During the initiating phase, the people involved ensure the alignment of the project idea to the call for proposal as well as the organisation’s strategic objectives, put together the information required to gain approval to continue to the designing stage. The main input of this phase is the call for proposal, which defines the overall objectives, priorities, and procedures for participating in the call, and leads to the identification of a need, problem, or opportunity for the organization.
The following activities are part of the Initiating Phase:
Fig. 4.3.- Overview of the Initiating Phase
The Project Submission Request and the Project Fiche define the initial project’s scope based on the actions and objectives set up in the call for proposal. The EU Project Manager (EUPM) and the Project Core Team (PCT) reference and use both throughout the project.
At the end of the Initiating Phase, the Grant Owner (GO) reviews the above documents and decides whether to allow the project to move forward.
During the Initiating Phase, it is crucial to set up a balanced partnership. EU-funded projects are generally carried by a consortium composed by several organizations coming from different EU or third countries. Three different kinds of organizations may be found in a consortium: Leader organization (Lead partner or Coordinator); Partner organization (or Implementing Partner), and Associate Partner Organization. For more information on partnerships, see).
The Leader organization generally sends a partnership invitation through a Project Fiche to potential partner organizations and associate partner organizations. After receiving a partnership invitation, each organization will have to evaluate internally the participation by drafting a Project Submission Request to get the approval by the organization board.
The activities and artefacts of the Initiating Phase are explained in Initiating phase - Activities and Artefacts