Single, clear statement of grant's core objective: This grant aims to fund projects by Sectoral Competence Councils (SRK) in Poland to adapt the education system to the specific needs of the labor market in various sectors, focusing on lifelong learning and skill development.
Explicit identification of target recipient type and size: The primary target recipients are 'Instytucje Otoczenia Biznesu' (Business Environment Institutions) or other entities that have been formally entrusted by PARP (Polish Agency for Enterprise Development) with the organization and management of a Sectoral Competence Council.
MUST state if grant is 'SECTOR-SPECIFIC' or 'SECTOR-AGNOSTIC': SECTOR-SPECIFIC (focused on specific sectors as defined by the respective Sectoral Competence Councils).
Geographic scope and any location requirements: Projects must be implemented within Poland, with nationwide territorial coverage.
Key filtering criteria for initial grant screening: The applicant must be an existing Sectoral Competence Council entrusted by PARP, and the project must aim to adapt education to labor market needs within a specific sector.
Grant frequency and program context: This is a continuous call ('nabór ciągły') under the 'Program Fundusze Europejskie dla Rozwoju Społecznego 2021-2027' (FERS 2021-2027) program.
Financial Structure
Total funding available for this call is 113,208,140 PLN.
The maximum budget allowed for a single project is 3,903,708.89 PLN.
The funding rate is 100% of the project's value, meaning no co-financing or participant fees are required.
Eligible Costs include activities aimed at adapting the education system to labor market needs through the realization of specific tasks by Sectoral Competence Councils, such as:
Monitoring and identifying qualification and occupational needs.
Issuing and updating recommendations for labor force adaptation.
Identifying actions for acquiring competencies.
Cooperation with Branżowe Centrum Umiejętności (Sectoral Skills Centers).
Educational and dissemination activities.
Ineligible Costs specifically include:
Costs for purchasing infrastructure or adapting buildings/premises that exceed 1% of the total eligible costs.
Purchase of computers/laptops for project support (these are covered by indirect costs); such purchases are only eligible if they are directly for participant support and the applicant lacks sufficient technical facilities.
Matching Fund is not required, as the funding rate is 100%.
Indirect Costs are calculated as a lump sum based on direct costs, with a closed catalog of eligible indirect expenses. They cannot be included in direct costs. The rates are:
25% of direct costs for projects with direct costs up to 830,000 PLN.
20% of direct costs for projects with direct costs above 830,000 PLN up to 1,740,000 PLN.
15% of direct costs for projects with direct costs above 1,740,000 PLN up to 4,550,000 PLN.
10% of direct costs for projects with direct costs exceeding 4,550,000 PLN.
VAT (Value Added Tax) treatment depends on project value:
For projects up to the equivalent of 5,000,000 EUR (converted at the exchange rate specified in the call regulations), VAT is an eligible cost and its eligibility is not assessed.
For projects exceeding 5,000,000 EUR, VAT eligibility is assessed. If the applicant or partners cannot legally recover VAT, it is eligible. Justification for VAT eligibility and a legal basis are required if VAT is partially or fully non-recoverable.
Cross-financing is permitted within limits specified in the detailed call regulations. Costs are eligible if they are essential for project implementation and cannot be funded through standard EFS+ expenditures. This includes certain direct expenses (e.g., furniture, equipment, vehicles) and associated indirect costs. Amortization and intellectual property acquisition are explicitly excluded from cross-financing limits.
Physical Contribution (In-kind Contribution) is allowed if required as part of the own contribution and meets the eligibility criteria defined in the 'Wytyczne kwalifikowalności wydatków'. This can include real estate, equipment, materials, intellectual property, expertise, or volunteer work. The value of in-kind contributions must be verifiable with documentation equivalent to invoices.
Eligibility Requirements
Organizational Type & Status
Must be an entity to which PARP (Polish Agency for Enterprise Development) has entrusted the organization and operation of a Sectoral Competence Council in a given sector.
The entrusting must be formalized by a signed cooperation agreement according to art. 4e ust. 6 and 7 of the PARP Act.
The applicant organization must possess the necessary staff, economic, technical potential, and experience as required by the access criteria.
Partnership Requirements
Applications can be submitted jointly with partners.
A partnership is limited to a maximum of 6 entities (the applicant plus a maximum of 5 partners).
Each partner must possess at least one of the following:
Documented experience in implementing tasks similar to those defined in the project application.
In-depth knowledge of the specific sector the project addresses.
Experience in identifying and monitoring qualification and occupational needs within the labor market.
Financial Requirements
The maximum budget for a single project at the application submission stage is 3,903,708.89 PLN.
Project Scope Requirements
The project must be implemented entirely within the territory of Poland.
The project duration cannot extend beyond December 31, 2029.
The project must undertake at least the following core tasks:
Conduct monitoring and identification of qualification and occupational needs specific to the given sector.
Issue or update recommendations by the Sectoral Competence Council concerning the adaptation of human resources to the current needs of businesses in the given sector.
Identify actions aimed at acquiring sought-after competencies, fostering cooperation with public administration (at least at the voivodeship level) and organizations representing businesses or educational institutions.
Cooperate with a Branżowe Centrum Umiejętności (Sectoral Skills Center), if such a center has been established for the relevant sector.
Implement educational and dissemination activities within the project.
The Sectoral Competence Council must issue its initial recommendations concerning labor force adaptation within 3 months of signing the grant agreement.
The issued recommendations must be verified for their timeliness and updated at least once a year.
An extension for issuing recommendations up to 8 months from the agreement signing date is permissible if research or analysis is required to develop them.
Human Resources Requirements
The project must involve individuals with documented combined experience in the following areas:
Project Management: Minimum 1 year of experience managing public-funded projects with a value of at least 1,000,000 PLN, completed no earlier than 5 years prior to the application submission date.
Financial Settlement: Minimum 1 year of experience in the financial settlement of public-funded projects with a value of at least 1,000,000 PLN, completed no earlier than 5 years prior to the application submission date.
Educational and Dissemination Activities: Minimum 1 year of experience related to educational activities or disseminating information on:
Qualification and occupational needs of employees; OR
Actions aimed at adapting human resources to business needs.
This experience must have been acquired no earlier than 5 years prior to the application submission date.
Research and Analysis: Minimum 2 years of experience in:
Conducting research or analysis; OR
Assessing the quality of commissioned research or analysis.
This experience must be related to gathering knowledge from entrepreneurs about their qualification and occupational needs and acquired no earlier than 5 years prior to the application submission date.
Integrated Qualifications System (ZSK): Required knowledge of the regulations pertaining to the ZSK.
Application Process
Application Submission
Application Opening: November 4, 2024.
Application Deadline: October 31, 2025.
Submission Platform: Applications must be submitted online via the SOWA EFS system (www.sowa2021.efs.gov.pl). A user account is required to access the system.
Submission Format: All applications must be completed and submitted as online forms within the SOWA EFS system.
Required Documentation & Materials
Application Form: The completed online application form.
Partner's Declaration: If applying with partners, a declaration (based on Annex 9a template) confirming that partners meet the specific access criteria.
KD8 Criterion Declaration: A declaration (based on Annex 9b template) confirming compliance with the KD8 criterion (related to human resources experience).
Professional CVs: Professional CVs (based on Annex 9c template) of key personnel demonstrating the required experience as specified in the grant criteria.
Detailed Budget Justification: A comprehensive explanation for all proposed expenditures.
VAT Eligibility Justification: If the project value exceeds 5,000,000 EUR, a justification explaining why VAT cannot be legally recovered.
Cross-financing Justification: If cross-financing is utilized, a clear explanation of its necessity and how it aligns with the grant's requirements.
Documentation for In-kind Contribution: If an in-kind contribution is part of the project's financing, documentation confirming its value and meeting verification standards must be available at the implementation stage.
Evaluation Process
Evaluation Criteria: Projects are evaluated based on criteria approved by the FERS Monitoring Committee, detailed in Annex 8 of the call documentation.
Review Body: Project Evaluation Committee (KOP) conducts the assessment.
Project Title Requirements: Project titles must be unique and cannot be identical to the FERS program name, its priorities, or actions.
Description Limits: The project title has a 1000-character limit, and other descriptive fields (e.g., project description, target groups) have a 4000-character limit.
Indicators: Mandatory product and result indicators must be selected from a predefined list in SOWA EFS. Applicants may also define their own project-specific indicators. For non-applicable mandatory indicators, a target value of 0 can be entered.
Post-Submission Changes: Be aware that changes to the project's timeline (start/end dates) after initial submission may lead to data loss or modifications in the 'Tasks' or 'Schedule' sections.
Lump Sums: For projects utilizing lump sums, each task can only correspond to one lump sum position, and each lump sum must be linked to at least one (up to five) specific indicators. Lump sum payments are contingent on the binary (yes/no) fulfillment of their associated indicators.
Support Offered
The grant provides 100% financial funding for eligible projects.
Information and expert support are available via dedicated helplines and expert consultation hours.
Implementation & Reporting
Project Duration: Project implementation must occur between January 1, 2021, and December 31, 2029.
Task Timeline: All project tasks must align with and fall within the overall project's approved timeframe.
Indicator Monitoring: Regular reporting on product and result indicators is required, ensuring they adhere to the CREAM criteria (Clear, Relevant, Economic, Adequate, Monitorable).
Progress Tracking: Project progress is monitored and tracked through the SOWA EFS system.
Sustainability Expectations: Applicants should describe how the project's results will be sustained after the funding period, potentially for a specified duration (e.g., 2 years), including the continued use of purchased assets.
Financial Reporting: Final payment applications can be submitted after the project's operational end date, provided all related expenses were incurred within the project's eligibility period and by December 31, 2029.
Evaluation Criteria
Horizontal Criteria
Gender Equality: Applications are assessed for compliance with the minimum standards for gender equality as outlined in the FERS guidelines.
Equal Opportunities & Accessibility: Projects are evaluated for adherence to the principles of equal opportunities and non-discrimination, including ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities.
Project Quality & Relevance
Target Group Adequacy: Assessment of how well the selected target group aligns with the FERS project type and the quality of the diagnosis of their specific situation and needs.
Indicator Precision: Evaluation of the precision, measurability, and relevance of both product and result indicators, ensuring they are 'Clear, Relevant, Economic, Adequate, and Monitorable' (CREAM criteria).
Project Coherence: The logical consistency and strong connection between the project's main objective, planned tasks, and budget.
Feasibility & Efficiency: Assessment of the project's feasibility within the proposed resources and timeline, ensuring tasks are rationally timed to avoid unnecessary costs and aim for the most favorable outcomes given the financial outlays.
Applicant & Partnership Potential
Social Potential: Evaluation of the applicant's and partners' (if applicable) social potential, including their experience and suitability to the project scope. This includes demonstrating:
Experience in the specific area where support will be provided (and its alignment with statutory activities).
Experience working with the identified target group.
Experience operating within the specific geographic territory of the project.
Concrete and verifiable past activities (over the last three years) that demonstrate relevant qualitative effects.
Project Management Structure: Assessment of the proposed project management structure, ensuring it is adequate for the project's scope, provides for efficient, effective, and timely implementation, and clearly defines decision-making processes and the roles of all involved entities.
Financial Capacity: Evaluation of the applicant's and partners' financial capacity to ensure smooth project operation. For non-public finance sector entities, this involves comparing their combined turnover for one of the last three fiscal years with 75% of the average annual project expenditures. Public finance sector entities are exempt from this specific financial capacity check.
Personnel Potential: Assessment of the human resources (competencies, experience) that will be engaged in the project, including key personnel and their planned roles.
Technical Potential: Evaluation of the technical resources (e.g., equipment, premises) already available to the applicant and partners and how they will be utilized in the project.
Recruitment & Beneficiary Engagement
Recruitment Process: Detailed description and justification of the participant recruitment process, including criteria, techniques, and methods tailored to the target group and project's nature.
Inclusivity: Ensuring that recruitment information and processes are accessible, especially for individuals with disabilities, and that criteria are measurable.
Compliance & Special Requirements
Regulatory Compliance
National Legislation: Projects must comply with Polish national law, specifically including adherence to art. 4e ust. 6 and 7 of the PARP Act, which governs the establishment and operation of Sectoral Competence Councils.
EU Regulations: Compliance is required with EU Regulation (EU) No 2021/1060, which sets common provisions for EU structural and investment funds.
Program Guidelines: Adherence to the FERS program guidelines, including specific rules on expenditure eligibility, monitoring progress, and the implementation of equal opportunities.
State Aid Rules: Strict compliance with state aid regulations, including 'public aid' and 'de minimis aid' rules. This necessitates accurate calculation and reporting of aid intensity and own contribution values.
Procurement & Competitiveness: External services or subcontracting exceeding 50,000 PLN net must adhere to public procurement law (Pzp) or the competitiveness principle. All such expenditures, including those under civil law contracts, contribute to any defined subcontracting limits.
Accounting Standards: Compliance with Polish accounting law regarding the definition and classification of assets (e.g., fixed assets).
Ethical & Social Standards
Gender Equality: Projects must integrate and comply with the minimum standards for gender equality as defined by FERS guidelines. This is a critical horizontal criterion in project evaluation.
Equal Opportunities & Accessibility: Projects are required to adhere to principles of equal opportunities and non-discrimination. This includes ensuring full accessibility for persons with disabilities in all project activities, services, and materials.
Project Specifics
Sectoral Skills Centers (BCU): A mandatory component of the project is cooperation with a Branżowe Centrum Umiejętności (Sectoral Skills Center), if one exists for the relevant sector. Even if no BCU is currently established, a task for this cooperation must be included in the project plan with a 0.00 PLN budget, allowing for future re-allocation of funds if a BCU is formed during the project.
Recommendations: Any recommendations issued by the Sectoral Competence Councils as part of the project must follow a template provided by PARP and be formally adopted via a council resolution.
Strategic Alignment: Projects must align with broader goals of 'lifelong learning' and 'better prediction of labor market needs' to facilitate career mobility and skill development.
Cross-cutting Themes: The project's approach to gender equality, inclusion, and sustainability will be assessed as cross-cutting themes impacting the overall evaluation.
Financial Compliance
Currency & Precision: All financial reporting and budget figures must be in Polish Zloty (PLN) and precise to two decimal places.
Market Standards: Expenditures must adhere to standard market prices and quality standards for goods and services, as specified by the Institution Organizing the Call (ION). Projects cannot propose higher prices or lower standards than those defined by the ION.
Indirect Costs Limitation: The catalog of indirect costs is exhaustive ('closed catalog'), meaning no other administrative or overhead costs can be claimed as indirect expenses.
VAT Treatment: The eligibility of VAT is conditional. For projects under 5,000,000 EUR, VAT is generally eligible. For projects over this threshold, VAT's eligibility depends on the applicant's legal ability to recover it.
Budget Flexibility: While project budgets are structured around tasks, flexibility parameters for budget reallocations during implementation are subject to the call's regulations.
Grant Details
poland
education
labor market
skills
competencies
lifelong learning
upskilling
reskilling
vocational training
sectoral councils
business environment institutions
human resources development
economic development
employment
public funding
fes
european funds
social development
regional development
organizational development
capacity building
market needs
industry needs
sowa
parp
Zadania Sektorowych Rad ds. Kompetencji
FERS.SRK
Program Fundusze Europejskie dla Rozwoju Społecznego 2021-2027
Grants8