Frequently Asked Questions

Yes, all parts of the application must be submitted in English. It’s important to note that ProBleu’s evaluation process isn’t fixated on perfect English; we’re more concerned with your proposal aligning with the call guidelines and meeting the evaluation criteria.

Most of the information documents provided to the public will also be in English, but there is a synthesis informative document available in the following languages: : Albanian, Arabic, Armenian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Catalan, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, Estonian, Euskera, Faroese, Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hebrew, Hungarian, Icelandic, Irish, Italian, Latvian, Lithuanian, Macedonian, Maltese, Montenegrin, Norwegian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish and Ukrainian.

Our online application form and project description template have a feature that can translate text into more than 100 languages. However, keep in mind that this automatic translation might not always be entirely accurate. If there are any misunderstandings, remember that it’s not ProBleu’s responsibility. The original English content provided by ProBleu will always be the valid and legally binding text.

If you have difficulty to develop your application in English, you can use tools available online to support the translation from your language to English. Suggestions of tools:

– DeepL (https://www.deepl.com/translator).

– Google translator (https://translate.google.com/), for example.

Project applications must be submitted between 20th September and 21st November 2024 at 23:59 CET (Central European Time), by completing the application online Available on the ProBleu website.

Here are the main steps we advise you to take to prepare and successfully submit the application: 

1st step: Download relevant documents from the call documentation:

-Call for proposals.

-Template for the Project Description Form (to be attached to the online application form).

-Template for the Declaration of Honour (to be attached to the online application form).

2nd step: Elaborate your project idea.

3rd step: Prepare your application.

-Prepare your application using the Online Application Form (information about the school, summary of the project, checklist) and the template of the Project Description Form (PDF or WORD form to be completed with the description of the project and simplified cost estimation). Applications that are not submitted via online application form will not be considered eligible.

– The Project Description must be attached to the online application form and comply with the limits of characters indicated in the form. Applications that do not use the provided Project Description Form (with 21 pages) and/or surpass the maximum number of characters defined in each field will not be considered eligible.  

– The Declaration of Honour must be signed by the legal representative of the applicant and attached to the online application form. 

4th step: Submit your project idea.

Once the proposal is submitted, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. If you do not receive this confirmation e-mail, it means your proposal has NOT been submitted. If you believe this is due to a fault in the submission system, you should notify us via helpdesk@probleu.school, explaining the circumstances and attaching a copy of the proposal (and, if possible, screenshots to show what happened).

Don’t wait until the last minute! Submit your proposal in advance to ensure it won’t be affected by potential internet/other technical issues close to the deadline. Late applications will not be evaluated.

No. The ProBleu grants will be formally awarded to schools as legal entities and not to teachers or students individually. Nevertheless, students should be the main actors and beneficiaries of the projects.

Applications that do not use the provided Project Description Form (PDF or WORD formats with 21 pages) and/or surpass the maximum number of characters defined in each field will not be considered eligible.

No, the only way to apply is through the ProBleu website as explained in the call for proposals.

Primary and secondary-level schools (including vocational schools) up to ISCED level 3 legally established in the EU-27 Member States and the third countries associated with Horizon Europe. Please check the question “Which countries are eligible?” to see the complete list of countries.

The eligible countries are those that belong to the EU27 Member States and the third countries associated with Horizon Europe, more precisely:

EU Member States: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Republic of Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden.

Associated countries: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Kosovo, Moldova, Montenegro, Morocco, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Türkiye, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom.

However, the available funds will be distributed as shown in the table:

A project application is composed of the following elements:

• Online Application form available in the ProBleu Website
• Project Description (to be attached to the online application form).
• Template for the Declaration of Honour (to be attached to the online application form).

The templates for the Project Description and the Declaration of Honour are available in the ProBleu website.

Once the application is submitted, you will receive a confirmation e-mail. If you do not receive this confirmation e-mail, it means your application has NOT been successfully submitted. If you believe this is due to a fault in the submission system, you should notify us via helpdesk@probleu.school, explaining the circumstances and attaching a copy of the proposal (and, if possible, screenshots to show what happened).

No. Each applicant is limited to submitting only one application per call. If multiple applications are submitted, only the last one within the valid deadline will be considered.

Applicants (schools) who are not funded are eligible to apply for the other calls (a total of 4 ProBleu calls will be organised until 2025.) Applicants (schools) who receive funding are not eligible to apply in later calls.

Yes. Applicants (schools) who are not funded are eligible to apply for the other calls.

These calls aim to back a diverse range of school projects related to Blue Sustainability. Each project should align with one of the following categories:

• Ocean and Marine Projects
• Freshwater Projects

Each project must address at least 1 and a maximum 3 of different topics. To know more about these topics, consult “Call for Proposals” document.

Yes, twinning activities linking a school with other schools (twinning) are eligible. Applicants are encouraged to design Open Schooling activities in collaboration with the local community and with external stakeholders.

You can consult the various types of activities that can be funded in the “Call for Proposals” document.

The fact that you apply does not necessarily mean that your project will be funded. The results of the call will be announced in January 2025. If your project is selected for funding, your school will be notified and sign a contract to formalize the financial support to the project. The projects selected for funding will start in February 2025 and only the activities performed after this date can be financially supported.

The overall available budget for the first call is € 80 000, for the second call is € 300 000 (three hundred thousand euros) and for the third call is €200 000.

When you’re working on your budget, we’re looking for a simple estimate of the costs directly tied to your school project. If your proposal gets the green light, you’ll receive a lump sum grant falling into one of these categories:

• Small-scale projects: Up to 2 500€
• Medium-scale projects: Up to 5 000€
• Large-scale projects: Up to 7 500€

Please check the question “WHICH ARE THE ELIGIBLE COSTS?” to see examples of eligible costs and consult the “Call for proposals” document to know more about the financial aspects of the call and the categories.

The submitted applications will go through check and evaluation in two distinct phases:

1. Eligibility check to verify if the applicant (school) and the application comply with the mandatory requirements for the call and is not subject to exclusion. The applications considered eligible in this stage are then evaluated according to the award criteria defined in the call.
2. Quality and merit evaluation. The applications that pass the eligibility check are evaluated according to different criteria related to: the quality of the project and outcomes; engagement and impact expected from the project; other requirements of the funding programme. The evaluation results, including the list of selected projects will be published and all applicants will be informed about the results of the application.

To be eligible, the costs of school projects must be properly justified and relate to work carried out following the description of the activities of the project, during the eligibility period stated.

Some of the costs can be:

• Travel, accommodation, and subsistence.
• Purchase and renting of equipment.
• Consumables and supplies for the development of the activities.
• Subcontracting.

The following costs are NOT eligible:

• Personnel costs: Human resources working for the applicant organisation.
• Purchase or renting of real estate, construction works.

The funds come from the European Commission within the Horizon Europe Framework Programme to which the ProBleu project has applied. Funding is given in the scope of ProBleu in the form of Financial Support to Third Parties.

With an approved project and as soon as a contract is signed, 80 % of the funds will be transferred to the schools. The second and final transfer, of 20 %, will be made once the final report of the project has been approved.

Yes. The project expenses must be properly documented and recorded in accordance with the applicable legislation in terms of accounting system. However, concerning the project, you will not need to report the actual costs, so, you will not need to justify the costs in the project.

The maximum limit for subcontracting activities cannot exceed 30% of the total lump sum granted to you.

Subcontracting” is when you contract a service to realise an entire task, while “other goods and services” is for a specific good or service that supports the realization of the task.

Examples of subcontracting costs are: Fees for external services, e.g., experts/professionals who give workshops at the school as part of the project activities or support the development of specific project activities. Translation services (including translation of in-classroom and practical lessons and exercises developed or any other ProBleu resources).

Examples of costs in “other goods, works or services” are: Purchase of consumables and supplies for the development of project activities; promotion, dissemination, publications; registration in conferences, training, or other events; Membership to other initiatives.

The maximum limit for travel, accommodation and subsistence activities cannot exceed 50% of the total lump sum granted to your project.

The results of the first call will be announced on the 23rd of March, 2023.

The results of the second call will be announced on the 8th of July, 2024.

The results of the third call will be announced on the 24th of January 2025.

The projects selected for financial support will be requested to sign the contracts and provide the additional documents required for the formalisation. The contracts shall be signed by both parties (ProBleu + applicant) within 5 working days from the communication of results. The signature can be electronic.

First call: Once the list of projects selected for funding is available, the results will be communicated individually to all project representatives and will be publicly announced on the ProBleu website by March 23, 2024.

Second call: Once the list of projects selected for funding is available, the results will be communicated individually to all project representatives and will be publicly announced on the ProBleu website by 8th of July 2024.

Third call: Once the list of projects selected for funding is available, the results will be communicated individually to all project representatives and will be publicly announced on the ProBleu website by 24th of January 2025.

Applications will be assessed and scored up to 100 points. However, the minimum score required for a project to be considered for funding (threshold) is 70 points.

Monitoring: The ProBleu team will be keeping an eye on things, but don’t worry; it’s light monitoring to make things easier for schools. Most schools don’t have project managers on hand, so we’re here to support. Monitoring and support include:

• Administrative and financial support
• Progress checklists sent by email to complete at the mid-term of medium and large-scale projects
• Support to apply for or renew the membership to the Network of European Bleu Schools

Evaluation: ProBleu will be checking how well things are going. The goal is to measure the positive effects of increased awareness about blue sustainability, protecting marine and freshwater ecosystems, and ocean and water literacy. We’ll invite participants from beneficiary schools to fill out surveys before and after the project.

The maximum duration of each project in this call is 12 (twelve) months and the minimum duration is 3 (three) months. Projects must be concluded maximum by the 31st of January 2026.

First call:

Opening: 17th November 2023
Deadline for submission: 19/01/2024 17h CET
Announcement of results: 23 March 2024
Contract signature: 30 March 2024
Project Start Date: 1st April 2024

Second call:

Opening: 1st March
Deadline for submission: 30/04/2024 17h CET
Announcement of results: 8 July 2024
Contract signature: 12 July 2024
Project Start Date: 1st August 2024

Third call:

Opening: 20 Septemeber
Deadline for submission: 21/11/2024 23:59 CET
Announcement of results: 24/01/2025
Contract signature: 31/01/2025
Project Start Date: 03/02/2025
Project Maximum Ending Date: 31/01/2026

Yes, at the end of each project, your school will be asked to create a final report, using a template provided by ProBleu. This short report should include evidence of the project’s outcomes and any learning materials developed. These reports serve both internal purposes and public sharing on ProBleu channels. It’s important to note that beneficiaries must submit the final report to receive the remaining 20% of their payment.

There is no problem to publish papers with the results of the project. Nevertheless, it is important to always mention the funding and the ProBleu project.

The applicants must show that an application is submitted by an eligible organization and signed by the legal representative of the organization. The call is designed to address schools in selected countries in Europe and beyond. In the case that a school is not an autonomous legal entity in its country, the application must be submitted by the entity that has the legal capacity to represent the school and signed by the respective legal representative of such organization. In this scenario, together with the Declaration of Honour, applicants must provide evidence of the legal documents that recognizes the situation or empowers the signatory person to sign on behalf of the school. Please note that in this scenario you can use the name of the school as “applicant”.

Schools within the same cluster may apply with their own project idea, as long as each school has its own legal personality.

If this is not the case, only one submission should be made on behalf of the cluster. If multiple applications are submitted, only the last one within the valid deadline will be considered.

Schools can apply to the ProBleu, SHORE and BlueLights grants simultaneously but one school cannot be funded more than one of these projects and/or in more than one call.

If a school applies to ProBleu, SHORE or BlueLights grants simultaneously and one application is selected for funding, the other applications will be considered non-eligible during the evaluation process.