Multi-actor approach

Az uniós kutatási és innovációs keretprogram, vagyis a Horizont Európa program 6. klaszterének (Élelmiszerek, biomassza-alapú gazdaság, természeti erőforrások, mezőgazdaság, környezet) pályázataiban kiemelt hangsúlyt kap az ún. multi-actor approach (többszereplős együttműködésre irányuló megközelítés), a pályázati felhívások több mint 40%-ánál biztosítani kell e szemlélet érvényesülését a projektek élettartama alatt.

Az Európai Bizottság a napokban két kérdésre is válaszolt, amit pályázók tettek fel ezekkel a többszereplős együttműködésekkel kapcsolatban.

1. Question on MAA and farmers involvement:

Multi-actor approach and involvement of farmers is more and more important in the Horizon programme projects. However, according to the feedback received as NCP, attracting farmers to project participation is not always an easy task since the administrative burden related to participation discourages some potential actors. Therefore it would be very useful to have an insight into good practices on the types of applied project roles and the reimbursement of costs. 

From theoretical point of view, I can see two layers of farmer involvement:

1) Participation in stakeholder groups – e.g. attending workshops where needs are identified.

2) Involvement in testing and demonstration activities – e.g. testing promising methods in their own field.

While in the first case participation can be compensated by daily allowances, the second case triggers bigger costs (human work, equipment use, material cost, income loss due to land use change).

Could you help me in answering the following questions raised by our clients seeking for reasonable solution for farmer/farmer cluster involvement? (experience of the executive agency might be very relevant here, however, I do not have direct contact to them):

• What aspects should be taken into account when fixing the amount of the daily allowance in the proposal? (e.g. the workshop will be organised by a research organisation which is just introducing the multi actor approach and co-design concept into its practice and does not have usual calculation method for compensating workshop participants)
• Testing activities can be compensated by financial support to third parties. However, this cost is only eligible if call conditions allow for it. If it is not the case, in which way are farmers usually involved in testing activities? As beneficiaries, as members of an umbrella organisation being beneficiary of the project (linked third parties/affiliated parties), as subcontractors or otherwise?
• Are they reimbursed based on actual costs (if participating as beneficiary or linked third party/affiliated party) or have you seen a different, less burdensome approach? 

EC reply:

First of all, please note that farmer involvement in a Multi-Actor (MA) project is not about farmers attending workshops. Where fields of the farmer are used for testing, it would be rather applied research, but normally not multi-actor approach. Multi-actor projects are not equal to applied research.

Multi-Actor Approach under Horizon Europe is the full involvement in the partnership, at the same level as for any partner, whether it is a farmer/farmers’ organisation or a researcher. So from the beginning and planning until the end of the MA project, all partners are considered to be involved and treated equally and with respect, no matter if they come from science of from practice. This is important in particular for farmers, as they are not yet fully used to be considered a full partner. In the presence of researchers, they may be shy to express the very useful practical information not known to the researcher, and therefore may refrain of coming with their practical and often very important views and ideas to make good and impactful outcomes of the project. That is why it is always so enriching to have an intermediate person(s) in such MA projects, such as an advisor(s), which understands both research and practice and can help the equal relation between scientific and non-scientific partners, standing aside the farmer and also understanding daily farming practice.  So, in short, you pay the farmer (or farmers’ organisation) as any other partner the fee he is asking for.

With regard to payments for farmers, if the call conditions do not foresee financial support to third parties, the participation in projects’ activities by other third parties should be declared as a purchase, subcontracting, or indirect costs. The involvement of other third parties need to be detailed in Annex 1.

Participation in activities such as attending stakeholder groups and involvement in testing and demonstration activities would normally be declared as ‘Purchase costs’ under  Article 6.2.C HE MGA, however the operational services will need to perform a case-by-case analysis.

Beneficiaries/affiliated entities may charge ‘Purchase costs’ if they fulfil the general eligibility conditions and are bought using the beneficiary’s usual purchasing practices, provided these ensure purchases with best value for money (or if appropriate the lowest price) and that there is no conflict of interests (see Article 12). Therefore, the costs declared under this budget category should be actually incurred by the beneficiary/affiliated entity. including travel, accommodation and subsistence or any other work or service provided by farmers.

These type of involvement have already been implemented in H2020 projects in similar ways.’

2. Question on multi-actor approach - How exactly will it be evaluated as eligibility criteria in A forms of the proposal?:

One question for the Multi-Actor-Approach remains. I do understand that the MAA is now an additional eligibility criterion and all relevant actors have to be included all over the whole course of the project - ideally as beneficiaries in the consortium. To my general understanding of the evaluation process, the admissibility and eligibility of proposals is checked based on the information provided by the applicants in the A forms, and only if a proposal fulfils the eligibility criteria, the B forms will be send to the evaluators for the proposal evaluation.

How exactly will the eligibility of the MAA be assessed/enforced in the A forms of the proposal? Solely based on the consortium compositions (by having these actors as beneficiaries in the consortium)? Or by defining the "Role of participating organisation in the project" under the section "Organisation" in the A forms as MAA? Or in which concrete way?

Can you please specify and describe if the MAA is now a strict eligibility criteria based on the A forms or not? And if yes, how exactly will it be assessed in the A forms (only by consortium composition)?

EC reply:

In Horizon Europe, MAA is an eligibility condition. Therefore, if a topic is labelled with the multi-actor approach, this is mentioned in the ‘Eligibility conditions’ of the corresponding topic specific conditions.

MAA is a concept that encompasses various perspectives and characteristics of a project, and that goes beyond ticking boxes on a checklist and require careful proposal drafting to make the various actors co-create and co-decide at equal levels all along the project. Therefore, in a MAA topic, evaluators will have to read the whole proposal (not only PART A) to assess if it complies with MAA principles.

The multi-actor approach is a specific form of responsible research and innovation, which is clearly defined with a set of requirements. It aims to make the R&I process and its outcomes more impactful and demand-driven, ready to use in practice, widely disseminated and relevant to society. End-users of project results should get a feeling of co-ownership and become more eager to use the results thanks to the MAA: multi-actor projects are not equal to applied research. The MAA is more than just widely disseminating the results of a project, or listening to the views of a board of stakeholders. Multi-Actor Approach (MAA) and its requirements for all Cluster 6 destinations are defined in the introduction of the Cluster 6 work programme (WP) 21-22 (please see from page 19 to 21 of the WP).

A kérdésről egyébként az NKFIH az ÖMKI-vel együttműködésben 2021 májusában workshopot szervezett, amelynek előadásai a következő linken keresztül elérhetők: https://nkfih.gov.hu/hivatalrol/hivatal-rendezvenyei/tobbszereplos