Ljubljana, 17 October 2018 – Innovation Norway, the Fund Operator of the Social Dialogue – Decent Work programme which is implemented under Norway Grants held a launch and networking event to present the programme and the respective call for proposals.
His Excellency Olav Berstad, Ambassador of Royal Norwegian Embassy in Hungary, in his welcome address presented the arrangements for the EEA and Norway Grants in Slovenia in the current funding period. The Ambassador continued to underline that the donor countries were pleased with the results and successful cooperation delivered by Slovenian authorities in the previous period, and that they looked forward to further cooperation.
The event gathered representatives of Norwegian institutions, social partners, NGOs and the National Focal Point.
Facts and figures about the programme and call for proposals
Ms Trine Berggren from Innovation Norway, the Fund Operator for the 2014–2021 Social Dialogue – Decent Work programme, briefed the participants on the programme. The programme will be implemented in 13 beneficiary states under the Norway Grants to strengthen tripartite cooperation between employer organisations, trade unions and public authorities, and to promote decent work.
Funding totalling EUR 172,660 is available for projects in Slovenia. The programme provides grants amounting to a minimum of EUR 20,000 and a maximum of EUR 86,330, while the maximum co-financing rate may stand at up to 90 %.
Entities eligible to apply for funding include social partners (employer organisations and trade unions), public authorities, institutions and organisations active in the field of decent work or tripartite dialogue. These entities can also act as project partners, just like business associations and organisations, enterprises, NGOs, educational and research institutions active in the field of social dialogue and/or decent work.
Both the Ambassador and the Innovation Norway representatives highlighted the added value of cooperation with Norwegian partners, and encouraged participants to develop more bilateral projects. In order to stimulate establishment of bilateral partnerships, Innovation Norway published a call for travel support.
Stage of the call for proposals
The call for proposals will soon be finalised and will be published once the programme has been presented in all beneficiary states. Online applications in English should be submitted to the Fund Operator Innovation Norway in February 2019.
Mr Konrad Konieczny, representative of Innovation Norway outlined the key steps of completing and submitting the application form online. The selected project operators will sign a contract with Innovation Norway. The projects should kick start in the second half of 2019, and should run for 2 or 3 years.
The call for proposals will be published on the programme official website.
Project ‘’Decent Project for Decent Work’’
The Association of Free Trade Unions of Slovenia presented the project Decent Project for Decent Work which ran in the funding period 2009–2014; it highlighted its outputs, achievements and shared the experience with implementing the project under the Norway Grants.
Potential partners from Norway
Representatives from Norwegian institutions willing to participate in bilateral projects or to offer help in finding potential partners from Norway were invited to attend the event. Mr Henrik Munthe from Confederation of Norwegian Enterprise, Ms Siri Relling from Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions and Ms Gunnbjørg Naavik from Norwegian Association of Local and Regional Authorities – KS talked about their institutions, areas of work, and shared their experience with helping implement EEA and Norway Grants.
The event was carried out to enable networking, sharing project ideas and meeting potential partners to develop bilateral projects.
Presentation about the Programme
Any information about the Social Dialogue – Decent Work programme may be obtained by addressing the questions in English at decentwork@innovationnorway.no