Call for projects “Green challenges 2021” Terms and conditions
CONTEXT
This call for projects is part of the UNI-ECO project. UNI-ECO is a “Strategic Partnership” co-financed by the Erasmus+ programme of the European Commission. The UNI-ECO project is an initiative led by the University of Montpellier in partnership with the University of Barcelona, the University of Utrecht, the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest and Trinity College Dublin (all members of the CHARM-EU European Universities alliance), as well as the university network UNIMED and the NGO CESIE.
This project aims at responding to the need to build social and environmental sustainability into the core ethos of modern universities. In the UNI-ECO project we wish to work toward more sustainable campuses, but it is students and HEI staff who will bring it to life by taking action.
During the first phase of the project, a “State of the Art on Sustainable Development in Higher Education Institutions” study was conducted. Analysing the results of the study across the partner institutions, which included university self-assessments and surveys of students and staff, priority areas for action were identified and common “Green Challenges” were set, forming the basis of the current call for project proposals.
OBJECTIVE
The objective of the “Green Challenges” campaign is to encourage campus users to get involved in the community by proposing mini-projects as part of UNI-ECO that promote good practices within the institution, and the exchange of ideas between the partner universities.
THEMES 2021
Each partner university manages its own internal call for projects within the framework of the “Green challenges” in 2021.
The common themes of the call for projects within “Green challenges 2021” have been defined as follows:
- Practices that will bring the university closer to a Zero Waste goal
- Reducing the carbon footprint related to transport at the university
- Actions to support and enhance biodiversity
- Reducing the environmental footprint of catering at the university
OPPORTUNITIES FOR PARTICIPANTS
Campus users will be able to challenge themselves by proposing their own team projects, or by supporting existing projects.
The teams formed to engage in the green challenges will have access to a dedicated online space, the “Living Lab”, where they will be able to obtain information, exchange ideas and coordinate the implementation of their mini-project.
Each institution can dedicate funding to support the implementation of the project, where justified as part of the application process; to be decided by the evaluation committee at each institution within the constraints of a small dedicated budget (details to be announced by each institution locally).
The best projects selected by each university will be presented by the team leader (and/or the representative chosen by the team) to the whole university community and the partner institutions at the UNI-ECO Summer School (place and date to be confirmed depending on the evolution of the pandemic situation). If applicable, the cost of travel and accommodation will be covered by the UNI-ECO project.
ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA FOR PARTICIPATION
In order to participate in a project, participants must be registered as a student or staff member at one of the partner institutions.
A team must consist of a minimum of two and a maximum of five participants, who may be from the same institution or from more than one partner institution.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Applications must be submitted on the dedicated platform hosted on the UNI-ECO project website: https://uni-eco.umontpellier.fr/
The UNI-ECO website is in English, but the application form is available in all the languages of the partner universities.
Each applicant team needs to complete the Green Challenges Application Form. For each pre-existing team, only one application must be made by the team leader.
There is the possibility for an individual to request participation as an additional team member in a project already proposed by a team on the platform, as long as the maximum number of five team members has not been reached. The request to participate will be automatically sent by email to the team leader of the project in question.
The team/team leader must assess the potential contribution of the new applicant to join the project team, within the maximum limit of five team members. It will be the responsibility of the team leader to respond to the applicant’s request as soon as possible and to communicate any resulting change(s) in team membership by email to uni-eco@umontpellier.fr
The deadline for applications is April 4th, 2021.
EVALUATION PROCEDURES & ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE RESULTS
An evaluation committee defined by each partner university will select a maximum of five projects to proceed as part of the UNI-ECO Green Challenges. Selection will be made on the basis of the description of the project received in the application form, based on the following criteria:
o Project feasibility and coherence in addressing the challenge
o Quality and originality
The results of the selection will be published by each university on its website on or before April 12th, 2021.
Each project team must submit a progress report on the development and implementation of their project to date by mid-June (date to be confirmed locally). The progress report will follow a standard format and will be submitted to the evaluation committee at the relevant partner university. Based on the progress report, the evaluation committee will select the best 2 or 3 projects for presentation at the UNI-ECO Summer School.
The main evaluation criteria will be:
o Project feasibility and coherence in addressing the challenge
o Communication, impact and added value
The sub-criteria will be:
o Analysis of needs, realistic objectives, measurable results
o Quality of the organization
o Potential for replicability
OBLIGATIONS OF THE SELECTED APPLICANTS
If selected, the applicant commits to implementing the project as presented in the application.
Each team will have to submit a progress report in the form of a PowerPoint presentation (a template will be provided) that can be accompanied by supporting documents (photos, videos, study, etc.). The deadline for sending the progress report to the evaluation committee will be confirmed by the evaluation committee locally.
The final results of the project will be published on the UNI-ECO website and could be used afterwards within the communications framework for the UNI-ECO project.
If selected among the best projects, the team will have to select at least one representative to attend the UNI-ECO Summer School to present their project and progress to date to the whole university community and the partner institutions. The date of the Summer School 2021 is to be confirmed.
OTHER INFORMATION
By submitting the application form, the applicant agrees with the terms and conditions of the call for projects.
To ensure data privacy, only the evaluation committees’ members will have access to the applicants’ personal data.
The organizing partner universities reserve the right to modify the conditions or to cancel this call for projects according to the evolution of the global pandemic.