With an increasing reliance upon external funding to support development activities, rising numbers of individuals and organisations, in the field of Lifelong Learning, are involved in European or International development projects. For many organisations, a European funding award is seen as that elusive pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, however many project managers are often unprepared for the complexities associated with managing a European project or partnership.
In my work as a Consultant in European Project Management, I provide training, research, evaluation and support services to a range of project and programme managers across Europe.
On the one hand, I support project managers in making their dream project a reality through a range of training, evaluation and support measures at the planning, implementation and/or completion stages of their European project.
On the other hand, I support national and European programme managers in the monitoring, control and assessment of European funded projects and activities, ensuring programme objectives and priorities are met through successfully implemented projects.
With over 20 years experience in education, training and project & programme management, my mission is to ensure that the European project experience is positive for all those involved and that European funded projects are successfully implemented, contributing to the wider Education & Training 2010 goals that expect to benefit the whole of the education and training community in the future.
Throughout my career, I have had the opportunity to work with a range of organisations including local and regional councils, training and information providers, careers guidance services, schools, colleges, universities, sectoral and professional bodies and voluntary organisations both in the UK and across Europe.
Currently based in Glasgow (UK), I work with a range of clients across Europe to include individual project managers, national education and training bodies (including national funding agencies), specialist European partnerships and the European Commission.
Prior to this (2001-2006), I was directly involved in managing the European Commission’s Higher Education (Erasmus) and Vocational Training (Leonardo da Vinci) programmes - predecessors to the current Lifelong Learning Programme. Based in Brussels, this work involved contract management, project & financial evaluation and quality control, providing support to more than 2000 projects (€80 million in funding across 31 countries) across Europe.
From 1992-2001, I was involved in establishing the European Commission’s National Resource Centre for Vocational Guidance in the UK (now known as Euroguidance) to support what was a rapidly changing UK guidance network. This involved product development for the national market, the development of tools & materials for the European guidance community and the management and co-ordination of numerous European Vocational Education and Training (VET) projects.
Before 1992, I worked as an Employment Officer in the north of England. In addition to working with unemployed young people, with a focus upon accessing employment and vocational training, my work included a number of (then) innovative approaches to include confidence building for disadvantaged groups and the introduction of credit-funded training.
Finally, I should mention that much of my career has, in one way or another, involved financial management, either through the direct management of project or programme funding, or through the development and introduction of appropriate infrastructures for third party financial management.
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