Capacity-Building and Institutional Cooperation between Beneficiary State and Norwegian Public Institutions, Local and Regional Authorities

Programme Summary

Why is the programme needed? The programme is named “Strengthening Capacities of Hungarian Municipalities and Authorities with Norwegian Support” (scHUMANS). There is a need to strengthen institutional capacities and human resource development in public institutions, in particular on the level of local governments and in specific areas such as cultural heritage, disaster management and environment, where cooperation and exchange of experience with a Norwegian partner will bring added value. What will the programme achieve? The programme will support around ten projects in selected public administrations covering a number of sectors. The programme intends to improve both systems and structures and the competencies of the personnel working in the institutions to carry out their tasks. Furthermore, the programme will support improvement of the capacities of municipalities to foster local development and to improve public services. How will it be achieved? Three projects will be carried out by central governmental authorities: “Revealing the Economic and Social Potentials of Cultural Heritage” (Gyula Forster National Centre for Cultural Heritage Management, the Forster Centre). The Norwegian partners are the Directorate for Cultural Heritage, Norway and the Norwegian Ministry of Environment. This project will develop methodologies and tools to further enhance the socio-economic potential of cultural heritage and build up the capacity of public institutions dealing with cultural heritage in Hungary to work in this domain. “Capacity building of the disaster management system at local level” (National Directorate General for Disaster Management). The Norwegian partners are the Directorate for Civil Protection and Emergency Planning (DSB) and the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (NVE). This project will contribute to building up the organisational and human resource capacity of the local disaster management units in Hungary, and will include elaboration of a new operational system for disaster recovery and damage control. “Capacity building of the national and regional inspectorates to inspect and handle illegal trans-frontier transport of waste” (National Inspectorate for Environment, Nature and Water). The Norwegian partner is the Climate and Pollution Agency (KLIF). The project will build the capacity of public institutions involved in enforcing national, international and European Waste Shipment Rules. One project will be carried out by national associations of local governments: “Capacity-building in municipalities through Norwegian-Hungarian cooperation”. (Hungarian National Association of Local Authorities – TÖOSZ - in cooperation with other national associations of local governments). The Norwegian partners are the Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) and the Norwegian Agency for Lifelong Learning (Vox). The project aims to increase the knowledge and professionalism of local governments, share experiences and examples between Hungarian and Norwegian local governments and public institutions, and support local democracy through building the capacity of local governments associations in Hungary with support from KS. In addition, a limited number of projects that will enhance the capacities of local governments will be supported through an open call. All the projects will include a focus on gender issues that are specific to the area of intervention of each project. 10% of the total grant will be dedicated to gender issues. How will bilateral relations be strengthened? All the projects will be carried out in cooperation between a Hungarian institution and at least one Norwegian partner. Bilateral relations will be strengthened through cooperation on development and implementation of projects and through building institutional relationships between the cooperating partners that will foster mutual understanding of the public sectors areas involved and lay the ground for building institutional relations and creating networks in the longer term. The Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities (KS) and the Norwegian Agency for Lifelong Learning (Vox) are partners in the programme and contribute by exchanging experience from Norway. Besides the Norwegian partners in the pre-defined projects, Hungarian and Norwegian local governments will cooperate on developing and implementing the projects to enhance the capacities of local governments. Funds will be available to support search for partners for donor partnership projects prior to or during the preparation of a project application, and to develop project proposals. There will also be support for networking, exchange, sharing and transfer of knowledge, technology, experience and best practices between Project Promoters and entities in Norway. What are the partnership opportunities? The programme will support projects carried out by way of bilateral partnerships between Hungarian and Norwegian public institutions. The budget support for the projects will be between €500,000 and €1,500,000. There will be one open call in spring 2013 with a budget of over €4,000,000. Who can apply for funding under this programme? Hungarian local governments with Norwegian partners may apply.