Peers supporting those with learning difficulties in schools, members of the choir giving concerts in an old people’s home, retirees teaching their language to immigrants, young and old engaging in initiatives that protect the environment or fight discrimination… everyone has the potential to be a volunteer; the range of opportunities is huge and apart from personal satisfaction it also provides important learning opportunities (new languages, social or project management skills, ...). It can enhance the CV of the students, boost their self-esteem and might even be a route to employment. In addition, volunteering can be a great way to meet new people who share similar interests and to spend a good time together, not to mention making a real difference to your community.
To be able to take part in the aces contest for school partnership projects the interested schools must fulfill certain eligibility criteria. Moreover, the overall theme of the project contest changes every year. Schools are invited to submit partnership project proposals focussing on this theme.
Eligibility criteria
Who can participate?
The call addresses schools (primary/secondary/vocational schools) in the eligible countries with a target group of pupils/students aged 12 – 17 years.
The eligible countries are: Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Kosovo, Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovak Republic and Slovenia.
The partnership for every aces is made up of one coordinating school (=lead applicant) and one or two partner school/s which jointly develop and implement the proposed project. In the selected projects, the coordinating school takes the responsibility for overall project coordination, including the partner schools, the main contact person for the aces team. Furthermore, the project coordinator is responsible for the reporting of the whole project (short narrative report and simple list of expenditures). Even though these tasks are the reponsibility of the coordinating school, ALL contact teachers of the partner schools MUST be able to communicate in English.
School partnerships can be:
- Bilateral – consisting of 2 schools from different eligible countries
- Trilateral – consisting of 3 schools from 3 eligible countries.
Possible combinations are:
a) 3 schools from three different eligible countries
b) at least 2 schools from different eligible countries and an additional partner school from a non-eligible European country (e.g. partners of a Comenius school partnership or another partner school from a non-eligible European country). Note: The participation of a partner school from a non-eligible country will not increase the amount of the award money and this partner will not benefit directly from award money!
c) Special need schools are particularly encouraged to get involved!
Schools without partners in the above listed eligible countries should make use of the online Partner Finder in order to identify a partner school. Interkulturelles Zentrum can also support schools to find relevant partners. See below for contact information.
Theme of the aces Call 2011/2012
When work doesn’t cost anything, it often isn’t appreciated either. Therefore, one aim of the European Year of Volunteering 2011 (http://europa.eu/volunteering) is to increase the visibility and value the commitment of people working in their free time without being paid: Peers supporting those with learning difficulties in schools, concerts in old people’s homes, young and old engaging in initiatives that protect the environment or fight discrimination… Everyone can volunteer; and apart from personal satisfaction it also provides important learning opportunities. Thus, the overall theme of the aces call 2011 is "Building bridges in societies - volunteer in your communities!"
Further information:
- http://www.eyvolunteering.eu
- http://www.eyv2011.eu
- http://ec.europa.eu/citizenship/news/news820_en.htm
- http://www.72h.at/72h-international
- http://www.sciint.org
- http://ec.europa.eu/youth/youth-in-action-programme/doc405_en.htm
- Additional info and background material on www.aces.or.at/materials&tools see “Topics”
Eligible Activities
Project idea and implementation: School partnership projects referring to the theme “Building bridges in societies - volunteer in your communities!” can be cross-curricular or based on a single subject.
There are no restrictions regarding project activities, although the design and use of innovative approaches and creative methods of implementation will be considered positively in the assessment process (e.g. projects using the opportunities offered by new information and communication technologies, new media, creative international exchange settings, joint actions among students, theatre, involvement of the media, etc). In addition, cross-border co-operation of pupils and teachers right from the beginning of the project (e.g. communication and working in international teams) is an important factor for a positive assessment.
If selected, the project idea is jointly realised by students and teachers in all the the partner schools and countries. Moreover, participants are encouraged to involve and co-operate with other persons and institutions (e.g. experts, parents, local/regional institutions, companies, non-governmental organisations, media …) to reach out into the local/regional public sphere.
Language: The language for overall international communication is English (aces coordination and international workshops/events, website communication, reporting). The use of several other languages (“neighbourhood languages”) for communication between project partners is allowed and encouraged.
Duration: The duration of projects is maximum 7 months. Its activities have to be carried out between September 2011 and mid-March 2012. Some projects may foresee activities in the summer months before September (summer camp, meeting, etc). This is possible, but the grants cannot be transferred to participating schools before October 2011. Hence, such activities will have to be pre-financed in anticipation of the arrival of the grant in October 2011.
Location: The partnership project activities take place (only) in the partner countries.
Number of applications: A lead applicant school can submit only one project proposal.
Award and Eligible Use
aces awards the “project partnership”, but in terms of administration each partner school receives its share of the award money directly. Therefore, all the partner schools (or their school boards or parent’s council etc.) should dispose of a bank account that accepts bank transfers in Euro (!).
The amount of the award for a partnership project is composed as follows:
- Coordinating school: 1300 Euros (including an administrative bonus of 200 Euro)
- Partner schools from eligible countries: 1100 Euro each
So, for a bilateral partnership the overall sum will be 1300 + 1100 Euros = 2400 Euro. For a trilateral partnership involving only eligible countries the overall sum will be 1300 + 1100 + 1100 = 3500 Euro.
The awarded money has to be used for expenses arising from the realisation of the partnership project (costs incurred during the implementation period).
Expenditures which are considered eligible include those involved in:
- preparation of information and working materials
- organisation of events/workshops
- meetings between partners (travel, subsistence)
- expert honoraria
- entrance fees
- minor ICT-equipment (e.g. for cameras, software, etc up to a max. cost of 350 Euro per item.
If you need some piece of equipment for your project that costs more than this, CONTACT INTERKULTURELLES ZENTRUM IMMEDIATELY AND BEFORE THE PURCHASE.
Project partners can choose to increase their project budget with additional funding from other sources (for example, making use of private or public sponsorship). In general, partner schools make their own agreements concerning how to share the project costs.
Project Application
The proposal for a school partnership project must be submitted by using the online application form only. This online application form is available on www.aces.or.at/apply from February 1 to April 30, 2011. Please note that it must be completed by the coordinating school, ONLY. The project proposal should, nonetheless, be a joint project application. This means that the project partners should jointly discuss the content of the before making the application. Applicants are invited to consult the questions asked in the online application about the project with your partners (see document “Key questions for the project description”). This will help you to exchange ideas and jointly write the application.
The application form consits of 3 parts:
- Information about the partner schools
- Project description
-
Supporting documents:
- 1) “Declaration for the Partnership Project” (to be completed, signed and stamped by the coordinating school) and
- 2) “Partnership Statement for the Partnership Project” (to be completed, signed and stamped by all the partner school/s)
The supporting documents are available at the end of the online application form on www.aces.or.at/apply. They should be downloaded, completed by all partner schools and sent to the coordinating school in plenty of time so that the coordinating school has what it needs to finalise the online application procedure in time for the deadline. The coordinating school is responsible for filling in and submitting the complete online application form, including the uploading of supporting documents.
The deadline for submission of project applications for this call is 30 April 2011. After submitting the online application form, you will receive an automatic confirmation of receipt. Interkulturelles Zentrum will advise applicants on questions until the deadline.
If you have problems submitting your application using the online procedure, please contact
Rebecca Zeilinger, Interkulturelles Zentrum
Emails: rebecca.zeilinger@iz.or.at
NO LATER THAN THE 15TH OF APRIL 2011
Make sure to indicate “aces Call 2011” in the subject line of the email.
Assessment of Applications
An international Selection Committee will assess the submitted partnership project proposals according to the eligibility criteria (see "Project Assessment Criteria") and the "Project Quality Check List". Approximately 45 applications for school partnership projects will be awarded a grant.
Notification of Award
Interkulturelles Zentrum will inform the applicants about the results of the evaluation and of which projects were awarded until mid-June 2011.
Further Steps for Awarded Partnership Projects
The awarded schools will be invited to implement their partnership projects. They will receive further information regarding aces procedures and network events, as follows:
26 September – 30 September 2011: International “aces Kick-off Meeting” taking place in Sarajevo (Bosnia and Herzegovina). This meeting is attended by delegations of 2 participants (1 student & 1 teacher) from each school involved in an awarded partnership project;
October 2011: The award money will be transferred to all awarded partner schools;
September 2011 – mid-March 2012: Implementation of school partnership projects through joint work and cooperation;
Mid-March 2012: Deadline for submission of the final narrative and simple financial project report in English;
March/April 2012: Final international “aces Academy”, including presentations and evaluation of the outcomes of all partnership projects. Again delegations of 2 participants (1 student & 1 teacher) from each school are invited. The exact date of this event will be announced in September 2011.
Note: It is expected that delegations of all selected schools attend the aces network events. The members of the delegations taking part in aces network events (i.e. the Kick-off Meeting and the Academy) must master the English language in order to exchange and work with the other participants. Participating delegation members are expected to attend for the entire duration of these network events.
Further information: http://www.erstestiftung.org/aces-new-call-for-project-proposals/
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