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Europe Ready Fryslan
Published on 31 March 2021
Netherlands
Friesland (NL)
This is the good practice's implementation level. It can be national, regional or local.
About this good practice
Europe Ready Fryslan is a new initiative which provides workshops, guest lectures and sometime one-on-one advise to research, cultural and educational organizations but also to entrepreneurs. Europe Ready Fryslan tries to inspire organizations from Friesland to do more with European subsdies and grants. It is an awareness program to make people aware of the potential of H2020/Horizon Europe, Erasmus Plus and all forms of European initiatives. Participation of Frisian entities is free. All costs are for the account of the Province of Friesland and the municipalities in Friesland.
Expert opinion
The access to European funding might appear complex to unexperienced organisations and result in under average use of those funds in regions. The Europe Ready Frislan illustrates how local policy makers and business support organisations can contribute to increase significantly the level of awareness of their stakeholders with respect to the funds available and the initial steps towards successful applications. On the long-run an increase of funds going into the region is expected.
Further benefits from the involvement in European projects are the expansion of business networks and the potential access to new markets and competences.
A similar practice with proven efficiency and a strong focus on the SME instrument of the European Commission is the SME INSTRUMENT DONOSTIA INN (project UpGrade SME) good practice from the Basque County:
https://www.interregeurope.eu/policylearning/good-practices/item/1091/sme-instrument-donostia-inn/
Further benefits from the involvement in European projects are the expansion of business networks and the potential access to new markets and competences.
A similar practice with proven efficiency and a strong focus on the SME instrument of the European Commission is the SME INSTRUMENT DONOSTIA INN (project UpGrade SME) good practice from the Basque County:
https://www.interregeurope.eu/policylearning/good-practices/item/1091/sme-instrument-donostia-inn/
Works at
Interreg Europe Policy Learning Platform
Resources needed
The total budget of the initiative is 100.000 euro per year.
Evidence of success
After a research concerning European funding landing in Friesland it was concluded that Friesland needs a wake up call. Europe Ready Fryslan organizes workshops about how to apply for projects (H2020, Interreg, Erasmus Plus, EYE, etc.), how to find partners, specific calls for tourism, cultural industry, education and research. In 2020, 11 workshops were organized (online) with 24 guest lecturers, addressing 74 people from education, 68 entrepreneurs and 167 from governmental organizations.
Potential for learning or transfer
Research shows that Friesland lags behind in finding European funded project opportunities. We rank last or worst top 3 regions in innovativeness and internalisation or export. Europe Ready Fryslan contributes to achieving more funding for Frisian Organizations and a better position in the Dutch ranking concerning innovativeness and internationalization. If your region faces the same challenge, the initiative is not rocket science, but we have proven success. It is easy to copy.
Further information
Website
Good practice owner
You can contact the good practice owner below for more detailed information.
Organisation
Province of Fryslân
Netherlands
Friesland (NL)
Contact
Director