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Final Strategic Report summary regarding the EEA and Norway Grants 2009-2014 in Hungary

The preparation and implementation of the EEA and Norway Grants 2009-2014 in Hungary started after the signature of Memoranda of Understandings in October, 2011. Through the Grants Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein have supported nearly 600 projects in Hungary. The two overall objectives – reducing economic and social disparities and strengthening bilateral co-operations – could provide proper basis for development in Hungary. Although the economic and social position of Hungary has been improved during the implementation, it can be emphasized that the Grants also contributed to the development. The economy has been stable, sustainable and broadly based. With regard to the social status one of the main objectives is to increase the number of births and decrease the number of deaths. Other important goals are to reduce the poverty and social differences, which is also in accordance with the overall objective of the Grants.

The objectives of programmes matched to the national strategy and the development trends of European Union.

Under the responsibility of Hungary 7 programmes and under the responsibility of Donor States 3 programmes have been completed successfully until December, 2017.

Just to mention a few examples of the achievements, in the framework of the Grants 6 public schools’ (e.g.: József Galamb Agricultural Secondary School; Vak Bottyán János Primary School in Siófok) energy efficiency investments were successfully implemented and more than 3600 students’ environmental conditions have been improved.

In order to contribute to economic growth and job creation with conservation and revitalisation of the values of cultural heritage, several significant cultural heritage sites (e.g.: Reconstruction and development of "Kincsem stable and mansion"Restoration of the horse tram terminus building in Zugliget) have been renewed.

The EEA Grants have been one of the main sources of support for scholarships between the Donor States and Hungary in the past years, which facilitated 815 mobilities in student or tutor exchanges for learning and for gaining experience. On the website of Tempus Public Foundation you can read about further results and news of the Scholarship programme.

On the website of Green Industry Innovation programme you can get to know more about increased green job creation and entrepreneurship (e.g.: Alföldi Tej Ltd.; Univer-Product Ltd.) as well as about the achievements regarding reduced production of waste and emissions to air, water and ground.

Thanks to the strengthened institutional capacity and human resource development in public institutions, local and regional authorities, local citizens can enjoy the results of the developments in Budapest and in the countryside as well (e.g: quality aging in Alsómocsolád, promotion of local employment related to airport economy by introducing novel and innovative services).

Inclusion of marginalized groups has a lasting positive effect on the society. Among others with the support of Donor States in disadvantaged areas, especially in Roma communities the working conditions of 5300 health visitor nurses have been improved.

In order to strengthen bilateral relations, under the responsibility of Hungary, 314 partnerships were signed, 174 523 persons were targeted by the actions of the projects, 46 events were visited with participation of both Hungarian and Donor States stakeholders.  

Regarding the information and publicity, social media has become the main communication channel, and while the number of subscribers was barely 200 in 2016, this number has increased to almost 11 000 for now. On our YouTube channel you can watch the short films introducing the bilateral relations between Hungary and Donor States and listen to the participants’ own experience gained during the cooperation.

During the period Hungary has faced several challenges, e.g. establishment a new, programme-level institutional system, the changes in Hungarian development policy system and in the regulatory framework and a short project implementation period. Nevertheless the results show remarkable successes which represent that the Hungarian decision-making and institutional system are flexible and able to adapt to changing circumstances. The results and lessons can be used professionally to the preparation of the next period and all the stakeholders can use the good practices and results collected during the implementation.

For further information, please visit our Facebook page and also would like to invite you to view the websites of the three other programmes which have been implemented successfully under the responsibility of Donor States. Just one click on the name and be familiarized with the great impacts of the following programmes:

Adaptation to climate change

Global fund for decent work and tripartite dialogue

NGO-Fund

Norway Grant 2009-2014: „HU11” – Capacity Extension and Inter-Institutional Cooperation Program

The cycle 2009 to 2014 in the Norway Financing Mechanisms has come to an end in the framework of which a ceremony to celebrate closing of the Capacity Extension and Inter-Institutional Cooperation Program (HU11) was also held in Balatonfüred on 23 and 24 November 2017. In the mentioned funding cycle the Norway Grant provided to Hungary funds totalling 83.2 million euros.

On behalf of the Prime Minister’s Office, Dr. Gergő Korponai, the Operator of the Program, officially opened the conference, and uttered appreciation for cooperation, on-time performance of projects, and congratulated the Hungarian self-governments and institutions on their flourishing contribution to the program. He said that two comprehensive aims were defined and a fund of 12.7 million euros was granted to establish cooperation with the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities. On the one hand institutional capacities were extended on the other hand services provided locally by local authorities were improved. Owing to fruitful project implementation the standard of numerous old-age welfare and other social services were upgraded and enhanced. Within the framework of certain projects, community platforms and social spaces were set up to facilitate easier implementation of local-governmental duties. Related to specific projects, refurbishment projects dedicated to energy efficiency were implemented, new labour market services and training centres were established related to that adult education courses were conducted.

Representing the Prime Minister’s Office, Adrián Savanyú greeted the attendants. In the granting period he functioned as the head of the National Relationship organisation. Then Olav Berstad, Norway’s ambassador in Hungary, and on behalf of the Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities, Elita Cakule, Head of General Department, delivered their speeches.

Following the opening ceremony came the presentation of the HU11 program by the representatives of the Program Operator and Implementation Agency.

Presentation of projects implemented under the aegis of this program continued on the first day of this ceremony session and the second day was devoted to initiations financed from the funds granted for program level bilateral relationships.

Owners of some specific projects:

  • National Association for Governments of Municipalities
  • Ministry of Interior Affairs – National Directorate General for Disaster Management
  • Prime Minister’s Office – Undersecretary’s Office in charge of Society related and heritage protection affairs as well as special cultural development projects

Tender contract owners:

  • Local Government of Törökbálint
  • Budapest Capital city, District XI, Local Government of Újbuda
  • Local Government of Hajdúböszörmény
  • Budapest Capital city, District XVIII Local Government of Pestszentlőrinc-Pestszentimre
  • Local Government of Alsómocsolád
  • Local Government of Rácalmás
  • Local Government of Pécs, town of county rank
  • Local Government of Mórahalom
  • Owners of projects financed from program level bilateral relationships funds:
    • Local Government of Kemecse
    • Local Government of Alsómocsolád
    • Local Government of Abasár
    • Local Government of Szamossályi
    • Local Government of Rácalmás
    • Local Government of Böhönye
    • Local Government of Törökbálint

Representatives of Norwegian institutions involved in the project as partners also honoured the closing conference with their attendance. Like the program, the ceremony was also commonly recognised as a success.

PRESENTATIONS – PRESERVATION AND CONSERVATION OF CULTURAL AND NATURAL HERITAGE INFO DAY – 13TH OF DECEMBER 2013

The presentations of the Info Day held on the 13th of December 2013 are hereby available for the kind use of the potential applicants in Hungarian. We would like to further remark that the presentations mainly refer to the draft version of the Calls for Proposals that could be subject to modification after the public consultation held.

Open calls for proposals of the National Fund for Bilateral Relations have been published

Open calls for proposals of the National Fund for Bilateral Relations have been published

We are pleased to announce that two new open calls for proposals can be applied for within the National Fund for Bilateral Relations (hereinafter: NFBR), a special area of the EEA and Norway Grants.

The overall objective of the NFBR is to strengthen bilateral relations between the Donor States – Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein – and Hungary. The aim is to increase the extent of cooperation between institutions and individuals, through formal partnerships or more ad hoc exchange and collaboration. The bilateral cooperation shall contribute to solve a particular issue through sharing experience, knowledge, know-how and technology.

The announced open calls are targeting two fields of intervention:

1. „Tackling climate change” – Encouraging cooperation between Donor States and Hungary in the field of environmental protection. Herewith the aim is to

  • improve awareness and strengthen the sense of responsibility for the environment in the society,
  • raise awareness of the population regarding the climate change,
  • exchange experience regarding slowing and adapting to climate change.

2. „Equal opportunities for women” – Encouraging cooperation between Donor States and Hungary with the aim of strengthening gender equality and elimination of violence against women. Herewith the aim is to

  • promote better balance between work and family life:
    • improvement of women’s labor market status (flexible, atypical employment and other solutions);
    • stimulation of businesses set up and run by women.
  • fight against violence and abuse at work.

150 000 EUR is made available in each field of intervention (altogether 300 000 EUR).

Within both calls, two different implementation modalities can be applied for, as follows:

  • Programme for Initiatives with Easy Reimbursement Option (PIERO): PIERO supports ad hoc initiatives. The projects implemented in the framework of the PIERO should be more simple and consist of one specific action (e.g. participation at or organization an event, meeting). In the PIERO scheme there is no fixed deadline for submitting applications, the calls for proposals will be open continuously until funds are available.
  • Cooperation Programme for Enhanced Relations (COOPER): COOPER supports initiatives with the aim of establishing longer term, more structured and institutionalized cooperation (e.g. organization of a conference, a series of events or some awareness raising campaigns and subsequent publication the achieved results). In the COOPER scheme, the call for proposals will be open for a limited period, the deadline for submission of applications is 31 January 2014.

Eligible applicants of the open calls are legal entities established in Hungary. Eligible partners can be any entity, established as a legal person in Hungary or in the Donor States as well as inter-governmental organizations operating in Hungary or in the Donor States. All applicants have to present in their proposal at least one partner from the Donor States.

For further details, please visit this site.

National Fund for Bilateral Relation’s open calls has been modified with the change of Partner Agreement requirements

The National Focal Point hereby informs the applicants about the recent modification of Tackling climate change – PIERO and Equal opportunities for women – PIERO calls, available since 9th March 2017.

Through the modification, the applicant is no longer obliged to attach a Partner Agreement form. To verify partnership, an „Official Exchange of Letters” document is eligible, proving the initiation will be carried out in a bilateral partnership. Please note that the Partner Agreement is also still acceptable.

Fundamental requirements of the Official Exchange of Letter are the following:

  • justification that the initiatives will be implemented in the cooperation with the donor partner,
  • the financial conditions and
  • the division of tasks between the parties.

Modified Call for Proposals are available on EEA and Norway Grants’ official Hungarian website since 13rd June 2017.

The amendment does not affect the other conditions set out in the calls.

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

CALL FOR PROPOSALS UNDER THE RENEWABLE ENERGY PROGRAMME AREA FOR PROJECT SCHEME “GRANT FOR SUPPORTING PARTICIPATION IN COURSES ON THE UTILIZATION OF RENEWABLE ENERGY SOLUTIONS: SUB-PROGRAMME 1: SUPPORTING PARTICIPATION IN MSC, MA COURSE; SUB-PROGRAMME 2: SUPPORTING PARTICIPATION IN SHORT COURSE” HAS BEEN PUBLISHED.

We are happy to inform the honoured Applicants that the Call for Proposals under the Renewable Energy Programme Area for Project Scheme “Grant for Supporting Participation in Courses on the Utilization on Renewable Energy Solutions” has been launched.

The aim of the Call for Proposals under the Renewable Energy Programme Area is to train citizens, broaden their knowledge specifically in the field of utilization of renewable energy solutions. The target group of the Call for Proposals is state-owned or indirectly state-owned institutions, background institutes, business enterprises, research institutes, higher education institutions dealing with renewable energy. The ultimate beneficiary of the project (the person taking part in the course, workshop, and conference) is a higher education teacher, a student studying for a PhD or a Master’s Degree, a person working in higher education, a researcher or people employed by or in contractual relationship with non-higher education institutions from the target group.

The amount of the grant given through this call for proposals is minimum € 3.000, maximum € 30.000. The rate of grant given is 100%.

The evaluation of all the applications starts after the submission deadlines. The submission deadline is:

  • 15th of April 2014 for Sub-programme 1: Supporting Participation in MSc, MA Course;
  • periodically, but no later than 31st of October 2015 for Sub-programme 2: Supporting Participation in Short Course

The Calls for Proposals can be reached at the following webpages:

In English: webpage

In Hungarian: webpage

In the event there is a difference between the two documents, the English Call for Proposal should be considered prevailing.

To submit an application registration is needed on the following webpage (https://nora.norvegalap.hu/). Clicking on the button “Open calls for proposals” the fill-out of the application form can be started. The General Application Guide can be reached at the webpage of the Programme (/en/documents/general-application-guide).

Bilateral Call for Proposal within Renewable Energy Programme Area

On 14th July 2017, a bilateral Call for proposal has been relaesed with component A „Participation at geothermal workshop in iceland for local governments” and Component B, „Cooperation with Donor Partners”.

The overall objective of the Fund is to strengthen bilateral relations between Donor States and Hungary.  

The aim is to increase the extent of cooperation between institutions and individuals, through formal partnerships or through more ad hoc exchange and collaboration. The bilateral cooperation shall contribute to the collaboration between the partners through sharing experience, knowledge, know-how and technology. The goal of “strengthen the bilateral relations between the Donor States and Hungary” under Renewable Energy Programme (HU03) will be implemented and granted by two sets of activities:

“Geothermal workshop in Iceland for local governments” so called “A” component (HU03-Bilat-A-2017, present summary of the call) and

Cooperation with Donor partners”, so called “B” component (HU03-Bilat-B-2017, for further details, please see the relevant call for bilateral activities).

  1. “Geothermal workshop in Iceland for local governments”

The goal of the workshop is to bring together decision makers, engineers and managers of local governments involved in geothermal energy related activities as well as to provide a forum for exchange of knowledge and best practice on exploration, development and use of geothermal resource or communities that could benefit from the utilization of geothermal. The workshop will create a platform for an opportunity to learn about geothermal management, sustainability in geothermal utilization, investments and explore the possible use of geothermal resources as a renewable energy source. The activity will also increase knowledge about Hungarian and EU policy and compare it to Icelandic legislation and regulations pertinent to geothermal development.

Eligible applicants for the open call are local governments of Hungary with a geothermal potential and district heating system, the proper list of these settlements listed in the call (2.1.).

  1. “Cooperation with Donor partners”

Initiatives of the present call may contribute to promoting either improving awareness and strengthening sense of responsibility for the environment in the society or awareness raising of the population regarding the renewable energy / exchange of experience regarding renewable energy Eligible Applicants of the present open call are any entity, public or private, commercial or non-commercial and non-governmental organisations established as a legal person in Hungary as well as natural persons who are legal residents of Hungary are eligible Applicants.  

Common indicative budget of “A” component and “B” component: 43.056.000 HUF (138.000 EUR)

Please note: Proposals under “A” component receive priority during the selection procedure.

The grant rate for both components are 100%.

The deadline for submission is 31th July, 2017.  

Public Health Initiatives Programme Area’s bilateral call for proposals’ application deadline has been extended until 31st August 2017

We hereby inform applicants of Public Health initiatives Programme Area’s bilateral call for proposals’ application deadlines has been modified on 13th July 2017. Calls concerned:

  1. Exchange of experience and partnership programs in the field of innovative e-health solutions to promote early diagnosis of cancer – HU12- Bilateral Action – 1 
  2. Exchange of experience and partnership programs in the field of improvement of patient safety conditions in hospitals – HU12- Bilateral Action – 2 
  3. Exchange of experience to facilitate knowledge transfer in effective operation of in-patient care – HU12- Bilateral Action – 3 
  4. Exchange of experience related to and best practices and measures to reduce health inequalities – HU12- Bilateral Action – 4

Modifications:

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION paragraph’s 3.1. Submission of updated proposal subparagraph is changed:

„Applications can be submitted at any moment from the 10 March 2017 until 31st August 2017 or until the total allocation is used.”

The new deadline for submitting the electronic application form will be on 31st August 2017. After the submission of the electronic application form, one original copy of the printable declaration (Declaration stating the undertaking to meet the conditions of the Call for Proposals) should be sent by post, by registered mail at the latest by 31st August 2017.

Modified call for proposals are available here.