Mr Carpano, as coordinator of the RMSU you are very busy at the moment organizing the Euromed Heritage Conference in June. What do you expect from this event?
The event is the first occasion for Euromed Heritage Partners I and II to meet and to share lessons learned. As a matter of fact, my experience after 5 months of work with Euromed Heritage partners showed that projects tend to work in isolation without exchanging experiences and comparing them with those of other projects. My expectation is therefore, that the participants will be able to understand each others projects after the conference.
What will be the main features of the Conference?
I am eager to follow the session on Programme sustainability on EH I. This issue is generally approached by a unilateral perspective restricted to the financial angle: “When the EC will release new financial resources”? I like different perspectives and therefore I look forward to seeing the view-points of the evaluator on the performances of EH I. To this extent I know that relations with national institutions will be one of the pillars for reinforcing project sustainability.
In addition to that, the Conference recalls Euromed Heritage within the Barcelona process. At this point in time and immediately after the enlargement, its is important to balance the enlargement towards east with a growing interest from our immediate neighbours.
Last but not least, I expect the presentation of the Euromed Heritage Partnership plate as a means to foster relations and to consolidate the growing Euromed Heritage community.
Since the beginning of the RMSU mandates, something is moving in the Euromed Heritage Programme, for once projects are aware of each other...
Yes! I could not agree more. I visited a project in a Member State and I was surprised that they did not know the name of partners from the same country involved in other projects. The directory “Projects and partners”, which the RMSU is preparing and will distribute at the conference will prove, I hope, a useful tool to know “who is who” in the Euromed Heritage programme.
Since the launch of the Euromed Heritage website you have received several messages of interested people. What do they ask you?
So far the main questions are related to contract implementation. It is important to bear in mind that the management of a EC contract is a job “per-se” and not a part-time engagement. The Euromed Heritage community is composed of actors with limited experience of EC fund management. Since projects are evaluated on the basis of their results, and results are linked to project management, the RMSU is ready to coach project managers on this vital subject.
Roberto Carpano is the Coordinator of the Regional Management and Support Unit (RMSU) for the Euromed Heritage programme.
