The activity 1.1 – administrative start-up of the project points at guaranteeing a proper commencement to the work. A contract (Partnership Agreement), written by the beneficiary, will be proposed to the partnerships at the very start of the project; it will establish the respective obligations and commitments of the partners. Furthermore, an operating manual for the reporting to the EC will be shared with partners; it will list and describe means and times for evaluating the financial and technical status of the project. The partners will be informed on the proposed contract and trained on reporting aspects before and during the kick-off event, to be held in Reggio Emilia. The administrative start up will be functional throughout the management of all actions.

The activity 1.2 technical start-up will guarantee an effective technical start up of the project. A detailed work plan will be drawn up by the project manager in collaboration with the Project Coordinator to plan the activities and responsibilities of each partner. The document will also contain a section with a detailed local work plan by each partner. The work plan will be progressively updated; if some delays occurs the PM will immediately inform the partnership and find countermeasures.
This activity anticipates the kick-off meeting for the commencement of work which will involve the SC, technicians and representatives from each beneficiary. The kick-off meeting will be held in Reggio Emilia.

The activity 1.3 Project Monitoring is continual and depends on the project manager who verifies the project’s proper progress. An “Implementation monitoring protocol” will be approved at kick off meeting to share between partners rules and modalities for general monitoring of project implementation and communication between partners.

Activity 1.4 – Project meetings aims at coordinating the partners at strategic and technical level. The project foresees meetings with the participation of representatives of all the partners, to evaluate the project situation and to plan all the actions to be provided for an optimal continuation of the project. 4 periodic SC meetings are foreseen, divided in a management session and in a technical session; 3 meetings will be held via teleconference. In total project’s meeting will be 7, comprised the Kick-off event, that will be held in Reggio Emilia. The SC meetings will be organised in Reggio Emilia (2), Trento (1) and Milano (1), in addition to this 3 teleconferences. The meetings plan is indicative and will be defined among partners during the kick-off meeting.

The activity 1.5 – Reporting meets the request for a constant reporting to the EC (Common Provisions Art. 12) The Partners are aware about the fact that it is important, for the success of the project, to provide the Commission with a N° of reports, aimed at controlling the progress of the project from a technical and financial point of view, as well as eventual discrepancies with the original plan, and the eventual solutions proposed to address those situations. The coordinating beneficiary will provide the following reports: Inception Report, Mid-Term Report and Final Report.

This action will be carried out from 01-01-2012 to 31-12-2014.