Key factor groups in building successful multi-actor project proposals
Multi-actor (MA) project proposal preparation requires bringing together partners with different yet complementary expertise, skills, and knowledge, which can be a challenging task. Based on interviews, survey and workshops involving actors engaged with Horizon Europe, the PREMIERE project identified key factors that enable effective collaboration among farmers, advisers, researchers, businesses, and communities in preparing MA project proposals. These factors can be organised into five groups: (1) Predefined factors – aspects that emerge directly from the formulations used in the call and issues proposals are expected to react to; (2) Contextual factors – different socio-economic, political, cultural, sectoral, institutional backgrounds of partner organisations; (3) Motivation factors – aspects that shape the willingness of partners to be involved in the consortium and engage in the proposal development; (4) Relational factors – the power positions and links between partners; (5) Skill-related factors – experiences, knowledge, and skills of partners. The results of the survey show that, out of the explored 28 individual factors, the top five most highly ranked ones in terms of their importance across all factor groups for MA proposals have to do with a dedicated interest in the proposal and a good understanding of the requirements of the specific call topic. At the same time, strong leadership is needed in line with a wise delegation of tasks between the partners. More generally, success depends on motivated partners, strong coordination, mutual trust, contextual awareness, and timely planning – transforming proposals into true opportunities for collaboration and innovation. For more see 10.5281/zenodo.16778405
Preparing multi-actor projects in a co-creative way
Ongoing | 2023-2027
- Main funding source
- Horizon Europe (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
- Geographical location
- Germany, Estonia, France, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Romania, Spain, Poland, Slovenia, EU member states