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Support for networks creation in the field of Global Change and ECOsystems - from idea through proposal submission and project managing till completion and successful audit

Final Report Summary - ECONETUS (Support for networks creation in the field of global change and ecosystems - from idea through proposal submission and project managing till completion ...)

The main objectives of the ECONETUS project were:
1. implementation of the priority thematic area of environment (including climate change) work programme through supporting international cooperation between research and technological development (RTD) projects participants from new member countries (MCs) and associate candidate countries (ACCs) (represented by Poland and Lithuania) and MC (the UK, Austria);
2. encouragement of participation of researchers and industrial units' representatives in RTD projects concerning environment (including climate change);
3. establishment of international co-operation between RTD projects participants from new MCs and ACCs (represented by Poland and Lithuania) and MC (the UK, Austria), which will encourage research projects generation;
4. improvement and widening of cooperation between new MC's and ACC's researchers and the EU researchers;
5. preparation of new MC's and ACC's participants to future activities concerning project management and results dissemination, with a view to enabling the community to achieve its RTD strategic objectives.

The activities of the ECONETUS project were divided into six work packages (WPs):
1. beneficiaries' data collection;
2. brokerage events of subtopic groups;
3. knowledge acquisition;
4. workshops and consulting meetings;
5. dissemination of the results;
6. management.

To achieve the main objective of ECONETUS project - creation of the network - the idea of ECONETUS' database was promoted. The members of AG started the process of promotion of the project all over Europe among potential participants of RTD projects which finally led to collection of questionnaires and creation of the database. During the project's duration the coordinator printed 13 000 leaflets promoting ECONETUS project and distributed them among the project's partners. Later on these leaflets were distributed during conferences in Europe. ECONETUS partners promoted the idea of the project and its database among the representatives from all the world (MCs, ACCs and third countries) participating with short presentation on over 30 thematic conferences organised in Europe with over 4 000 audience. The ECONETUS database was joined by 220 new researchers since the end of the first reporting period and at the end of the project comprised 535 members.

On 11 and 13 June 2007 the project's closing conference was organised. This three-day conference was held in Gdansk and gathered 90 participants from European institutions from the ECONETUS's database. Representatives of national contact points from EU and MCs and ACCs who have not participated in this project were also present at the conference. That allowed spreading information about the project's database among the researchers, who have not participated in ECONETUS. For the conference a CD version of the ECONETUS database was prepared and distributed among participants.

Another aim of the ECONETUS project was the preparation of participants from ACCs and new MCs to future activities concerning project management and results dissemination, with a view to enabling the community to achieve its RTD strategic objectives of environment (including climate change). On 4 and 5 September 2006 knowledge acquisition workshops were organised in Warsaw by institute of fundamental technological research Polish academy of sciences. These workshops concerned:
1. negotiations and contracts - provided by representatives of Oesterreichische Forschungsfoerderungsgesellschaft mbH, Vienna, Austria;
2. project management - provided by representatives of University of Glamorgan, Glamorgan, United Kingdom.

The aim of the workshops was to train the staff of Assistance Group and representatives of NCPs from other NMSs and ACCs. After the workshops 28 experts form ACCs had wider knowledge in scope of negotiations and contracts and project management, and have able to provide high quality services for researchers, industrial units and SMEs in their countries which guaranteed an operational and effective functioning of the assistance group.
Well-informed staff of assistance group is a very important asset for effective managing of numerous proposals, not only in the topic of environment (including climate change).

As the result of the project 10 proposal with participant from the ECONETUS database were submitted within the Environment call closed in year 2007. All the objectives foreseen in the ECONETUS project were achieved and European research community interested in the priority environment (including climate change) were reached with information, advice and support so much needed to take part in the FP calls. It is granted that ECONETUS will be a great base for many new proposals. It also significantly decreased the lack of communication between the scientists involved in climate change topic and gives them opportunity for contact and common work.

The database of ECONETUS participants is a fundamental base for any subsequent activities determined in other WPs, like thematic brokerage events, workshops and internet resources with information concerning environment (including climate change).