TY - JOUR
T1 - HBM4EU from the Coordinator's perspective
T2 - lessons learnt from managing a large-scale EU project
AU - Kolossa-Gehring, Marike
AU - Pack, L. Kim
AU - Hülck, Kathrin
AU - Gehring, Thomas
N1 - Funding Information:
Second, project internal funding rates assigned to different activities were a particular source of budgetary conflict. HBM4EU had an overall funding rate of 70% from the EU research programme Horizon 2020 and 30% matching funds from the member states. However, there was agreement that some coordinating activities should have a funding rate of 100%. To compensate for a selective 100% funding rate and still stay within the overall project budget, all other activities had to receive somewhat less than 70% of EU funding. Therefore, the consortium agreed to and defined in the Consortium Agreement several categories of differing internal funding rates. For example, concept development was funded at 70%, while the conduct of HBM studies received only 50 percent of EU funding, as these studies were typically also for the benefit of the respective member states. However, the boundaries of categories were subject to interpretation and, accordingly, led to some conflict. To prevent such conflict, categorization of activities with different internal funding rates to compensate for 100% funding of coordination should be avoided. A single funding rate for all other activities would have precluded these conflicts.
Funding Information:
Budgetary issues are always of utmost concern for all project participants and bear high potential for conflicts within a consortium, unless clearly regulated from the beginning. The general allocation of funding for the project was defined in the Description of Action as part of the Grant Agreement, agreed upon with the European Commission. It was further specified in the respective Annual Work Plans. However, the need for resources could not always be exactly pinpointed in advance. Moreover, some tasks were not realized for different reasons and others were added later on, so that some resources were reallocated through the Annual Work Plans. Accordingly, many budgetary details remained open and needed to be decided on during the project lifetime. Detailed procedures and criteria for preparing and deciding on such changes to resource allocations can facilitate agreement and at the same time avoid conflicts and competition over these resources. Such procedures should be defined in the Consortium Agreement and comprise detailed guidance for the continuous and transparent monitoring of budgetary issues and regular budget reviews provided by the Coordinator.
Funding Information:
Major innovative elements of HBM4EU were taken up by the subsequent Partnership for the Assessment of Risk from Chemicals (PARC), which receives funding from the EU's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No 101057014. These elements include the established network of national and EU authorities and scientific institutions at the science-policy interface, the National Hub structure, the inclusion of EU agencies as partners and Governing Board members, and the interlinkage of national and EU agencies. HBM4EU provides a blueprint for EU funded large-scale projects targeting future policies for realizing the Green Deal and Zero Pollution Ambition in the field of chemicals, health, and environment. It offers a best practice example. Therefore, its experiences should be considered for similar, future endeavours and may contribute to the success of large-scale EU projects in other sectors.
Funding Information:
A project of this scale raises major management challenges. HBM4EU had an overall budget of nearly €74 million, of which roughly €50 million were funded by the European Union's research and innovation funding programme Horizon 2020. EU funding was complemented by roughly €24 million matching funds from participating countries. The project started in 2017 with 106 partners from 26 countries and the European Environment Agency (EEA). By the end of its lifetime, it had grown to 116 partners from 30 countries plus the EEA. It included more than 600 collaborators, mostly scientists from public authorities, research institutions and universities. The German Environment Agency was appointed as Coordinator of HBM4EU.
Funding Information:
The content of the Grant Agreement was largely pre-determined by, or negotiated with, the European Commission as the funding authority. The Grant Agreement defined the legal rights and obligations of the funding authority and the Grant Signatories. HBM4EU used a model Grant Agreement provided by the European Commission ( European Commission, 2014 ). Options in the model contract itself were selected according to the envisaged actions, which limited opportunities for proposing modifications. It its annexes, the Grant Agreement ( HBM4EU, 2016b ) outlined further structures (including budget and work package descriptions for the entire project runtime as well as descriptions of all partners, milestones and deliverables) for the work of the initiative.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022
PY - 2023/1
Y1 - 2023/1
N2 - We discuss some important management issues of the Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) from the perspective of the Coordinator that may be valuable for the design and management of similar projects. As a large-scale international collaborative project, HBM4EU comprised 118 institutions from 30 countries and the European Environment Agency and had a budget of about €74 million. It has set up an innovative cooperative network of national and EU authorities and scientific institutions at the science-policy interface. A project of this scale raises major management challenges and requires transparent, efficient, and well-organized administrative and scientific steering structures. We present four major points: First, prior to the beginning of the project, the Consortium Agreement needs to be well elaborated to prevent conflicts during the project lifetime. Second, a strong role for national and EU policy-making authorities in the administrative governance structure enhances the interest of recipients of project results. Third, large-scale international collaborative projects need an elaborate and well-financed scientific governance structure. Fourth, a differentiation of funding rates among project activities threatens to create conflicts. HBM4EU provides a prototype for EU funded large-scale projects targeting future policies for realizing the Green Deal and Zero Pollution Ambition in the field of chemicals, health, and environment.
AB - We discuss some important management issues of the Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) from the perspective of the Coordinator that may be valuable for the design and management of similar projects. As a large-scale international collaborative project, HBM4EU comprised 118 institutions from 30 countries and the European Environment Agency and had a budget of about €74 million. It has set up an innovative cooperative network of national and EU authorities and scientific institutions at the science-policy interface. A project of this scale raises major management challenges and requires transparent, efficient, and well-organized administrative and scientific steering structures. We present four major points: First, prior to the beginning of the project, the Consortium Agreement needs to be well elaborated to prevent conflicts during the project lifetime. Second, a strong role for national and EU policy-making authorities in the administrative governance structure enhances the interest of recipients of project results. Third, large-scale international collaborative projects need an elaborate and well-financed scientific governance structure. Fourth, a differentiation of funding rates among project activities threatens to create conflicts. HBM4EU provides a prototype for EU funded large-scale projects targeting future policies for realizing the Green Deal and Zero Pollution Ambition in the field of chemicals, health, and environment.
KW - Coordination
KW - HBM4EU
KW - Horizon2020
KW - Large scale EU project
KW - Management
KW - Project governance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85141993996&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.114072
DO - 10.1016/j.ijheh.2022.114072
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:85141993996
VL - 247
JO - International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health
JF - International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health
SN - 1438-4639
M1 - 114072
ER -