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Mentoring Programme
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1. Summary of the action
Brief description of the proposed action
The project, from here on referred to as BOSMIP IV (Business Organisations as Single Market Integration Players), will follow up on the successful BOSMIP I, BOSMIP II and BOSMIP III (ongoing) projects and will consist mainly of various acquis-related workshops. BOSMIP IV will focus on three areas: enterprise restructuring/pre-accession-preparation, energy and various social issues through promoting social-economic partnerships.
In addition to workshops, mentoring programmes will be organised to ensure permanent coaching by EU27 civil society organisations (CSOs) to the target CSOs in the Western Balkans. A study visit to Brussels will also take place to increase the awareness of the functioning of the EU and how to connect better to EU decision making and networks (advocacy).
BOSMIP IV will expand the BOSMIP concept from working with employers federations only to working with other civil society actors as well. The concepts that worked well in BOSMIP I, II and III are going to be continued and strengthened in BOSMIP IV, such as “tripling”, interactive sessions, tangible outcomes and “continuous coaching”. It will continue with best practices gathered from experiences and feedback received from the participants: hence it is fully needs-driven.
BOSMIP IV will match up economic and social committees, trade unions, academic institutions and employers’ organisations in target countries and EU27 partner countries. The main aim will be to strengthen capacities and provide technical assistance for employer federations, trade unions and other partner CSOs involved and to increase cooperation by ‘exporting’ best practices from EU27 countries to the target federations. Extolling the virtues of national socio-economic committees will also be a goal towards preparing CSOs for pre-accession. BOSMIP IV aims hereby to build up civil society so it can be a viable partner vis-� -vis the governments in the Western Balkans. Seminars will be focused on implementing practical and tangible value-added best practices.
Just like in BOSMIP II and III there will be a mentoring programme aiming at developing tools and strategies on the spot and following up by support at a distance – which means that the EU27 CSOs stay in contact with the target CSOs to keep developing the skills and resources of the Western Balkans target CSOs. The mentoring programme has proved its effectiveness in previous BOSMIP projects and should lead to tangible results. Through the publication budget the results will be disseminated throughout the country and the region.
The six target countries will be Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia.
Objectives
To provide technical assistance, training and advice to the target employer organisations (EOs) and trade unions (TUs) and respective members (sectoral/companies) on the following main areas: enterprise restructuring/pre-accession-preparation, energy use and social affairs through promoting social-economic partnerships.
To promote capacity building of the target CSOs and enable them to reach out to their members in more effective ways as well as to strengthen them vis-� -vis their governments. To prepare the partner CSOs for pre-accession and to help them with restructuring and generally making their members more efficient and stream-lined.
To encourage further regional and European integration of CSOs. To create new CSO networks on a regional level and foster common strategies.
Increasing support to democratic initiatives and Civil Society by strengthening the cooperation between Employer Federations and Trade Unions. Promoting civil society dialogue and consultation between trade unions and employers resulting in a lower number of conflicts.
To train the target CSOs and their members to be more efficient and effective stakeholders in their national arenas as well as familiarising them with European experiences in civil society dialogue.
Enhancing CSO services to their members hence leading to an increase of memberships and representativity.
Increasing awareness of the EU decision making process and advocacy skills to national and EU level resulting in stronger integration in cross-border networks.
In addition to workshops, mentoring programmes will be organised to ensure permanent coaching by EU27 civil society organisations (CSOs) to the target CSOs in the Western Balkans. A study visit to Brussels will also take place to increase the awareness of the functioning of the EU and how to connect better to EU decision making and networks (advocacy).
BOSMIP IV will expand the BOSMIP concept from working with employers federations only to working with other civil society actors as well. The concepts that worked well in BOSMIP I, II and III are going to be continued and strengthened in BOSMIP IV, such as “tripling”, interactive sessions, tangible outcomes and “continuous coaching”. It will continue with best practices gathered from experiences and feedback received from the participants: hence it is fully needs-driven.
BOSMIP IV will match up economic and social committees, trade unions, academic institutions and employers’ organisations in target countries and EU27 partner countries. The main aim will be to strengthen capacities and provide technical assistance for employer federations, trade unions and other partner CSOs involved and to increase cooperation by ‘exporting’ best practices from EU27 countries to the target federations. Extolling the virtues of national socio-economic committees will also be a goal towards preparing CSOs for pre-accession. BOSMIP IV aims hereby to build up civil society so it can be a viable partner vis-� -vis the governments in the Western Balkans. Seminars will be focused on implementing practical and tangible value-added best practices.
Just like in BOSMIP II and III there will be a mentoring programme aiming at developing tools and strategies on the spot and following up by support at a distance – which means that the EU27 CSOs stay in contact with the target CSOs to keep developing the skills and resources of the Western Balkans target CSOs. The mentoring programme has proved its effectiveness in previous BOSMIP projects and should lead to tangible results. Through the publication budget the results will be disseminated throughout the country and the region.
The six target countries will be Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia.
Objectives
To provide technical assistance, training and advice to the target employer organisations (EOs) and trade unions (TUs) and respective members (sectoral/companies) on the following main areas: enterprise restructuring/pre-accession-preparation, energy use and social affairs through promoting social-economic partnerships.
To promote capacity building of the target CSOs and enable them to reach out to their members in more effective ways as well as to strengthen them vis-� -vis their governments. To prepare the partner CSOs for pre-accession and to help them with restructuring and generally making their members more efficient and stream-lined.
To encourage further regional and European integration of CSOs. To create new CSO networks on a regional level and foster common strategies.
Increasing support to democratic initiatives and Civil Society by strengthening the cooperation between Employer Federations and Trade Unions. Promoting civil society dialogue and consultation between trade unions and employers resulting in a lower number of conflicts.
To train the target CSOs and their members to be more efficient and effective stakeholders in their national arenas as well as familiarising them with European experiences in civil society dialogue.
Enhancing CSO services to their members hence leading to an increase of memberships and representativity.
Increasing awareness of the EU decision making process and advocacy skills to national and EU level resulting in stronger integration in cross-border networks.
2. Relevance of the action:
Coming out of the crisis, it is important to support civil society, especially in the Western Balkans, a region that lacks important CSO infrastructure. BOSMIP IV will provide capacity building for Western Balkan partner CSOs
BOSMIP IV is needs driven. Through our extensive contacts/network and experience in the region – due to previous successful BOSMIP projects – we have identified the needs of the target CSOs and gotten a keen sense of the civil society actors on the ground.
The proposal is highly relevant to the needs and constraints of the target CSOs. There is a great urgency for these mostly small and young organisations for the types of trainings and seminars envisaged by the project. This will be done in the following manner:
The project will strengthen CSOs by providing training and advice to the relevant organisations including the members of the CSOs whether they be the local trade unions, companies, etc.; in addition it will contribute to familiarising CSOs with the relevant acquis; The identified target CSOs (and their branch offices and local organisations) will benefit from an enhanced knowledge of the application of the acquis, enabling them to serve their members more efficiently and preparing them for accession;
The target CSOs will be able to work closer together and build on the best practices from the EU27 examples, presenting a more formidable block as civil society players. Employers and Trade Unions will be able to improve the dialogue between themselves, pre-empting and avoiding conflict;
The participating CSOs, and branch organisations will be better able to advocate the interests of their members towards national administrations and EU institutions, preparing them as their countries move forward in the accession procedure;
Allow the target CSOs to offer better services which will lead to an increase of members and thus of more financial independence and hence to more long term sustainability.
Actors involved / Direct beneficiaries:
Business/employers’ federations, Trade Unions and academics from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia;
Branch organisations of the above federations: numbers of such branch organisations vary from one country to the other;
Companies who are members of a CSO will be able to take part in the workshops. (Country specific details are provided in the full application)
Indirect target beneficiaries:
Companies and employee representatives at various levels in the identified countries will benefit from information and awareness raising activities and the improvement or establishment of relevant and efficient information and advisory measures.
Added value of the action:
Civil Society Organisations are the key interface for the proper application of EU rules and standards. Both employers’ federations and employees’ federations are key actors to speed up the implementation of reform to kick-start their countries out of the crisis and become more prosperous and move closer to EU legislation to prepare for accession. Governments can benefit from a strong network of civil societies. CSOs in the target countries are in considerable need of improving their organisational set-up as well as the scope and efficiency of their operations; objectives which are all addressed by BOSMIP IV.
BOSMIP IV is needs driven. Through our extensive contacts/network and experience in the region – due to previous successful BOSMIP projects – we have identified the needs of the target CSOs and gotten a keen sense of the civil society actors on the ground.
The proposal is highly relevant to the needs and constraints of the target CSOs. There is a great urgency for these mostly small and young organisations for the types of trainings and seminars envisaged by the project. This will be done in the following manner:
The project will strengthen CSOs by providing training and advice to the relevant organisations including the members of the CSOs whether they be the local trade unions, companies, etc.; in addition it will contribute to familiarising CSOs with the relevant acquis; The identified target CSOs (and their branch offices and local organisations) will benefit from an enhanced knowledge of the application of the acquis, enabling them to serve their members more efficiently and preparing them for accession;
The target CSOs will be able to work closer together and build on the best practices from the EU27 examples, presenting a more formidable block as civil society players. Employers and Trade Unions will be able to improve the dialogue between themselves, pre-empting and avoiding conflict;
The participating CSOs, and branch organisations will be better able to advocate the interests of their members towards national administrations and EU institutions, preparing them as their countries move forward in the accession procedure;
Allow the target CSOs to offer better services which will lead to an increase of members and thus of more financial independence and hence to more long term sustainability.
Actors involved / Direct beneficiaries:
Business/employers’ federations, Trade Unions and academics from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Kosovo, Montenegro and Serbia;
Branch organisations of the above federations: numbers of such branch organisations vary from one country to the other;
Companies who are members of a CSO will be able to take part in the workshops. (Country specific details are provided in the full application)
Indirect target beneficiaries:
Companies and employee representatives at various levels in the identified countries will benefit from information and awareness raising activities and the improvement or establishment of relevant and efficient information and advisory measures.
Added value of the action:
Civil Society Organisations are the key interface for the proper application of EU rules and standards. Both employers’ federations and employees’ federations are key actors to speed up the implementation of reform to kick-start their countries out of the crisis and become more prosperous and move closer to EU legislation to prepare for accession. Governments can benefit from a strong network of civil societies. CSOs in the target countries are in considerable need of improving their organisational set-up as well as the scope and efficiency of their operations; objectives which are all addressed by BOSMIP IV.
3. Description of the Action and its effectiveness
National workshops
The acquis-related workshops will take place in the six target countries. One workshop will be organised with each of the six target countries of the BOSMIP IV project. In each target country there will be one or two CSOs organising the seminar and benefiting from the action. These target CSOs have already expressed their preferences for topics; this information can be found in the Workshop Grid in section 1.7 of the full application. The Project Management Unit (PMU) and national correspondents of the target CSOs will discuss in due time which specific focus the workshops should have, when it will take place and which EU27 partner will attend. The workshops will be made up of the following two elements:
One day of presentations on the theory from national EU27 experts selected by BUSINESSEUROPE and according to the needs of the target CSOs. The Workshop Grid in section 1.7 also suggests some partnering possibilities between the target CSOs and the EU27 partners.
Half a day, small-scale interactive (practical) workshops. Ca. 10-15 people from the local participants will come together in two groups each with an EU27 expert and develop, for example, a case study, or work together on developing a strategy for lobbying their national or regional governments.
There will be a possibility for people to travel to nearby target countries to attend the workshops depending on the need and decisions of the PMU and the target CSOs. This will allow a greater efficiency as people in the region will be able to benefit from the expertise from the EU27 experts whilst keeping the total number of workshops at a manageable number. Furthermore and equally important, this will create opportunities for people to network and to facilitate future regional cooperation.
Mentoring Programme
The capacity building mentoring programme is based on demands for specific support by target CSOs, related to the policy areas listed above. The mentoring programme draws expertise from the pool of experts from the EU27 CSOs that have been partnered to BOSMIP IV. These experts can respond to needs and requests of target CSOs. BUSINESSEUROPE has experience with mentoring programmes through the BOSMIP II and the ongoing BOSMIP III project.
The mentoring programmes will focus on activities explicitly involving staff of target CSOs by using in-house training, visits of experts to the target CSOs, exchanges and excursions to companies/regional offices/sectoral federations, etc. Mentoring activities will take place in the target countries and have capacity strengthening of the target CSOs as their main objective – with a focus on the theme selected by the target CSO.
Each mentoring programme has as a goal to produce tangible results that can used by the CSO in the future for dissemination or aid to third parties (spill-over effect) and lead to sustainable results. The mentoring expert may travel to the country once for up to three days for on-the-spot training and will be available at a distance for a number of months to continue to provide help and expertise via e-mail, telephone, etc. The mentoring programme will, in principle, involve one of the experts who will also be present at the workshop. This will effectively allow the mentoring expert to visit the country twice. This will cut down on the number of flights needed which is more efficient and more environmentally friendly.
A more detailed mentoring strategy is included in the full application form.
Study Visit
CSOs in the Western Balkans often lack a solid understanding of the workings of the EU and how to work together with their governments to pass accession legislation. Knowing the way that EU legislation is shaped and the influence on member states on this process is crucial. Part of the training and preparation for pre-accession is through knowing more about the EU and EU advocacy. The BOSMIP IV study visit, based on a similar successful programme during BOSMIP II, will allow participants from the CSOs to visit the EU institutions, the European employers, European trade unions, the EESC, etc. Since BOSMIP IV is focused on a broad group of civil society actors this experience will be highly relevant for all target CSOs involved and also contribute to their integration in European networks.
Communication
Website
BOSMIP IV will create a new website. The website pages will have the information and progress on all the ongoing projects as well as links to downloadable information, on for example the presentations used at the workshops and the status of the mentoring programmes.
Publications
BOSMIP IV will foresee a budget for written and audio-visual publications in the form of booklets, leaflets, CDs, DVDs, informational films, etc. The aim of the publications is multi-fold: it will attract more than just the direct beneficiaries, providing added-value and create a multiplier effect and it will be available beyond the duration of the project, providing a longer term benefit.
The acquis-related workshops will take place in the six target countries. One workshop will be organised with each of the six target countries of the BOSMIP IV project. In each target country there will be one or two CSOs organising the seminar and benefiting from the action. These target CSOs have already expressed their preferences for topics; this information can be found in the Workshop Grid in section 1.7 of the full application. The Project Management Unit (PMU) and national correspondents of the target CSOs will discuss in due time which specific focus the workshops should have, when it will take place and which EU27 partner will attend. The workshops will be made up of the following two elements:
One day of presentations on the theory from national EU27 experts selected by BUSINESSEUROPE and according to the needs of the target CSOs. The Workshop Grid in section 1.7 also suggests some partnering possibilities between the target CSOs and the EU27 partners.
Half a day, small-scale interactive (practical) workshops. Ca. 10-15 people from the local participants will come together in two groups each with an EU27 expert and develop, for example, a case study, or work together on developing a strategy for lobbying their national or regional governments.
There will be a possibility for people to travel to nearby target countries to attend the workshops depending on the need and decisions of the PMU and the target CSOs. This will allow a greater efficiency as people in the region will be able to benefit from the expertise from the EU27 experts whilst keeping the total number of workshops at a manageable number. Furthermore and equally important, this will create opportunities for people to network and to facilitate future regional cooperation.
Mentoring Programme
The capacity building mentoring programme is based on demands for specific support by target CSOs, related to the policy areas listed above. The mentoring programme draws expertise from the pool of experts from the EU27 CSOs that have been partnered to BOSMIP IV. These experts can respond to needs and requests of target CSOs. BUSINESSEUROPE has experience with mentoring programmes through the BOSMIP II and the ongoing BOSMIP III project.
The mentoring programmes will focus on activities explicitly involving staff of target CSOs by using in-house training, visits of experts to the target CSOs, exchanges and excursions to companies/regional offices/sectoral federations, etc. Mentoring activities will take place in the target countries and have capacity strengthening of the target CSOs as their main objective – with a focus on the theme selected by the target CSO.
Each mentoring programme has as a goal to produce tangible results that can used by the CSO in the future for dissemination or aid to third parties (spill-over effect) and lead to sustainable results. The mentoring expert may travel to the country once for up to three days for on-the-spot training and will be available at a distance for a number of months to continue to provide help and expertise via e-mail, telephone, etc. The mentoring programme will, in principle, involve one of the experts who will also be present at the workshop. This will effectively allow the mentoring expert to visit the country twice. This will cut down on the number of flights needed which is more efficient and more environmentally friendly.
A more detailed mentoring strategy is included in the full application form.
Study Visit
CSOs in the Western Balkans often lack a solid understanding of the workings of the EU and how to work together with their governments to pass accession legislation. Knowing the way that EU legislation is shaped and the influence on member states on this process is crucial. Part of the training and preparation for pre-accession is through knowing more about the EU and EU advocacy. The BOSMIP IV study visit, based on a similar successful programme during BOSMIP II, will allow participants from the CSOs to visit the EU institutions, the European employers, European trade unions, the EESC, etc. Since BOSMIP IV is focused on a broad group of civil society actors this experience will be highly relevant for all target CSOs involved and also contribute to their integration in European networks.
Communication
Website
BOSMIP IV will create a new website. The website pages will have the information and progress on all the ongoing projects as well as links to downloadable information, on for example the presentations used at the workshops and the status of the mentoring programmes.
Publications
BOSMIP IV will foresee a budget for written and audio-visual publications in the form of booklets, leaflets, CDs, DVDs, informational films, etc. The aim of the publications is multi-fold: it will attract more than just the direct beneficiaries, providing added-value and create a multiplier effect and it will be available beyond the duration of the project, providing a longer term benefit.
4. Methodology and Sustainability of the Action
The main project activities are the workshops and the mentoring programmes as described above.
Beneficiary Target CSOs (11)
Bosnia and Herzegovina - APBiH
Croatia
- HUP & UATUC
FYROM - CERM & KSS
Kosovo
- KPK & Royal University ILIRIA
Montenegro - UPCG & Trade Union of Energy Workers
Serbia - UPS & TUC Nezavisnost
European Union
Main applicant BUSINESSEUROPE partnering with 10 CSO partners member federations from the following EU member states:
Austria (IV), Bulgaria (BIA), Belgium (VBO-FEB and CRB), Denmark (DI), Finland (EK), the Netherlands (VNO-NCW, DECP and SER) and Slovakia (RUZ)
Most EU27 CSOs are members of BUSINESSEUROPE and many have been for a considerable period of time. They are representative business organisations in their respective countries and the majority of them have experience in the first and second BOSMIP project. Other EU27 CSO partners are new to the BOSMIP programme and will allow the BOSMIP IV to be more inclusive – especially focusing on the role of social economic partnership. All federations will be involved in (parts of) workshops and mentoring programmes by providing trainers and expertise.
Risk assessment
The Western Balkan countries present a significant challenge but also a great number of opportunities for highly relevant and timely exchanges of knowledge and expertise.
BUSINESSEUROPE’s previous experience with Turkey and Croatia in BOSMIP II and with Western Balkan countries in BOSMIP III has prepared it well for the types of problems we could encounter. The new countries from the Western Balkans are less experienced and familiar with EU affairs and the CSOs on the ground are all relatively small and young. The benefits of this are large as well though, since the partner CSOs in these countries are eager to learn, adapt and evolve to develop themselves.
There will always be risks associated with projects such as these but BUSINESSEUROPE has very extensive experience with Commission projects. BOSMIP I, II and III also provide a case-study for the analysis of risk. BUSINESSEUROPE has always taken care to deal with finances in a most secure and correct way – making the rules clear far in advance and making sure that no financial transactions were made before the supporting documents had been provided. There are a number of risks, including payment related risks, capacity risks and volatile budget risks. All these risks, and how to minimise them (including contingency plans), are explained in more detail in the full application form.
How will the project achieve sustainability?
It is the objective of the target federations to pursue their training and advisory tasks with their own resources after the project ends. This is based on the expectation that improving (information and advisory) services will allow target CSOs to attract new members, which will provide and sustain additional services allowing the target CSOs to be more financially independent on a longer term. The project will continuously measure follow-up/implementation through e.g. the ‘come-back’ mentoring visits in each target country , a joint closing/evaluation event (and one with the Commission) and thorough reporting to assure the required results and maximum impact of the project (impact assessment).
Multiplier effects:
BOSMIP IV will seek a multiplication of knowledge and expertise on acquis-related issues among and within the business and employers’ federations and trade unions. Participants will be prepared to subsequently themselves train or advice representatives of branch offices, local organisations, companies and other members. The publication budget will allow partner CSOs to continue to effectively train third parties long after BOSMIP IV finishes.
Under UNSCR/1244/99, hereafter referred to as “Kosovo” Issues discussed under social affairs include conflict resolution, health and safety and gender equality Target federations may ask for exemption of this rule if they have convincing reasons to unlink the mentoring from the workshop.
Beneficiary Target CSOs (11)
Bosnia and Herzegovina - APBiH
Croatia
- HUP & UATUC
FYROM - CERM & KSS
Kosovo
- KPK & Royal University ILIRIA
Montenegro - UPCG & Trade Union of Energy Workers
Serbia - UPS & TUC Nezavisnost
European Union
Main applicant BUSINESSEUROPE partnering with 10 CSO partners member federations from the following EU member states:
Austria (IV), Bulgaria (BIA), Belgium (VBO-FEB and CRB), Denmark (DI), Finland (EK), the Netherlands (VNO-NCW, DECP and SER) and Slovakia (RUZ)
Most EU27 CSOs are members of BUSINESSEUROPE and many have been for a considerable period of time. They are representative business organisations in their respective countries and the majority of them have experience in the first and second BOSMIP project. Other EU27 CSO partners are new to the BOSMIP programme and will allow the BOSMIP IV to be more inclusive – especially focusing on the role of social economic partnership. All federations will be involved in (parts of) workshops and mentoring programmes by providing trainers and expertise.
Risk assessment
The Western Balkan countries present a significant challenge but also a great number of opportunities for highly relevant and timely exchanges of knowledge and expertise.
BUSINESSEUROPE’s previous experience with Turkey and Croatia in BOSMIP II and with Western Balkan countries in BOSMIP III has prepared it well for the types of problems we could encounter. The new countries from the Western Balkans are less experienced and familiar with EU affairs and the CSOs on the ground are all relatively small and young. The benefits of this are large as well though, since the partner CSOs in these countries are eager to learn, adapt and evolve to develop themselves.
There will always be risks associated with projects such as these but BUSINESSEUROPE has very extensive experience with Commission projects. BOSMIP I, II and III also provide a case-study for the analysis of risk. BUSINESSEUROPE has always taken care to deal with finances in a most secure and correct way – making the rules clear far in advance and making sure that no financial transactions were made before the supporting documents had been provided. There are a number of risks, including payment related risks, capacity risks and volatile budget risks. All these risks, and how to minimise them (including contingency plans), are explained in more detail in the full application form.
How will the project achieve sustainability?
It is the objective of the target federations to pursue their training and advisory tasks with their own resources after the project ends. This is based on the expectation that improving (information and advisory) services will allow target CSOs to attract new members, which will provide and sustain additional services allowing the target CSOs to be more financially independent on a longer term. The project will continuously measure follow-up/implementation through e.g. the ‘come-back’ mentoring visits in each target country , a joint closing/evaluation event (and one with the Commission) and thorough reporting to assure the required results and maximum impact of the project (impact assessment).
Multiplier effects:
BOSMIP IV will seek a multiplication of knowledge and expertise on acquis-related issues among and within the business and employers’ federations and trade unions. Participants will be prepared to subsequently themselves train or advice representatives of branch offices, local organisations, companies and other members. The publication budget will allow partner CSOs to continue to effectively train third parties long after BOSMIP IV finishes.
Under UNSCR/1244/99, hereafter referred to as “Kosovo” Issues discussed under social affairs include conflict resolution, health and safety and gender equality Target federations may ask for exemption of this rule if they have convincing reasons to unlink the mentoring from the workshop.
