Having the capacity to write a good R&D&I project and obtain funding is certainly a challenge. At Zabala Innovation, in addition to writing proposals, we can get involved in the management and different stages of the project during its development.
Project support activities: project management
Once the proposal is approved, our focus shifts to successful project execution. Our experienced consultants take care of administrative, financial and legal management, using customised methodologies and tools to ensure timely delivery of key milestones and outcomes.
Project support activities: communication and dissemination
At Zabala Innovation, we manage the communication and dissemination activities of European projects: we define the communication strategy and objectives, identify the target audience and design the communication plan to transmit the key messages.
Zabala Innovation has a team of communication experts who prepare the project files, manage the task of disseminating the projects’ key messages (mission, vision, values, management plans, objectives) and identify the most relevant target audiences to be addressed.
Once the communication plan has been defined, at Zabala Innovation, we activate and coordinate the communication activities. We design the elements, select the appropriate media, and create the messages to be transmitted, through specific channels, based on the previously defined target audience.
Project support activities: exploitation
Zabala Innovation’s role is to define an exploitation plan. First of all, we identify the most promising results with potential for exploitation. To do this, we meet with each of the partners (both industrialists and the research centre). Once this stage has been completed, we draw up an individual exploitation plan. We can also advise them on intellectual property rights, so that they can find the most appropriate means of benefiting from the results, whether through a patent, royalties or another system.
Project support activities: social innovation
To ensure a project’s success, clear and fluid communication is not enough; it is crucial to manage the social assessment and impact of the project.
European projects have always had a major impact on society, on the population of the Member States, but also globally. Depending on the sector or the type of programme, EU projects can impact different groups within society. Many projects are focused on education, entrepreneurship, and social inclusion, just to name a few.
The scope also varies: Horizon Europe, the new framework programme for the period 2021-2027, is funding projects with long-term social impact, generating structural and revolutionary changes in certain sectors, whereas Erasmus+ is more focused on current social problems.
Zabala Innovation helps define a social innovation strategy and measure its impact, the social improvements achieved by the projects, and the measures necessary to establish the new developments they imply in society. Simultaneously, we manage tools to favour the adoption of results and innovations by EU citizens.
Differential value of Zabala Innovation as a project partner
We have often found that the entities that lead a project are extremely capable from a technical point of view, but less so in terms of organisation and coordination, especially in the initial phases and when the consortium is made up of many partners who know little about each other.
In contrast, we have been involved not only in the preparation of proposals, but also in the management and development of European projects for more than 36 years. In this way, our participation as partners makes the process start faster, smoother and more agile and produces better results, while also meeting the objectives set by the European Commission. And it saves the other partners’ efforts and allows them to fully focus on what they do best.