News
Edit 06 April 2018
184 applications received for the 3rd Call for Proposals!
On 30 March, a total of 184 applications were successfully submitted to the UIA initiative. This article provides a sneak preview of 3rd Call statistics and an insight into which Member States are the most represented, the most popular topics, the type and size of urban authorities and delivery partners involved or the size of partnerships.
Strong and renewed interest from all over the EU
The UIA initiative received applications from 21 Member States. As for the two first Calls, Italy and Spain clearly stand out in terms of interest shown for this Call, with over 50% of the total number of applications coming from these two countries. France and Greece are then coming third and fourth in terms of number of applications submitted, reflecting also previous participation to UIA Calls. Compared to previous years, the 2018 Call sees the greater participation of Eastern European urban authorities; notably from Romania, Hungary and Bulgaria. Finally, it is worth noticing that for the first time in the UIA initiative, an application from an outermost region (Mayotte, France) has been submitted.
All four Call topics addressed
The four Call topics have seen uneven interest from applicants. Returning from Call 1 (where it was the most popular topic), Jobs and Skills in the local economy has confirmed it is a topic of great interest for urban authorities across the EU. With 66 applications (36% of the overall number of applications), it is the most popular topic of this Call for Proposals.
The three other topics (addressed for the first time in the framework of a UIA Call for Proposals) have seen a relatively even number of applications submitted: Adaptation to climate change (43), Housing (40) and Air quality (35).
The four Call topics have seen uneven interest from applicants. Returning from Call 1 (where it was the most popular topic), Jobs and Skills in the local economy has confirmed it is a topic of great interest for urban authorities across the EU. With 66 applications (36% of the overall number of applications), it is the most popular topic of this Call for Proposals.
The three other topics (addressed for the first time in the framework of a UIA Call for Proposals) have seen a relatively even number of applications submitted: Adaptation to climate change (43), Housing (40) and Air quality (35).
Some geographical trends can be noted for the different topics
Jobs and skills in the local economy shows the wider territorial spread among applicants, with 15 Member States represented. Cities from South and Eastern Europe have shown a clear interest in working on solutions to improve the air quality, with most of the proposals submitted under this topic coming from Italy, Greece and Romania.
On the contrary, the Adaptation to climate change topic has received applications from 10 countries. The latter topic furthermore shows a clear territorial divide, with the majority of proposals from Southern and Western Member States and no single applications submitted from Central and Eastern European Member States. On the other hand, adaptation to climate change seems to be a predominant topic of interest (where most applicants have been submitted in these countries) for Spain, Portugal or Sweden; reflecting their greater expected exposure to some predicted effects of climate change.
Different trends can also be noted for Italy and Spain, from where the majority of all applications received originate. Italian urban authorities have more or less applied evenly to the different topics, whereas Spanish municipalities and organized agglomerations mostly focused on two topics: ‘Adaptation to climate change’ and ‘Jobs and Skills in the local economy.
Jobs and skills in the local economy shows the wider territorial spread among applicants, with 15 Member States represented. Cities from South and Eastern Europe have shown a clear interest in working on solutions to improve the air quality, with most of the proposals submitted under this topic coming from Italy, Greece and Romania.
On the contrary, the Adaptation to climate change topic has received applications from 10 countries. The latter topic furthermore shows a clear territorial divide, with the majority of proposals from Southern and Western Member States and no single applications submitted from Central and Eastern European Member States. On the other hand, adaptation to climate change seems to be a predominant topic of interest (where most applicants have been submitted in these countries) for Spain, Portugal or Sweden; reflecting their greater expected exposure to some predicted effects of climate change.
Different trends can also be noted for Italy and Spain, from where the majority of all applications received originate. Italian urban authorities have more or less applied evenly to the different topics, whereas Spanish municipalities and organized agglomerations mostly focused on two topics: ‘Adaptation to climate change’ and ‘Jobs and Skills in the local economy.
The full spectrum of EU urban authorities’ size represented
Over 275 urban authorities are involved in applications submitted under the 3rd Call for Proposals. The size and repartition of the urban authorities applying to this 3rd Call is very similar to previous Calls. The core audience (57%) remains cities between 25 000 and 250 000 inhabitants, which is in line with the average European urban fabric. 44% of the applying urban authorities are towns with less than 50 000 inhabitants - and have therefore opted for a joint bid with other municipalities - whereas 17% of the applicants are large cities above 250 000 inhabitants.
A large variety of partners involved
With an average number of 7,6 partners involved (slightly higher than for the first (6,9) and second (7,3) Calls), submitted applications largely promote horizontal (and vertical to a lesser extent) integration. Over 1 100 organisations participate as Delivery Partners in submitted applications.
The Triple Helix paradigm is thus strongly promoted in submitted projects, with a notable strong involvement of the private sector (large enterprises and SMEs) accounting to almost 30% of all delivery partners. Higher education institutes (25%) and NGOs (12%) are the two other most represented types of organisations.
With an average number of 7,6 partners involved (slightly higher than for the first (6,9) and second (7,3) Calls), submitted applications largely promote horizontal (and vertical to a lesser extent) integration. Over 1 100 organisations participate as Delivery Partners in submitted applications.
The Triple Helix paradigm is thus strongly promoted in submitted projects, with a notable strong involvement of the private sector (large enterprises and SMEs) accounting to almost 30% of all delivery partners. Higher education institutes (25%) and NGOs (12%) are the two other most represented types of organisations.
ERDF request
Although projects could ask for up to EUR 5 million of ERDF budget, on average Call 3 applications ask for around a EUR 3.9 million ERDF contribution (slightly above Calls 1 and 2 situations (ca. 3.6 Mio)). The largest ERDF request contribution is EUR 5 million and the smallest is 0.76 million.
Although projects could ask for up to EUR 5 million of ERDF budget, on average Call 3 applications ask for around a EUR 3.9 million ERDF contribution (slightly above Calls 1 and 2 situations (ca. 3.6 Mio)). The largest ERDF request contribution is EUR 5 million and the smallest is 0.76 million.
