tca almanac

157 Pages·2016·2.47 MB·English

TCA ALMANAC

Things to kno w about

Transnational Cooperation Activities

in Erasmus+: Yo uth in Action

March 2 018
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS ................................................................ 7
FOREWORD ................................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER 1 TCA – AN OVERVIEW ............................................................ 10
1.1 THE ROLE OF NAS AND THEIR SUPPORTIVE APPROACH ..................... 11
1.2 THE FRAMEWORK OF TCA .................................................................. 13
1.2.1 TCA as part of the European Training Strategy in the field of Youth ..... 13
1.2.2 Objectives and activity fields of TCA ................................................ 13
1.2.3 TCA Rules .................................................................................... 21
1.2.4 Stakeholders ................................................................................ 21
1.3 THE TCA OFFICER .............................................................................. 25
1.3.1 Tasks and responsibilities ............................................................... 25
1.3.2 The national reality of the TCA officer .............................................. 26
1.3.3 Support available for the TCA officer for self-development ................. 27
CHAPTER 2 MANAGEMENT OF TCA .......................................................... 29
2.1 PLANNING AND DEVELOPING TCA .................................................... 30
2.1.1 Training strategy – a strategic approach in TCA ................................ 30
2.1.2 NA Work Programme Guidelines ..................................................... 33
2.1.3 Support available for planning TCA in partnership ............................. 33
2.1.3.a) National level .......................................................................... 34
2.1.3.b) European level ........................................................................ 34
2.2 FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT OF TCA..................................................... 35
2.2.1 General financial conditions and the eligibility of costs within TCA ....... 35
2.2.1.a) TCA budget available ............................................................... 35
2.2.1.b) Eligible participants, eligible activities and eligible costs ............... 35
2.2.1.c) Timeline to develop TCA ........................................................... 38
2.2.1.d) Eligible duration of TCA and how to change / adjust TCA if necessary
......................................................................................................... 40
2.2.1.e) Co-funding of TCA activities ...................................................... 40
2.2.2 EPLUSLINK for TCA .......................................................................... 42
2.2.3 Recommendations for the financial planning of TCA projects and cost
sharing .................................................................................................. 42
2.2.3.a) Recommendations for financial planning ..................................... 42
2.2.3.b) Contracting between NAs ......................................................... 42
2.2.3.c) Recommendations / good practice on sharing costs of TCA activities
among NAs ......................................................................................... 43
Financial management of costs on trainers / facilitators / logistic staff
......................................................................................................... 44
2.2.5 Financial management of the international travel costs ...................... 45

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CHAPTER 3 RECOMMENDATIONS ON INTERNATIONAL TCA PROJECT
MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................. 47
3.1 BASIC QUALITY ASPECTS .................................................................. 48
3.1.1 Co-operation ................................................................................ 48
3.1.1.a) Team work and roles in a team ................................................. 48
3.1.1.b) Roles in a team of a TCA project ............................................... 48
3.1.1.c) NA staff members in the team ................................................... 50
3.1.1.d) Eleven tips for good co-operation .............................................. 51
3.1.2 Standards of communication within the team and with participants ..... 51
3.1.2.a) Tips for communication within the team to help teamwork ........... 52
3.1.2.b) Specific expectations for communication on practical/logistical issues
......................................................................................................... 53
3.1.3 Trainers ....................................................................................... 53
3.1.3.a) What a trainer is ..................................................................... 53
3.1.3.b) Call for trainers / facilitators ..................................................... 54
3.1.3.c) Where and how to find trainers ................................................. 55
3.1.3.d) The trainers’ fee ...................................................................... 56
3.1.3.e) Contractual arrangements with trainers / facilitators .................... 56
3.1.3.f) Pools of trainers and the SALTO T&C RC Trainers’ Pool ................. 58
3.1.3.g) Trainer competence development .............................................. 58
3.1.4 The life of a TCA project ................................................................ 59
Brief timeline for TCA project management ............................................. 60
3.1.5 Preparation .................................................................................. 61
3.1.5.a) The hosting NA ....................................................................... 61
3.1.5.b) The sending NA ....................................................................... 62
3.1.5.c) Project budgeting .................................................................... 62
3.1.5.d) Preparation meeting ................................................................ 63
3.1.6 Youthpass .................................................................................... 64
The educational importance of the Youthpass process in a TCA activity ...... 65
3.1.7 Evaluation and follow-up ................................................................ 66
3.1.7.a) Evaluation of a TCA project / activity ......................................... 66
3.1.7.b) Report from the TCA activity ..................................................... 68
3.1.7.c) Follow-up of a TCA activity ....................................................... 68
3.1.8 Visibility of TCA projects: getting the project into the spotlight ........... 69
3.1.9 Dissemination and Exploitation of Results (DEOR): making the most out of
the project results ................................................................................... 71

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3.2 PARTICIPANT MANAGEMENT ............................................................ 73
3.2.1 Roles and tasks in participant management in international TCA projects .
.................................................................................................. 73
3.2.1.a) The hosting NA ....................................................................... 73
3.2.1.b) The sending NA ....................................................................... 73
3.2.1.c) Involvement of SALTOs ............................................................ 74
3.2.2 Timeline and tasks concerning participant management ..................... 74
3.3 BASIC LOGISTICAL STANDARDS ....................................................... 91
Checklists for the hosting National Agency ................................................. 91
3.3.1 Information to be sent in advance to selected participants and trainers
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3.3.2 Requirements on the venue and the equipment ................................ 92
3.3.2.a) Facilities ................................................................................. 92
3.3.2.b) Equipment .............................................................................. 92
3.3.3 Welcome pack for participants ........................................................ 93
3.4 NA NETWORK TCS ............................................................................. 94
3.4.1 History and systemic objectives of the NA network TCs ...................... 94
3.4.2 Common principles of NA network TCs ............................................. 95
CHAPTER 4 COMMON WEB TOOLS SUPPORTING TCA .............................. 96
4.1 SALTO TCA PAGES ............................................................................... 97
4.2 TCA PLANNING BOARD ..................................................................... 98
4.2.1 General description ....................................................................... 98
4.2.2 Publish your project and look for partners ........................................ 99
4.2.3 Search the database ..................................................................... 99
4.2.4 Join an activity ........................................................................... 100
4.2.5 Compiling TCA plans with the help of the TCA PB ............................ 100
4.3 EUROPEAN TRAINING CALENDAR ................................................... 103
4.3.1 Look for a training course/activity ................................................. 103
4.3.2 Promote your training offers ......................................................... 104
4.4 ONLINE APPLICATIONS .................................................................. 105
4.5 EPLUSLINK FOR TCA ...................................................................... 106
4.6 TRAINERS ONLINE FOR YOUTH ....................................................... 106
4.7 TOOLBOX FOR TRAINING ................................................................ 108
4.7.1 Find inspiring training and youth work methods .............................. 108
4.7.2 Share your methods and exercises ................................................ 108
4.8 NACONNECT AND YAMMER .............................................................. 108

ANNEXES .................................................................................................. 112
ANNEX I – ADDITIONAL INFORMATION ON STAKEHOLDERS FOR E+YIA ................. 112
ANNEX II - WEB SITES, DOCUMENTS RELEVANT FOR TCA OFFICERS ...................... 117
ANNEX III - GUIDING QUESTIONS FOR PLANNING TCA ...................................... 122
ANNEX IV - .............................................................................................. 125

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ANNEX V – AN INDEX ON TCP SEMINAR REPORTS BETWEEN 2001-2013 .............. 126
ANNEX VI - SAMPLE CONTRACT WITH TRAINERS / FACILITATORS ......................... 128
ANNEX VII.A – TABLE FOR BUDGETARY CALCULATIONS OF HOSTING TCA ACTIVITIES131
ANNEX VII.B – TABLE FOR BUDGETARY CALCULATIONS OF SENDING TCA ACTIVITIES134
ANNEX VII.C – SAMPLE NA AGREEMENT FOR TCA PROJECTS .............................. 136
ANNEX VIII - HOW TO CREATE ONLINE APPLICATION FORMS .............................. 139
ANNEX IX - AN EXAMPLE OF AN APPLICATION FORM .......................................... 141
ANNEX X - SAMPLE VISA LETTER FOR VISA PROCEDURES FOR NON-EU PARTICIPANTS
1466
ANNEX XI - AN EXAMPLE OF A TRAINING COURSE QUESTIONNAIRE ....................... 148
ANNEX XII - AN EXAMPLE OF A FOLLOW-UP QUESTIONNAIRE .............................. 150
INDEX ....................................................................................................... 153

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ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS

LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE DOCUMENT

APEX Advance Purchase Excursion (ticket)
BTM Bilateral, Trilateral, Multilateral
(or BiTriMulti) (NA network TC on international youth exchanges)
CoE Council of Europe
COM European Commission
DEOR Dissemination and Exploitation of Results within Erasmus+ YiA
DG EAC Directorate-General for Education and Culture (European Commission)
EACEA Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency
EC European Commission (see also COM)
EKCYP European Knowledge Centre for Youth Policy
EECA Eastern Europe and Caucasus / Eastern Partnership Countries
ENGO European Non-Governmental Organisation
ETS European Training Strategy in the field of Youth
EVS European Voluntary Service within Erasmus+ YiA
E+YiA Erasmus+: Youth in Action
HRE Human Rights Education
KMST Knowledge Management and Staff Training
MEDA South Mediterranean Countries
NA National Agency of Erasmus+
NFL Non-Formal Learning
NPC Partner Country Neighbouring the EU
RAY Research-based Analysis for Erasmus+: Youth in Action
SALTO Support, Advanced Learning and Training Opportunities
SALTO-YOUTH Support, Advanced Learning and Training Opportunities Resource
RC Centre
SALTO T&C RC SALTO Training and Co-operation Resource Centre
SEE South East Europe / Western Balkans
SOHO Sending Organisation – Hosting Organisation (NA network TC on EVS)
SSV Short Study Visit
TC Training Course
TCA Transnational Co-operation Activity/-ies
TCA WG European Working Group on TCA
ToT Training of Trainers (NA network TC)
TOY Trainers Online for Youth (SALTO database)
WG Working Group
YFJ European Youth Forum (Youth Forum Jeunesse)
YL YouthLink
YP Youthpass

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FOREWORD

Dear colleagues in Erasmus+: Youth in Action
Welcome to the ALMANAC for the Transnational Co-operation Activities (TCA). We hope
you enjoy reading it and that the ALMANAC will serve to support your work within the
framework of the TCA at national and European level.

History and visibility
At the start of the YOUTH Programme (2000-2006) TCP (Training and Co-operation
Plan) was established as an important instrument for National Agencies (NAs) to
support its implementation. Its value was appreciated, therefore the instrument
continued to develop as part of the Youth in Action (YiA) Programme (2007-2013).
Within the YiA Programme, TCP served to support the 3 roles of NAs: the management
and implementation of YiA on national level, the support of the development of youth
work and the support of the co-operation in the youth field in Europe. With the start
of the new, common programme Erasmus+, the former TCP has been transferred into
TCA, the biggest changes being that TCA allows only transnational activities of two or
more NAs and its extension to most of the sectors of Erasmus+ (except Higher
Education). As before, TCA, as an important tool, should not be taken for granted.
Partners being active in co-operation within TCA should keep on working on the
visibility and recognition of TCA on national and European level.

What this ALMANAC is for
The word ALMANAC has several different meanings in the different European
languages. However, the general concept of an ALMANAC is about planning activities
in time. (E.g. for gardeners it helps with planning what and when to plant so as to get
the best crops, trees, flowers, fruits or vegetables.) Behind the idea of creating the
TCA ALMANAC, its authors had in mind the complex tasks of the people working with
TCA. Since this work is a lot about time management and the management of several
activities - often delivering different tasks simultaneously –, the TCA ALMANAC is
supposed to be a tool to help planning training and fruitful co-operation within E+ YiA.

Therefore the main aim of the TCA ALMANAC is to support colleagues and partners
working with and around TCA to fulfil their roles and tasks in the best possible way. It
should help clarify important aspects of TCA and guide you through processes needed
to be put into practise. It also aims to ensure the quality of activities and to develop
quality further within this framework.
It is important to stress what the ALMANAC is NOT! It is not a set of rules, but rather
a description of good practices in the ‘garden’ of TCA.

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Who is involved in making it?
The ALMANAC is being developed by the European Working Group on TCA (TCA WG)
consisting of TCA and SALTO-YOUTH Resource Centre officers. They are volunteering
to support the overall development of TCA and the colleagues working within it. The
ALMANAC continues to develop, based on feedback from the Heads of NAs, the
European Commission, the network of TCA officers, and the SALTO-YOUTH RC
colleagues.

What is included in it
The content of the ALMANAC is based on legal documents of the Erasmus+ Programme
and on the various experiences of all the stakeholders using TCA. The first chapter
gives an overview on the aims and objectives of TCA, the different stakeholders
involved and the roles and tasks of TCA officers. The second chapter introduces the
legal framework to keep in mind when planning a national TCA strategy. Chapter three
gives recommendations on different qualitative aspects to be considered in TCA project
development, with a special focus on co-operation on European level. Chapter four
contains an overview of different web tools available to support the management,
visibility and recognition of TCA and single TCA activities.

Who can use it?
TCA officers are not the only ones invited to use the content compiled in the ALMANAC.
The knowledge and good practice to be found in the ALMANAC is important for anyone
working with TCA. This can also include NA colleagues in charge of other tasks in the
NA, SALTO-YOUTH RC staff members or any other stakeholder(s) active in this
framework.

Future
Finally, it has to be emphasized that the information in the ALMANAC is not set in
stone! It is open for new developments inspired by the implementation of E+YiA -
TCA will definitely benefit from it.

 You should make sure that you have the latest version of the ALMANAC in your
hands, which you find at www.salto-youth.net/almanac/.
 For the further development of the ALMANAC we are open to your comments
and suggestions. Please contact us at [email protected].

We hope you find it useful!

The TCA Working Group
www.salto-youth.net/tcawg/
March 2018

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CHAPTER 1

TCA – AN OVERVIEW
10
1.1 THE ROLE OF NAS AND THEIR
SUPPORTIVE APPROACH

The 2 main roles of a National Agency are:
 Promotion, management and implementation of Erasmus+ on
national level,
 Support for the qualitative development of Erasmus+.

To have a full picture about these roles, we need to look at the basic documents of the
Programme. The Erasmus+ Programme Guide describes the role of the National
Agency as follows:

“
The implementation of the Erasmus+ Programme is mainly implemented as Indirect
Management, meaning that the European Commission entrusts budget implementation tasks
to National Agencies; the rationale of this approach is to bring Erasmus+ as close as possible
to its beneficiaries and to adapt to the diversity of national education, training and youth
systems. For this purpose, each Programme Country has appointed one or more National
Agencies (…). These National Agencies promote and implement the Programme at national
level and act as the link between the European Commission and participating organisations at
local, regional and national level. It is their task to:
 provide appropriate information on the Erasmus+ Programme;
 administer a fair and transparent selection process for project applications to be
funded in their country;
 monitor and evaluate the implementation of the Programme in their country;
 provide support to project applicants and participating organisations throughout
the project life-cycle;
 collaborate effectively with the network of all National Agencies and the European
Commission;
 ensure the visibility of the Programme;
 promote the dissemination and exploitation of the results of the Programme at local
and national level.

In addition, National Agencies play an important role as intermediate structures for the
qualitative development of the Erasmus+ Programme by:
 carrying out activities - outside the tasks of project life-cycle management - that
support the qualitative implementation of the Programme and/or trigger policy
developments in the fields supported by the Programme;
 providing a supportive approach to newcomers and less advantaged target groups
in order to remove the obstacles to full participation in the Programme; “
 seeking cooperation with external bodies in order to increase the impact of the
Programme in their country.

The NA works with a supportive approach towards the beneficiaries of Erasmus+, but
also towards other stakeholders of the Programme. The Erasmus+ Programme Guide
gives general information about this supportive approach:

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