Preparatory visit
Do you have a concrete idea for your next exchange, mobility or cooperation project? A preparatory visit allows you to meet with potential local partners before the project starts, get to know each other and jointly plan the project.
Overview
For whom
- Persons who work in the field of formal or non-formal education in Switzerland with a concrete project idea
Duration of the visit
- At least 1 day
Where
- In Switzerland or abroad
What we fund
- Lump sum financial support
What to do
- Participants plan the preparatory visit with the project partner and submit a funding application
Deadlines
- Visit within Switzerland: before the start of the visit
- Visit abroad: at least 1 month before the start
In detail
Do you have a concrete project idea and would like to get to know your project partners face to face? Or are you already in the process of planning the project and would like to clarify the details on site?
During a preparatory visit, you have the opportunity to meet potential project partners on site, check the practicabilitites of the project and jointly plan its implementation. You can jointly define objectives and methods and determine the project’s milestones.
We also support participation in international contact seminars or conferences in order to establish a professional network, which allows you to collaborate on the conceptualization of exchange, mobility or cooperation projects.
We fund participants from Switzerland on visits within Switzerland or abroad. We do not fund participants from abroad. You are in charge of organising the meetings, the trip, and the stay in collaboration with your project partners.
Building national partnerships
Preparatory visits within Switzerland can also be used to establish or further develop partnerships across language borders. They are meant to form a basis for future exchange or mobility projects. We therefore grant financial support for up to 10 persons from one institution at national meetings.
Added value
- First face to face exchange with potential project partners
- Joint planning of the project application and the project on site
- Ensuring the quality of the project
Requirements
For participants:
- You are employed at a Swiss educational institution (applications from individuals from Switzerland are possible in the adult education and youth work divisions).
- We offer financial support to one person per institution. In exceptional cases, we support a second person from the same institution.
- In justified cases we support up to 10 persons from the same institution for the participation at meetings to establish national partnerships.
- Only the project partner travelling to the partner institution is eligible for financial support. Persons travelling from abroad are not supported.
The preparatory visit you plan with your project partner:
- must take place before you submit the application for the project.
- has a clear added benefit compared to alternative forms of communication such as e-mail, online meetings, or telephone calls.
- can only take place with the same partner once for any given project.
Funding amounts
- National: 250 CHF per person for up to 10 persons per organisation
- International:
- 800 CHF within Europe for 1 person
- 1’200 CHF outside Europe for 1 person
Procedure
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1. Plan project
- Jointly plan the preparatory visit with your project partner. Please comply with the funding criteria:
- Prepare the following information for the submission of the funding application:
- Content and objectives of the preparatory visit.
- Brief description of your project (max. 500 characters)
- Summary of the programme of the visit.
- For meetings outside of Switzerland, ask your partner institution for a short invitation letter (in a digital format).
- Consider environmentally friendly means of transport in the planning of your project. Find out more about Green Mobility.
- We offer individual consultation appointments to clarify any questions you may have about the planning, submission, and implementation of the project. The consultation can take place over the phone, online, or on site.
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2. Submit funding application
- Submit the funding application online. Please meet the deadlines.
- Once you have prepared the information described above, it will take you about 30 minutes to complete the funding application.
- Once you have submitted the funding application, we will assess it and inform you of the funding decision.
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3. Final report and payment of funding amounts
- Upon completion of the preparatory visit you submit a short final report.
- If preparatory visit leads you to the conclusion that you the project cannot be realised as planned, you need to inform us about the reasons that led to that conclusion in the final report. In the event that the preparatory visit does not result in the submission of a project application, you will still receive the lump sum funding for the visit upon its completion.
- Once you have submitted the final report, we will pay out the funding amount.
- Payment is usually made to a bank account of your choice.
- In the vocational and higher education divisions, however, we pay out the amounts exclusively to institutions.
Q & A
Can the whole team take part in a preparatory visit?
We only finance one person per institution with the lump sum funding. In exceptional cases, two persons may receive funding upon the presentation of legitimate reasons.
Is it mandatory to submit a project after a preparatory visit?
During a prepratory visit, you check the practicabilities of a potential project and plan its implementation in collaboration with your project partner. If it turns out that the mobility or cooperation project cannot be realised as envisaged, you need to justify this in the final report. Even if the preparatory visit does not result in the submission of a project application, you will still get the granted lump sum funding.