Within European projects, PNO Consultants regularly joins in as consortium partner in project management and project compliance. We did so for the AgriChemWhey project, a Horizon 2020 project within the bioeconomy. In this article, the first in a series, we share our project experiences to help you operate within an (international) multi-partner project. You can also download our H2020 checklist!

About our partnerships within AgriChemWhey

In our AgriChemWhey H2020 Flagship project – which seeks to build a first-of-a kind, industrial-scale bio-refinery which will take by-products from the dairy processing industry – PNO offers a compliance support for all partners that have questions about regulations and rules they have to comply with. Immediately after the official start of the project, we have also offered a tailored training to a number of project partners. The goal was to show them what the demands are surrounding periodic reports, their application and calculation methods. We answered questions such as:

• What is a PM (‘person month’, around 144 work hours)
• How are personnel costs calculated?
• What costs are applicable and can be reclaimed?

Our tips for working with multiple partners

Based on our collaboration within this project, there are six tips we would like to share with you.

1. Set up project tools for monitoring and decide follow-up methods right from the beginning of the project.
2. It is very important to ensure well-structured internal protocols for the project. This prevents liabilities towards the European Commission and prevents potential losses in terms of claimable costs. Be specific in your description!
3. There are no standards: every situation and organization is different and should be analysed separately.
4. Assume nothing. Always ensure that you check the information you have received in consultation with your technical and accounting experts.
5. Setting up a proper project management plan beforehand works better and takes far less time than correcting mistakes afterwards.
6. Ensure you set up clear consortium agreements with your partners.

We created a list of Horizon 2020 compliance tips. Are you interested in tips to become H2020 compliant? Download the H2020 compliance checklist.