Search Options | Help | Site Map | Cultivate Web Site
		Search Disabled

Cultivate Annual Review, Vienna October 2002

By Richard Waller - February 2003

Richard Waller provides an eye-witness report of the review process and an overview of the evaluators' findings.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

The Review Process

The third annual review took place on Tuesday 8th October in another magnificent room of the Austrian Ministry for Science, Education and Culture. Alex Szauer of the European Commission chaired; the two reviewers were John Fitzgerald and Hervé Le Guyader.

The process broke down into four stages: partner presentations, evaluators' questions, evaluators' deliberations and finally the transmission of their findings. In all 12 presentations were given, by the two Project Managers, Klaus Rheinhardt (EU) and David Fuegi (CEE), the five technical partners, (including myself on behalf of UKOLN & Cultivate Interactive) plus three EU node and two CEE national node representatives.

It is quite possible that the Powerpoint presentations by quite a large number of individuals might have appeared something of a marathon. However, everyone, whether they knew it or not, owed a debt of gratitude to Klaus Reinhardt for his work on rationalising the enthusiasm of all presenters by paring down, with their agreement the previous afternoon, the content of their presentation to ensure that the review did not overrun. So brutal decisions had been made and carried out, with the result that evaluators received the completely essential information and no more. The presentations ended within a minute or two of the planned time.

David Fuegi pointed out to the evaluators that, as they had noted last review the paucity of national node representatives, he was pleased to be able to introduce all 18 representatives. Hervé Le Guyader was particularly keen to hear from the Bulgarian representative, Dincho Krastev, and other CEE partners about what they thought of the network. Their comments were most positive, detailing the benefits they had derived from the project.

Eventually the session closed to allow the evaluators to confer. Then began the waiting in, literally, the corridors of power, whilst the evaluators will have re-read parts of the evidence submitted, considered responses and recalled items from presentations. Never an easy time one would imagine, though I noted a quiet confidence on the part of those experienced participants who had seen this sort of thing before.

That restrained optimism certainly seemed justified when all participants were recalled to hear the evaluators' initial findings, which, though only verbal, could safely be taken as an indication of the content of their formal report. The news was good; the projects were performing satisfactorily, had notched up some solid achievements and overcome previous difficulties.

Review Findings

Of course one of the major advantages of hindsight is when you can quote the actual outcomes in detail rather than attempt to recall from memory and scribbled notes what was said at the time. Below I detail excerpts from the evaluators' reorts which, as you will see, paint a very positive picture indeed. Below I detail highlightsfrom the evaluators' reports which, as you will see, paint a very positive picture indeed, both of CULTIVATE-EU and of CULTIVATE-CEE:

Reviewers' Comments on CULTIVATE-EU

• the quality of the deliverables completed to date is high
• significant progress has been made on sustainability planning
• the EU and CEE projects have established strong mutual working links
• the decision to share resources and infrastructure with CEE has paid off
• the project's technical achievements are impressive
• The WWW site is excellent
• CULTIVATE INTERACTIVE e-zine is one of the most impressive and significant achievements of the project
• a high standard of dissemination, remarkable for its technical achievement and quality of content, but also in the ability that the Cultivate partners have had to raise awareness within their own country.
• given the socio-economical nature of its work, Cultivate EU can be granted the "Network of Excellence" label, as the project has clearly achieved some remarkable results
• the discussion list, e-zine and WWW site are all of the highest quality and the impact of these on the archives, libraries and museum (ALM) sectors, particularly in Belgium, Greece, Germany, Norway, UK, is high.
• almost all of the countries now have established WWW sites

In summary, the [EU] project has achieved excellent results to date (reviewed at month 20 of 24). The quality of the material produced to date is excellent and the achievements of the project are considerable and wide-reaching.

Reviewers' Comments on CULTIVATE-CEE

• the quality of the deliverables completed to date is high
• a number of additional items not included in the workplan were also supplied, such as the very useful results of a sustainability survey undertaken by MDR
• CEE partners have overcome language difficulties and created a wide and successful range of information and communication channels
• the partners, led by their coordinator, have demonstrated a very high level of commitment and efficiency in overcoming local issues
• the "groundwork" accomplished by most CEE partners is solid investment for their future, both nationally and at the European level.
• the "lucid and pragmatic" nature of the project management ..will naturally see the various CEE partners reap various benefits from the project
• considering the budgets involved, the quantity and quality of work performed is impressive
• the constant quality and quantity of work done over the time at this technical level is clearly delivering solid revenues for the Cultivate CEE partners, on at least three key points:
  • Web sites,
  • Cultivate Interactive e-zine,
  • ALM contact lists compiled by RBT
• the project has gone beyond what could be expected in terms of local and international impact, through its main deliverables (local websites, e-zine, leaflets, mailing lists and seminars)
• given the funding budget allocated to the Cultivate CEE consortium, the results are quite remarkable

In summary, the [CEE] project has achieved excellent results to date (reviewed at month 18 of 24). The quality of the material produced to date is excellent and the achievements of the project are considerable and wide-reaching in all of the states concerned.

Sustainability

As one can see from even just highlights, both projects have managed to impress reviewers and what they had to say about the future of the CULTIVATE projects was also heartening:

... it is nevertheless this reviewer's perception that solid chances exist to see the Cultivate network, as a whole (EU, CEE and Russia) play a key role in FP6 Network of Excellence priority.

The rationale for this perception is twofold:

• Highly convincing deliverables (e-zine, web sites, mailing lists, seminars and workshops) which should justify pursued interest (and budget) from both national and European authorities,
• Strong team building within those partners who decided to join forces and interests through the creation of an EEIG [European Economic Interest Group].

... but a strong potential exists for a new project, built upon the experience of the most committed partners of the three components of the Cultivate concept.

... Clearly the main deliverables of this project will require to be maintained if they are to be of continuing use, namely the WWW site, the e-zine, the discussion list and the ALM contact list, etc. The inclusive approach to sustainability, including all three CULTIVATE projects is commendable as the CULTIVATE name possesses significant positive "brand" value in the European/CEE/Russian cultural heritage sectors. ...

Conclusions

There can be little doubt in anyone's mind after reading such positive remarks that the evaluators were impressed with the work of the projects. The most telling comments in my view have been those remarking on the efficacy of the combined approach of CEE and EU projects over a number of matters and the improved chances for sustainability if they work together to ensure the CULTIVATE movement, 'brand', whatever we call it, makes further strides. Certainly from Cultivate Interactive's standpoint, the support and encouragement received from both projects have been instrumental in its own success throughout the project's lifetime.

Author Details

URL: <http://www.ukoln.ac.uk>
Email: cultivate-editor@ukoln.ac.uk

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

For citation purposes:
Waller, R. "Cultivate Annual Review, Vienna October 2002", Cultivate Interactive, issue 9, 7 February 2003
URL: <http://www.cultivate-int.org/issue9/viennareviews/>

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Related articles:
If you would like to view similar articles to this one click on a key word below:

< - CULTIVATE - partners - dissemination - sustainability - - >

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Copyright ©2000 - 2001 Cultivate. | Published by UKOLN | Design by ILRT | Contact Us