WORK PACKAGE 1 – COORDINATION AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT
ACTIVITY 1 - Technical coordination
The activity of »Technical coordination« is intended to be a comprehensive coordination of all activities of the project with the intention of achieving the desired objectives. Such activity includes the production of a detailed operational programme or action plan, supervising the conduct of these, verification of compliance with the expected results of each activity, as well as the integration of the results into a whole. The consistent implementation of technical coordination is reflected in rapid detection of possible deviations from the action plan, the amendments to it, and solving other current problems by finding alternative solutions to achieve the expected effects and results. Effective technical coordination is achieved on the basis of permanent communication within the partnership and the coordination meetings of the project partners. They are, depending on the contents, organized by the lead partner either for all the partners together or separately for the Slovenian and Italian partners. In addition to the above, the technical coordination includes also the establishment of working groups or bodies necessary for the execution of the technical aspects of the project. For this purpose, the Operational group, the Board of Directors, the Local development group and the Nature group, consisting of representatives of all partners in the project, as well as the Board of Directors of the Local development group and the Nature group of the KARST-CARSO project, composed of the mayors of the Slovenian Karst municipalities, have so far been established within the framework of the KARST-CARSO project.
ACTIVITY 2 - Administrative management
The objective of »Administrative management« activity is a comprehensive statement of the project on the basis of rules and instructions referred to in the Operational Programme of the Programme of Cross-border Cooperation Slovenia – Italy 2007-2013. The purpose of the activity is to ensure the proper accounting of the costs incurred in the context of the project, which enables rapid recovery of funds from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) by the European Commission. For this purpose, each of the partners of the project carries out activities of administrative management at their headquarters, namely on the basis of administrative procedures previously coordinated with the lead partner of the project. In its context, each partner takes care of keeping separate accounts, the preparation of interim reports of the statement of the cost of carrying out project activities under its jurisdiction (interim reports are verified and certified by the national Courts of Financial Control - the Ministry for Economic Development and Technology on the Slovenian side and the Ministry of Economy and Finance on the Italian side), and of performing other administrative tasks. The consistent administrative management of each partner represents the basis for the preparation of joint reports, which must be submitted to the managing authority at least twice a year by the lead partner of the project, in accordance with the terms of the Contract of Grant Co-financing between the Managing Authority and the lead partner. In addition to the interim and joint reports, at the same time also the submission of the final report is envisaged, which must be prepared by the lead partner within three months after the completion of all activities of the project.
ACTIVITY 3 - Monitoring and administrative controls
The purpose of the “Monitoring and administrative controls" activity is to verify the conformity of the implementation of the project activities with the intended objectives and the implementation of administrative supervision of the costs incurred. To this end, the Commission for Monitoring, which is composed of representatives of the lead partner and the province of Triest, which has the function of the coordinator of the Italian project partners, was created within the framework of the project. The Commission for Monitoring meets when appropriate, in particular with the purpose of solving the current problems that arise during the implementation of project activities. To ensure the traceability of each of the activities in the framework of the project, the partners are therefore responsible for the keeping up the so-called audit trail. An audit trail is an organizational asset of dynamic nature, which allows for a clear and effective identification of specific processes, the results of each stage of the procedure, financial procedures and processes of management, as well as the identification of the bodies responsible for the implementation of a single procedure or activity within the framework of the project. Audit trails kept in this way in turn show the possible changes in the procedures for the implementation of individual project activities, in the criteria for archiving documents and in the structure of management.
