Wendy Sudbury gives a helpful overview of the Fifth Framework Programme, and suggests where it is that libraries fit within the new programme.
The European Commission's Fifth Framework Research & Technological Development (RTD) Programme has now been approved. It has nearly 14 billion ecu (or EUR as we can say now) available over the next four years. A new web resource [1] has been set up, to assist the cultural heritage community access those funds. The site has information and lessons which can help the library sector too. Shown in Figure 1 is the section 5th RTD Framework Programme - at a glance. [2]
Figure 1: Fifth Framework Programme at a Glance |
There are some actions in the Fifth Framework Programme (5FWP) directed expressly at heritage and/or libraries. For example, The City of Tomorrow and Cultural Heritage has EUR 170m targeted at "the harmonious development of the citizen's urban environment" including "the exploitation of information networks and the concept of digital cities". It's hard to imagine a digital city that did not include library services.
Another action, Digital Heritage and Cultural Content aims to expand the "key contribution of libraries, museums and archives to the emerging culture economy". This is one of a number of tasks in the key action Multimedia Content and Tools, which has a total budget of EUR 564m.
However, the message of the website is that Fifth Framework money is available to heritage (and to libraries) under many other actions, if we are prepared to think innovatively.
For example, heritage bodies (and libraries too) are part of the service economy (including tourism) and certainly part of the knowledge economy (especially education and on-line access). Both are public administrations, often holding archives of public material relevant to civic processes such as planning or local democracy. Both have a role in regional economies, in regional information networks, in social policy, in youth programmes, in integration of minority cultures and of disabled and elderly people. Many heritage bodies are SMEs (small and medium-sized enterprises), many are employers in rural areas or urban areas. They employ and train researchers and have facilities which are part of the research infrastructure. They are consumers of training. They are concerned with performance benchmarking, customer service, best business procedures, measuring and testing, standards, prevention of fraud.
All these activities (and more) will be supported under the Fifth Framework Programme - and libraries can claim a share - if they know where to go for information.
We should remember that a cultural heritage or educational component has intrinsic appeal in many EC-funded programmes, even those where the underlying aims relate to technology, economic development or education and training. The European Community has to balance that tension between fostering one "Europe", while preserving the distinctive elements of Europe's cultural diversity. One of the core strategies is to celebrate and sustain cultural diversity, promoting harmony through mutual understanding of languages, customs and history. Museums and libraries have alarge part to play in that.
European Commission funding is quite accessible, and information on the various programmes is easy to obtain. The trouble is that announcements and official documents always assume applicants understand the complicated hierarchy of funding schemes. You'll notice that the paragraphs above refer to programmes, key actions, and tasks. You'll very likely have come across names like Telematics, Esprit, SMT, Structural funds, Objective 6, Socrates or Phare. It can be very confusing and time-consuming trying to find your way round the range and complexity of funding programmes, and even more time-consuming working out how and when to bid.
At the top end of the hierarchy are the “programmes” or “funds” with high-level objectives such as Research, Technology & Development or Structural Funds. Broadly speaking, these are umbrellas for more targeted programmes run by the different Directorates General (DGs).
The DGs roughly correspond to national governments’ administration departments; just as the UK has its Department of Trade and Industry, so the EC has its DG III (Industry). Each DG has responsibility for specific strands of the umbrella programme. Over time, these strands take on shortened snappier names (such as Telematics or Esprit, or DGXIII’s Advanced Communication Technologies project (itself shortened to ACTS). Within these strands a hierarchy of objectives, themes, actions, lines, and tasks is set out and calls for proposals are issued for a given task. Different tasks get called at different times.
Understanding the hierarchy is helpful because programmes are run by a variety of offices, which means different addresses and contact names. Bids should also be tailored to the specific aspirations of a particular task, and also chime with the higher level objectives of the overall programme.
Added to this are the difficulties associated with absorbing the endless acronyms and knowing in which higher-level programme a given call for proposals fits. So much bumf is available that is often difficult to distinguish between programmes with funds available, projects which have received funding, would-be projects hyping up their bids, and finished projects trumpeting their achievements.
Understanding the hierarchy is one thing. Knowing where you want to be in it is another. The amount of funding available varies enormously between programmes. The words applicants read and write, and the hoops they must jump through to get their proposal accepted are a constant quantity, unrelated to the amount of money a programme has available. Raphael (the sector-specific programme for cultural heritage) had EUR 30m. Esprit had 2,044m EUR.
All programmes require partners to be drawn from a minimum of two or more often three countries, and in the Fifth Framework Programme at least one partner is likely to be from the commercial world. Some programmes permit partners from non-European third countries. Most programmes require to see how benefits can go on flowing after the funding ceases. Funding is rarely more than 50% of total costs and the bureaucracy of the contracts and of getting paid is tedious in the extreme. The effect on cash-flow needs to be watched; usually a small advance payment is made when the contract is signed, and thereafter claims are presented half-yearly.
You don't have to be the lead partner to take part. You can be a member partner, or even subcontracted to a member partner. The lead partner frequently has the most work (and consequently a larger share of the funding). Some partners can turn out to be passengers. Making a bid does not commit you. If the bid is accepted, terms are negotiated and a contract is signed. Although a claim cannot exceed the total amount budgeted, small transfers of budget between tasks is usually permitted, if experience so directs, providing the Commission can see that the overall objectives are likely to be better met that way.
Many organisations find it very worthwhile to cultivate the skills needed to bid successfully and turn up again and again among the partners in ongoing projects. Competition is severe, despite the amount of work in preparing a bid. Having your eye in on the overall programme helps a lot, so that you are well prepared when a call for proposals is issued.
The site (http://inf2.pira.co.uk/heritage.html) has a number of overview charts which let you drill down into the tasks that interest you, taking you via hypertext links to the relevant sections of the programme documents (edited for speedy understanding). The site publishes announcements of calls for proposals that are likely to be of interest and points to the official applications forms and documentation (which are often themselves available on-line). Check out the Fifth Framework Programme material now - and good bidding.
If you have any comments on this article, please contact the editors (exploit-editor@ukoln.ac.uk).
For citation purposes:
Wendy Sudbury, "Funds for Cultural Heritage: An Introduction," Exploit Interactive, issue 1, 10 April 1999
URL: <http://www.exploit-lib.org/issue1/funds/>
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