company considered nonpublic
Organization and can an individual from such a company apply um yes they may apply we don’t uh I mean they they are open to apply just be careful coming from business from private companies because applicant that come from private companies they try to be um very d d
Direct and have very uh personal uh let’s say interest in the ground I want to go and uh make a deal or find a partner but it needs to have some Regional relevance so if you apply just describe it in in in detail what you want to do where you want to go
Because with the private companies we try to to check a little bit better I I mean uh that’s why it’s um it’s a little bit more tricky uh but you are eligible to apply nobody tells you know to apply if you are an employee in a company and you say
There is a very good Training about my professional skill knowled exchange Etc or we need to make knowledge exchange uh Etc of course you can apply you are a leg uh what what does it mean if I plan to participate in a conference this means that especially for this kind of
Mechanisms you need to know where you are going because you need to tell us in the application where you intend to go either it’s an organization to do an internship either it’s a conference that you want to go to participate uh for example there are annual conferences
That are organized in the region we have for example two grand from Kosovo that applied in October to go in a conference on media fake news how to understand this information that is a very relevant topic that is organized in may they know they know already because it’s an annual
Uh conference and that’s why they apply so the conference you want to go needs to be somehow indicative that it will happen you may say it’s a conference that is repeated every year they say it’s a forum that is repeated every year on the same date you may send
For the moment the program the uh of last year and you say this year is going to be issued in a month so that’s why we say you need to know where where you’re going you we cannot accept applicants that say I just want to move in the region
Just you know without having an host institution or uh a specific activity um May Musta so in general the fund covers only expenses related to Mobility moving it is not related to improve the knowledge but to help with the cost of Transportation example in Alia we’re trying to include the circular economy
In business but we’ll start with the actual situation to improve my knowledge in the matter there are a lot of training that can be followed but but mostly are online and have a registration fee is that eligible uh megie if you are doing this uh we support the knowledge by you
Moving in the region as well if you find a very good training on circular economy that is happening out there in the region this is eligible but we cannot pay you to stay home and to follow the training from home this is not the scope
Of the ground you need to move you need to go physically to the place where you want to go this is not only Logistics we want people to move in the region because people don’t know the region very well and there are a lot of opportunities out there that’s why we
Want people to meet and uh we have supported people going to trainings have have having lectures in the region so if you find any good opportunity Training Academy that is happening we support you to apply so could you Alma could you please repeat once again the maximum we could
Spend for accommodation and allowance per day month and is there a maximum of a trip research Alma we have left it open we we cannot know how many days you would need or um how many mobilities you would need the thing is that you need to justify when you apply you need to
Justify your Mobility if you want to go for example for a week in Belgrade you need to provide some kind of program I’m going to one two three I’m going to meet this institution there needs to be some kind of program where you going um so uh it needs to be there and
You can estimate I mean how much you would need we do not say please spend up to one week or two weeks it is open because we also for example support internship internships can be up to a month or two months important thing is that you stay within the maximum amount
Of the ground that is €4,000 not more but 4,000 Euro need to be very well Justified why you need the whole amount so wherever you go you need to tell us specifically when you are going how many days you are staying and why you are staying so many days for
Example there needs to be justification uh ER say that can we apply with two projects for example one in education and one in research yes you can I mean it’s not limited you can and then you may be awarded only one grand so anyhow you know that you may deliver
More applications but you will if you are selected even if your two project are selected because they are very good all only one of them will be given a grant not two um vieta iova when the application link will be open to apply currently it is
Not possible yes it is possible it is open already from 20th of February uh we may send this in a followup email if you are interested but it is on the page of Western balans fund you have a huge Banner that shows where to apply you need to enter the system to
Log in and there you have the application because the application is in an online system is not paper so you need to log in and continue with the application and if you have any question or any problem on accessing please write to us you have the email in the
Guidelines and we will respond to you promptly um are online activities allowed online interview online participation in the training and if yes are they considered a separate Mobility Tara uh no online trainings or activities that are done from your home uh they are not considered mob mity only going to the other Contracting
Party for the activities are considered Mobility uh so CH if I am not part now of a public organization and I can and I become part in these days can I apply for the G yes you can don’t worry about that no documents will be required now
You may Li you may say that I’m I’m going to be part part of this institution and if you are selected for a grant that it means in a month or one month and a half we may ask for uh a document so you have the time time I think at
Your employ month contract can professors of private universities supplies yes yes all professors can apply everyone can apply private universities public universities of course you are ready to Fe and he don’t we want to be part of the fair and we want to represent our country in the fair do you cover the
Expenses of the stand and other expenses like brochures Etc thank you for your question we may support the Mobility but no other cost so no cost for the stand no cost for the activities all your presence there so the rest of the cost need to be covered by your side um a
Morina um are the expense if we travel with private car are the expenses covered um uh if we want to research to tourism um during the um summer season and to travel in the touristic s uh is this acceptable activity okay again yes I understand your question
Basically it is eligible but somehow we check a little be the relevance of the topic and the relevance of the activity as well if uh it is a research just for the purpose of the research to go and make some questionnaires about a topic that is already well studied that we know that
It is there that we know we know that it has been researched we know that there are studies we see this as not relevant if it is a research that it is very pafic it is uh very well done it is very well argumented it isn’t
You may apply but please keep in mind that we see the relevance of the activity just to show you we had for example application coming from photographers saying I want to travel in the region to make photographs of the nice sides of the region but this we didn’t support because this is already
Done we have already many nice pictures of the region and we cannot support things that are already there so just for you to know um vieta um say can you send me the link for recorded video for this meeting or you have other Solutions vieta I think that
We may send the link of the video in the email so you may have it on your email as well uh D said can we buy technology computer screens headset for exhibiting our work no stano meaning uh we support the mobility all equipments all activities we don’t
Support so that needs to be from your side uh we these are not even foreseen in the cost um vieta says we are Advocates of patients um and we need to exchange experiences for breast cancer Kosovo Serbia Montenegro Albania and Macedonia um yes if you uh should should
This uh Advocate apply independently yes they need to apply as individuals independently in order to to exchange you vieta cannot apply for the others you have to apply for yourself if you want to go to Macedonia to exchange experiences with your Macedon pierce with the host institution that is there
That you consider as irrelevant that you may consider that can bring better skills for you in your advocacy you may apply for yourself but your Macedonian peer needs to apply for herself um um maybe St but to really get knowledge in the matter as it is a new
Topic that we want to apply for future in Alban region the information comes from internationally experts the knowledge will be used for the future of the region as we have already started with the training with basic information for Albania kosova and Macedonia maybe I’m not moving into the region as well
As there aren’t yet up to the level but training and information provided there will be used to Implement circular economy in the region yes Meg I understand but there is no Mobility there is no Mobility here that is why we cannot support you what can we support
You we cannot pay for your training fee staying in alia you need to move so this is not the case for your case for example this is the grant mechanism that supports Mobility so I understand your concept that is fully true but this is a grant mechanism that
Is designed for people to move in the region uh there is T can you give an example how can an architectural intership be related to the regional topic now uh I’m not a specialist stano on everything I cannot give you um concrete examples but we have a gry for
Example that is uh specialized in urban planning and uh she is doing a research in three CPS in the region um on architecture on the last two decades architecture how it has developed how it has impacted the um the environment uh the green areas in all three CPS to see
Which is the CP that has preserved more which is the CP that has regulated more this kind of um this is a for example a grantee that we have that is in the it’s in the profile on architecture uh we have another grante te that is making a research in the
Region on um um architectural sites but it’s always research somehow at Regional level uh it’s a study it’s a professor so these are the ones that I can give you but more than this I I don’t know it needs to come from from you um
Um P sh is the beneficiary of the grant the individual that is part of public administration the grant goes to individual account or institutional account it goes to individual account if you are selected for a grant then we make a contract with the individual and the individual is responsible for the
Grant so you are directly uh taking the ground the institution is only there to testimony that you are part of the institution that’s it um GE Georgia hello sorry for maybe posting the question that was already posted because I wasn’t present from the beginning if my Mobility will cover
Macedonia BOS and Alania do I need Partners from this those three countries yes Georgia you need not Partners but whole institutions meaning it doesn’t need to for you to have any partnership agreement with them you need three host institutions and they if you are selected for the grant only at that
Moment if you your application is selected we will ask you to provide three invitations from the three host institutions and maybe you can write in the application for example that you intend to establish partnership agreements with them this is an added value because we see this as an action
With a regional Dimension and with regional Rel because it’s not call it’s not yes no you don’t need any any agreement beforehand but if you have the intention to establish a partnership that is an added value to the to the application so these are the questions
Up to now uh I don’t know if you have any other question for us thank you all for your questions for the exchange um anyhow this is the first INF session as I said uh we wait for you also if you have any additional yes can Partners be individual artist and not
Institutions um stano uh no I mean we need to have some Assurance where you’re going to so it needs to be an institution an organization a legal entity whatsoever it doesn’t matter a company um but not an individual because an individual doesn’t guarantee us uh anything so it needs to be um rather
Than an institution an organization an association I don’t know um thank you Alma uh we are here for you uh we really really would like to have applications from all around the regions what we have seen during this year is that uh proposals that come from individuals are
Very genuine very interesting people are passionate on what they are doing so uh it is very nice to see the results are very very nice so we invite you all to to apply and if you have any addition question please write to us or participate in the next info session
That we will have on 5th of March thank you then I’m closing up so have a great day from both of us and uh maybe we will see soon uh what is the narrative report you may also speak you know if it’s if it is uh better um evaluation we haven’t prepared
It yet because we haven’t finished the 2023 cycle of the results of the pilot year but maybe we will have it in June when we finish the third call of the 2023 so for sure we will uh I guess she needs the template of prepareing narrative report how we should how she
Will need to report to the applied Grant or evaluation what are the criteria the idea is this that only the selected granes when they are selected we Mentor them and we explain them what kind of narrative report they need to provide a very simple template what kind of
Financial report they need to provide so everything is uh mentored so you are not left to loan if you apply and you win the grant uh you immediately are mentored and uh um I mean you will be guided how to fill in the report what to do Mary says are the
Selected grants from last call available at your web they are actually all list of grantees that we select we publish them on our website Ty so you need to go through the news and you will find them okay thank you all then have a good
Day here you may find the link of the call and uh if you have any any problem on applying Etc you may write to us in order for us to react immediately thank you very much thank you all bye