Call for Providers: Invitation to register in the SKIFT Project Registry of providers for the social economy

The SKIFT project, titled "Skills for Transition - Increasing the Impact of Small Social Economy Enterprises," has launched a Call for Providers to register in the SKIFT Project Registry of service providers. The opening date for applications was November 29, 2024, with a submission deadline of June 29, 2025, at 17:00 Brussels time. This call will remain open as long as funding is available, with a total funding amount of €484,200.

Eligible applicants include training providers, universities, research organizations, expert or counseling entities, and individuals established in EU Member States, EEA countries, and nations associated with the COSME part of the Single Market Programme. Applicants must demonstrate expertise in relevant services related to the green transition for small and micro cooperative and social economy enterprises. They also need to be registered within the SKIFT Project Registry by the deadline and must not have conflicts of interest with project partners.

The application process involves completing an online form, submitting required documents including a Declaration of Honour, and sending these to selected implementing partner organizations in Denmark, Italy, or Poland. Submitted applications must be in English or other admitted project languages: Danish, Italian, or Polish. All eligible applications will be reviewed against defined criteria, and those meeting the criteria will be included in the SKIFT Project Registry, allowing social economy enterprises to select them for service contracts.

The services sought from providers include self-assessment and identification of improvement measures, raising awareness activities, communication and marketing strategies, stimulating local green value chains, and creating new business areas pertaining to green transition. While the total funding is €484,200, the actual funding each provider may receive will vary based on contracts with the enterprises.

The application process is described as single-stage with a possible re-evaluation for complaints regarding rejection decisions. There is no co-funding requirement mentioned, and while exact success rates are not defined, eligible applications that meet the required services are likely to enjoy a high chance of being included in the registry.

For additional information or inquiries about this opportunity, several partner organizations are designated as contact points in Denmark and Italy. These organizations are responsible for overseeing the selection and registration processes and for ensuring compliance with the eligibility criteria under the SKIFT project.

In summary, this initiative aims to facilitate the green transition for small and micro social economy enterprises by providing access to qualified service providers, promoting sustainability and enhancing operational capabilities within these organizations.

The SKIFT project is issuing a Call for Providers to register in the SKIFT Project Registry of providers for the social economy. The opening date for submissions was November 29, 2024, and the deadline for submission is June 29, 2025, at 17:00 (Brussels time). The call will remain open as long as funding is available. The total funding available is 484,200.00 EUR. The project acronym is SKI.F.T., and the full name of the EU funded project is Skills for transition – increasing the impact of small social economy enterprises. The grant agreement number is 101126777. The topic is SMP-COSME-2022-SEE-01 - Greening SMEs in the proximity and social economy ecosystem through transnational co-operation.

This invitation is addressed to training providers, universities and other organizations active in the field of advanced education and research organizations, and expert/counselling entities and individuals.

Providers must meet the following requirements:

1) Proven expertise in the service(s) they aim to provide.
2) Be a legal entity or be a natural person and a VAT holder.
3) Be established/registered (legal office) in one of the following countries: EU Member State, EEA countries and countries associated to the COSME part of the Single Market Programme, or countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature.
4) Be registered within the SKIFT Registry of providers for the social economy, at the latest by the deadline of this Call and before signing the service contract with the awarded applicant.
5) Not have a conflict of interest with the SKIFT project partners.
6) Not have a conflict of interest with the social enterprise leading the application they are participating in.

The provider is responsible for the correctness of fulfilling the above-stated criteria and of the information they submit in the registration form. Selected providers must commit to join the SKIFT Project Registry of providers for the social economy, hosted on the project website, for the whole selection and evaluation process and the duration of the agreement with the project partner in charge of managing the local Registry within the SKI.F.T. SKILLS FOR TRANSITION project.

Eligible providers must submit their Applications in English or admitted languages of the project (Danish, English, Italian and Polish) only by:

Completing the application form at this online link: https://forms.office.com/e/ykdHLHuHKR?origin=lprLink

Select one of the implementing partner organization and send via email to the selected organization (see section 8) the following annexes:

Declaration of Honour (you can upload it here: https://skift.kooperationen.dk/open-calls/call-for-providers/)
Registration Act or Revenue Agency Certificate for VAT holders
Chamber of commerce certificate or Statute, if available.

Please specify in the object of the email: “SKIFT - CALL PROVIDER - Name of the provider”. By submitting the application form, organizations agree to comply with the list of provisions stated in the application form. Each service provider can submit one application only and will receive an email acknowledgment of the submission of the application.

All applications received will be reviewed by the Consortium against the eligibility criteria described under “TYPES OF SERVICES” and “PROVIDERS REQUIREMENTS & ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA”.

The following applications will be deemed ineligible:

With no or incomplete attachments
Not submitted by an eligible applicant
Submitted in languages other than English, Danish, Italian and Polish.

All eligible applications that can provide at least one of the services will be included in the SKIFT Project Registry of providers for the social economy for the project SKI.F.T. SKILLS FOR TRANSITION. The SKIFT Project Registry of providers will be published on the SKIFT official website (https://skift.kooperationen.dk/open-calls/call-for-providers/).

Validation criteria:

Relevant products and services
Relevant expertise and consolidated experience
Filled in English or Danish, Italian and Polish
Additional assets: Experience in providing products/services into or partnering with the social economy sector, specifically related to improving green transition

All applicants will be informed via email provided in the application form of the outcome of the validation process. The validation process will last no longer than 14 working days. The validated providers will be part of the SKIFT Project Registry of providers for the social economy, but it will be the social economy enterprises who will choose the service provider and buy the services and pay for them.

In case of manifest procedural errors or shortcomings envisaged by applicants and affecting the final decision on whether to be included in the registry, concerned organizations may inquire about the reasons for the rejection of their application by sending an email within 10 calendar days after the communication of the results to the contacts specified in section 8 (https://skift.kooperationen.dk/open-calls/call-for-providers/). The funding entity will answer within 10 calendar days and, under request, will supply an unsigned version of the evaluation forms. In case the complaint is grounded, a re-evaluation procedure will take place: the submitted application will be re-evaluated by the Evaluation Committee, analyzing the former evaluation forms and the issue of the complaint; eligibility will be checked again (administrative documents, call requirements, etc.) and a new evaluation will be carried out. This evaluation is the final one.

TYPES OF SERVICES THAT PROVIDERS SHOULD BE ABLE TO PROVIDE:

SELF-ASSESSMENT AND IDENTIFICATION OF IMPROVEMENT MEASURES: Cost-benefit analysis of investments in the green transition, ESG assessment, impact measurement, environmental sustainability certifications (non-exhaustive list).

RAISING AWARENESS ACTIVITIES: Among workers and/or management regarding environmental conduct in/out of the workplace (non-exhaustive list).

COMMUNICATION AND MARKETING: Identification of strategies and tools to communicate the added value to stakeholders of all the activities carried out in continuous improvement (non-exhaustive list).

STIMULATING THE CREATION OF LOCAL GREEN VALUE CHAINS: Promoting cooperation, support in the creation of local network contracts (non-exhaustive list).

CREATING A NEW BUSINESS AREA: In the field of green transition, adopting sustainable business models, adopting the stakeholder theory within their business (non-exhaustive list).

To better understand the call, applicants are invited to read about the project, objectives and activities on the project website (https://skift.kooperationen.dk/open-calls/call-for-providers/) and national partner website.

For questions, please contact one of the organizations below:

KOOPERATIONEN, Denmark, skift@kooperationen.dk
CSA COESI, Italy, skift@coesi.coop
DEMETRA FORMAZIONE, Italy, progettazione@demetraformazione.it
LEGACOOP EMILIA-ROMAGNA, Italy, mastrogiacomo@emilia-romagna.legacoop.it
Fundacja Inicjatyw Społeczno-Ekonomicznych FISE, Poland, skift.info@fise.org.pl

Selected providers will provide capacity building services aimed to support the development of small and micro cooperative and social economy enterprises (SEs) for green transition which benefit from financial support granted through the Call for financial support in phase 2 of the SKIFT project. The type of services include stimulating the creation of local green value chains, self-assessment and identification of improvement measures, raising awareness activities, communication and marketing, creating a new business area, etc.

In summary, this call is an invitation for service providers to register in the SKIFT Project Registry. The SKIFT project aims to support small and micro social economy enterprises in their green transition. Registered providers will offer capacity building services in areas such as self-assessment, awareness raising, communication, value chain creation, and new business model development. Social enterprises benefiting from financial support in the SKIFT project's second phase will then select and pay for these services from the registered providers. The call is open to various types of organizations and individuals with relevant expertise, provided they meet the eligibility criteria and commit to joining the SKIFT Project Registry. The overall goal is to facilitate the green transition of social economy enterprises by providing them with access to qualified service providers.

Eligible Applicant Types: The invitation is addressed to training providers, universities and other organizations active in the field of advanced education and research organizations, and expert/counseling entities and individuals. Therefore, eligible applicant types include training providers, universities, research organizations, expert/counseling entities, and individuals.

Funding Type: This opportunity is a procurement where selected providers will be included in a registry and then social economy enterprises will choose the service provider, buy the services, and pay for them. Therefore, the funding type is a service contract.

Consortium Requirement: The opportunity is for single applicants.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): Applicants must be established/registered (legal office) in an EU Member State, EEA countries, and countries associated with the COSME part of the Single Market Programme, or countries in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement that enters into force before grant signature.

Target Sector: The program targets the social economy and green transition, specifically focusing on capacity building services for small and micro cooperative and social economy enterprises (SEs) to support their green transition. The specific areas of service include stimulating the creation of local green value chains, self-assessment and identification of improvement measures, raising awareness activities, communication and marketing, and creating a new business area.

Mentioned Countries: Denmark, Italy, Poland.

Project Stage: The project stage is focused on providing services to support the green transition of existing small and micro social economy enterprises. This suggests a focus on implementation and improvement of existing business practices rather than early-stage research or development. Therefore, the project stage is best described as implementation and capacity building.

Funding Amount: The total funding available is 484,200.00 €. However, this is the total funding available for the project, not the amount that individual service providers will receive. The actual funding amount for each service provider will depend on the contracts they secure with the social economy enterprises. Therefore, the funding amount per provider is variable.

Application Type: The application type is an open call.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of service contracts from social economy enterprises that utilize the SKIFT Project Registry.

Application Stages: The application process appears to be single-stage, involving submission of an application, review against eligibility criteria, and validation. If successful, the applicant is included in the SKIFT Project Registry. There is a possibility of re-evaluation if a complaint is grounded. Therefore, the number of application stages is 1, with a possible re-evaluation stage.

Success Rates: The success rate is not explicitly stated, but all eligible applications that can provide at least one of the services will be included in the SKIFT Project Registry. This suggests a relatively high success rate for eligible applicants in being included in the registry. However, actual success in securing contracts with social economy enterprises will depend on the competitiveness of the provider and the needs of the enterprises. Therefore, the success rate for being included in the registry is likely high (40 to 79%), but the success rate for securing contracts is other.

Co-funding Requirement: There is no mention of a co-funding requirement for the service providers.

Summary:

This opportunity is a call for providers to register in the SKIFT Project Registry of providers for the social economy. The SKIFT project aims to support the green transition of small and micro cooperative and social economy enterprises (SEs). The call is open to training providers, universities, research organizations, expert/counseling entities, and individuals established in EU Member States, EEA countries, and countries associated with the COSME part of the Single Market Programme, or countries in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement that enters into force before grant signature.

Eligible providers must demonstrate expertise in providing services related to self-assessment and identification of improvement measures, raising awareness activities, communication and marketing, stimulating the creation of local green value chains, and creating new business areas in the field of green transition.

The application process involves completing an online application form and submitting required annexes to one of the implementing partner organizations in Denmark, Italy, or Poland. Applications must be submitted in English, Danish, Italian, or Polish.

All eligible applications will be included in the SKIFT Project Registry, which will be published on the SKIFT official website. Social economy enterprises participating in the SKIFT project will then select service providers from the registry and contract them directly for capacity building services. The total funding available for the SKIFT project is 484,200.00 €, but the actual funding received by each service provider will depend on the contracts they secure with the social economy enterprises. This is essentially a procurement opportunity where the SKIFT project is creating a marketplace of pre-approved service providers for social economy enterprises to utilize.