Activities

Work-package No	Workpackage title	Lead contractor
	Systematic exchange of information and best practices
	Task 1: Definition of scope and characteristics of ARD programmes
	Task 2: Mapping of national ARD programmes
	Task 3: Information exchange on governance of ARD programmes
	Strategic activities
	Task 1: Definition of the potential for greater European integration and synergy of (or parts of) the national ARD programmes.
	Task 2: Identification of innovative approaches and institutional arrangements for implementing joint ARD sub-programmes
	Task 3+: Strategies for improved relevance of EU ARD programmes with respect to MDGs
	Task 4: Strategic positioning of European ARD.
	Implementation of joint activities
	Task 1: Formulation of action plans for each of the two selected priority ARD sub-programmes identified during the strategic thinking phase.
	Task 2: Design of common or compatible methodologies for ARD planning, monitoring and evaluation and impact assessment.
	Task 3: Strengthening the contribution and impact of European ARD in the regional and global ARD systems.
	Transnational research activities
	Task 1: Identification of consolidated mechanisms for resource allocation for ARD sub-programmes
	Task 2: Implementation of transnational activities for one selected ARD sub-programme.
	Task 3: Joint monitoring and evaluation of the selected ARD sub-programme.
	Project coordination and management

Systematic exchange of information and best practices
As already emphasized in the presentation of the objectives of ERA-ARD, the main challenge to be addressed by this Workpackage is to develop a common understanding and a shared definition of what is ARD for each participating country and then to map what they consider as their national ARD programmes with their modes of governance.
Each participating country will then have to prepare a detailed and comprehensive national report on its national ARD programme. Based on these reports, the Task Manager and Workpackage Leader (NL) will prepare a document that will propose an inclusive and shared definition of ARD.
At the same time, the German partner who is already managing the European information system on ARD projects and organisations, EARD-InfoSys+, will start developing templates to facilitate the mapping of the national ARD programmes and the gathering of information on the different modes of governance.
The WP Leader will then organise a workshop (WS1) to discuss and agree on an ARD definition and on the proposed templates. This workshop will be scheduled at the same time as the first "kick-off" Steering Committee meeting (SC1) and the first Management Team meeting (MT1).
The mapping exercises will then start under the supervision of the Task Manager (DE) by using the agreed templates and the EARD-InfoSys+ platform. The results of the mapping exercises will then be compiled in descriptive synthesis reports by the Task Manager and presented to the Steering Committee. These results will be used as inputs to WP2 and WP3.

Strategic activities
The first task (Task Manager: FR) will be to analyse the results of the mapping of the national ARD programmes of the participating countries and to identify and prioritize the sub-programmes which can benefit the most from joint and transnational activities. A workshop (WS2) will be organised to discuss these results and decide on the two sub-programmes for which joint activities will be planned and implemented.
A specificity of ARD programmes is the absolute necessity to link knowledge generation, knowledge transfer and capacity-building (see B.2.1). As a consequence, the second task under this WP is for the Task Manager (CH) to analyse the approaches and institutional arrangements identified under WP1 that could contribute to maximizing synergy between research and capacity-building and to propose innovative mechanisms that will facilitate the implementation of joint activities. The results will be presented during a workshop (WS3) which will be organised back-to-back with WS2. A Management Team meeting will be organised at the same time.

The third task (Task Manager: NL) is to initiate and lead a brainstorming exercise on what is (based on the results of WP1) and what could/should be (foresight study) the European contribution to ARD worldwide. This should result in the development of a European shared ARD vision and a strategic agenda for ARD in Europe. These results will be discussed during a workshop (WS4). Considering the importance of these results and the fact that they will be produced at the mid-term of the project, a conference will be organised immediately after the workshop to present the results achieved so far by the project. This conference will be organised by CIRAD, Coordinator of the project, as an activity of Task 5.4. Both, the workshop and the conference will be organised in Belgium and will be followed by a Steering Committee and a Management Team meetings.
The first two tasks being directly under the control of the ERA-ARD partners, the main risk under this Workpackage relates to the capacity of the ERA-ARD partners to mobilize and convince other European countries to endorse the shared ARD vision and the strategic agenda for ARD in Europe. This risk will be minimized by having close and regular consultations with the other European countries and the existing ARD coordination mechanisms such as EIARD and EFARD during the formulation process. Once more, the main asset is the critical mass of the European ARD community that the participating countries represent.

Implementation of joint activities
After the decision of the Steering Committee to select two ARD sub-programmes, the Task Manager and Workpackage Leader (AU) will mobilise the managers of these sub-programmes in each participating country and will constitute two "expert groups" which will meet twice over a period of 5 months to develop an action plan identifying specific joint activities. These two action plans will then be validated by the Steering Committee and implemented. A first evaluation of progress achieved in implementing these action plans will be carried out by the Task Manager after a period of six months.
In addition to the problem of a common ARD definition mentioned earlier, another challenging issue is that each country has developed its own ARD programme management system in terms of planning and priority-setting, monitoring and evaluation, and impact assessment methodologies. Under Task 2 (Task Manager: CH) a Task Force of experts in research programme management (one per consortium member) will be established. As this Task Force addresses a "generic" issue, it can start its work rather early in the implementation of the project (month 9). This Task Force will work mainly through electronic consultations but will meet twice over a period of 12 months. The Task Force will present its results to the Steering Committee and, when approved, will draft guidelines that could serve as "common standards" for ARD planning, monitoring and evaluation and impact assessment in Europe.
Building on the shared ARD vision and the strategic agenda, the third task (Task Manager: AU) under this WP3 will be to translate the strategic agenda into an action plan with concrete joint activities that will strengthen the contribution of European ARD to regional and global ARD systems.
The implementation of this WP3 does not present many difficulties as basically all activities are under the responsibility and at the initiative of the partners. Once more, the only risk that can be identified is in relation to the "scaling-up" of the results of the project and their adoption at the European level. This is particularly true for the question of "common standards" and the action plan to implement the strategic agenda. This risk will be limited by using the same mechanisms as those mentioned for WP2.

Transnational research activities
The prerequisite for launching transnational research activities is to get a better understanding of the resource allocation mechanisms put in place by each partner to support its ARD programme. The Task Manager and Workpackage Leader (DK) will lead a review of the different mechanisms in the participating countries, in particular the funding mechanisms and the legal and administrative constraints which can limit the implementation of jointly funded activities. The results will then be presented and discussed at a workshop (WS5).
After the decision of the Steering Committee on the first ARD sub-programme which will benefit from transnational research activities, a workshop (WS6) will be organized by the Task Manager (DK) with the countries that have agreed to participate in this process to elaborate an action plan. An expert group will be constituted of the national decision-makers of this ARD sub-programme and exchange meetings between them will be organised by the Task Manager to increase common understanding, to solve potential difficulties and to accelerate trust-building between them. Two follow-up meetings over 12 months are scheduled for this expert group to closely monitor the progress made in the implementation of these transnational activities.

Finally, three (3) members of the Task Force on programme management established under Task 3.2 will be selected by the Steering Committee to monitor and evaluate the selected sub-programme using the common standards defined by the Task Force. These experts will meet twice and will present their results in a workshop (WS7) which will take place just before the completion of the project. This workshop will, in fact, be combined with the last Steering Committee and Management Team meetings.
The only risk in the implementation of this Workpackage is clearly the willingness and commitment of a sufficient number of partners to pull their resources to develop a transnational ARD sub-programme. This risk can be minimised by a careful selection of the ARD sub-programme which should involve many partners and be a priority for each of them.

Project coordination and management
This Workpackage covers both some coordination activities which are not covered by the other Workpackages as well as the management of the project. CIRAD is in charge of this Workpackage and has a wide experience of managing research projects funded by the European Commission.
The six tasks identified under this Workpackage have been detailed in the section on project management describing the role of the Coordinator (B.6.3).
The main risk which could occur in the implementation of this Workpackage would result from difficult or conflictual relationships between the Coordinator and the other partners of the project. The fact that this project has matured over a period of two years under the same leadership, has lead to trust-building between the partners. In addition, all members have unanimously asked the Coordinator to assume this function. These are two strong arguments indicating that this risk is likely to be minimal.