How to design a successful learning process?

News

14 April 2017

By Joint secretariat

Are you preparing an application for the Interreg Europe third call for proposals? Are you wondering how to design your project methodology? Why is it so important? What are the main steps you should take to reach your objectives? How can you ensure overall coherence in the methodology?

As a capacity building programme, Interreg Europe finances activities which aim primarily at increasing the skills of the partners and stakeholders involved. The learning process is therefore the key driver for achieving policy change.

The INTERREG IVC exchange of experience study in 2012 showed that there was no magic recipe ensuring a successful learning process. There are many ways to organise this process among partners. The approach may depend, for instance, on the number of partners involved, the history of the partnership or the project duration. You might opt for a ‘simple working method’ based on traditional networking activities, such as thematic seminars, workshops and study visits, etc. Alternatively, you could opt for a more ‘developed and differentiated’ approach based on sophisticated tools such as joint analyses, case studies and peer reviews.

Even without a magic recipe, the study highlighted a few important ingredients to bear in mind:

First, ensure that learning takes place at different levels. This means not only at the individual level. Make sure the knowledge is also channelled to the organisation involved in the project and to external stakeholders.

Second, ensure that each learning activity is well thought through and of high quality in terms of preparation, implementation and follow up.

Third, ensure that you have an integrated approach. It means that each single activity should be logically combined with another so that a clear path for learning is designed by the project.

Remember that simple can be beautiful and efficient. What matters is that you find your own way to organise an exchange of experience process adapted to the needs of the participating regions.

If you want to discover more on how to design a successful learning process as well as on how to measure the project performance, join our webinar on designing project methodology on Wednesday 26 April.

This event is part of a series of lead applicant webinars: