Municipalities, local organisations and European funds: the IFEL Foundation’s training tools

European funds and municipalities: the IFEL Foundation’s training and insight tools. For Local Authorities, and not only

European funds and municipalities: a complicated story?

Municipalities and local authorities play a key role in “grounding” European resources in local organisations, but they face difficulties in accessing and using funds due to a lack of resources and dedicated staff, training and tools.

A situation that directly contributes, along with the difficulties of Public Administrations, to the non-utilization of many of the European funds, particularly the Structural Funds. Suffice it to say that, according to the most recent data (August 2025), just 8 percent of ERDF, ESF+, JTF and FEAMPA funds have been spent in Italy four and a half years after the start of the 2021-2027 programming period. A scenario also focused on in Eurispes’ research “The management of European funds in Italy: strategic asset for the flywheel of our society” (the video presentation of which is available here).

As a Guide, we have been maintaining a focus on this issue for some time: we have dedicated an article to the topic of European projects and local authorities, another post to dedicated initiatives, and we have presented some good practices and tools available online for municipalities, such as ANCI Lombardia’s Guide and UNCEM ‘s Guide dedicated to European planning and mountain municipalities.

In continuation of this commitment, we now delve into the opportunities and tools made available to municipalities by the IFEL (Institute for Local Finance and Economy) Foundation, established by ANCI almost 20 years ago to bridge the gap between local organisations and Europe.

Just recently (mid-November) ANCI held its annual national assembly in Bologna.

IFEL Foundation School training opportunities.

“The IFEL Foundation aims to strengthen the capacities of Italian municipalities in administrative, economic and financial management with research and training activities in different thematic areas, which also include European funds and cohesion policies,” explains IFEL President and Mayor of Novara, Alessandro Canelli. Training, providedby the IFEL School, is one of its main activities. “Since 2022, the year the IFEL School was launched,” Canelli continued, “more than 700 synchronous and asynchronous training activities have been delivered; there are more than 554,000 participants in IFEL School training activities and 110,000 open badges issued. All training opportunities are available on the IFEL School home page. Recordings of training initiatives and educational materials are available on the IFEL School platform. The training activities of the IFEL School contribute to the achievement of the annual amount of hours stipulated in the Directive of Minister Zangrillo as per the Memorandum of Understanding signed on February 29, 2024, under which the possibility of making available training products of the School for the Syllabusis also provided.”

The training offerings of the IFEL School can be viewed:

• through the pages dedicated to Basic Knowledge courses (online self-study courses), Upskilling/reskilling courses (mainly online, for the dissemination of broader and innovative skills with an impact on the operations of municipalities), and higher education courses(Masterclasses and Bootcamps);
• through an online catalog and training calendar;
• through a page dedicated to IFEL School thematic podcasts, which provide continuous and timely updates through short talks.

Access to IFEL School courses is free of charge, subject to registration. An open badge (notarized on blockchain) is issued for all training activities provided by the School to certify (as appropriate) participation or expertise acquired.

Podcasts and other courses and training materials are also available on the IFEL School’s YouTube channel.

IFEL School courses: the topics and content

Designed specifically for municipal staff, IFEL School trainings offer insights of interest to a broader audience as well. They cover many topics of great interest and topicality, including European funds and cohesion policy.

Examples of the topics and content covered in the IFEL School’s training offerings include:

• Use of Artificial Intelligence and Cooperative Management for AI in Municipalities, divided in turn into four parts, respectively: Generative AI Serving Municipal Employees, How to Adopt and Integrate Generative AI in Daily Work, Effective Tools and Prompts for Municipal Employees, New Operational Frontiers with Generative AI; and Management of Organizations, Cooperative Management and Innovation and Artificial Intelligence. A new course on AI and its potential is starting in December;
• Leadership and Complexity Management and Leadership for Women, which are in turn divided into three courses (The Purpose, People and Processes) and four courses (Understanding the Context, Personal Leadership, Individual Change and Changing Together), respectively;
• Budgeting and Accounting (basic level) and Shared Budgeting (advanced level), which are in turn divided into three courses (Planning, Management, and Reporting) and six courses (Financial Service Relations, Budget Planning, Revenue and Expenditure Management, Budget and Planning Variations, Annual Cash Flow Plan, and Reporting Phase), respectively;
• Talent Management and Age Management, each in turn divided into three courses, respectively; Attracting Talent, Welcoming and Managing Talent, Engaging and Valuing Talent; and Age Management and Generational Differences, Valuing Generations in Public Work, and Inclusion, Well-Being and Collaboration between Generations

There is much more, with content more or less specifically dedicated to the reality of municipalities and local governments. Here are other examples: Timeliness of payments, The PA transitions, Relationship and collaboration between people, offices, entities, Hybrid work, Anticorruption, transparency and anti-money laundering in the procurement code, Founding principles of Privacy and personal data protection.

Almost all courses are supplemented by a dedicated series of podcasts.

IFEL’s training on European funds and planning.

The IFEL School’s training offerings address various topics related to European funds and projects. We particularly mention a series of webinars dedicated to European funds, ordered by date:

• 10/12/2025 – European Urban Initiative: opportunities for integrated urban planning (which we had discussed here)
• 30/10/2025 – Local governments and direct EU funds analysis, strategies and opportunities
• 28/10/2025 – Towards the new EU Budget. Multiannual Financial Framework 2028-34
• 09/10/2025 – What’s new in the 2028-2034 Multiannual Financial Framework and the impacts on EU programs
• 08/07/2025 – l National Strategic Plan of Inland Areas.
• 18/02/2025 – The European Territorial Cooperation 2021-2027: opportunities for municipalities
• 18/10/2024 – The costs eligible for the NRP.
• 11/10/2024 – The community reimbursement stream for municipalities’ PNRR projects.
• 04/10/2024 – The PNRR Management and Control System.
• 10/09/2024 – The role of municipalities in the new CAP Strategic Plan 2023-2027 – Update
• 09/07/2024 – Labor policies and economic, social and territorial cohesion
• 02/07/2024 – The new cohesion framework 2021-27
• 25/06/2024 – Cohesion policy, NRP and new STEP regulation.
• 18/06/2024 – Administrative capacity
• 13/06/2024 – Some lesser-known aspects of Horizon Europe
• 11/06/2024 – Reconciliation of cohesion policy and NRP.
• 29/05/2024 – Innovative design methods for the Horizon Europe program.
• 15/12/2023 – Not just school and student exchanges: the Erasmus+ program the different opportunities
• 10/20/2023 – A focus on the Life+ and Horizon Europe Programs.
• 19/07/2023 – Monitoring of interventions funded by the National Plan Complementary to the NRP.
• 27/07/2023 – European Direct Funding
• 07/07/2023 -Supporting the implementation of territorial investments: the Fund for Marginal Municipalities

And two other webinar series that are less recent but still of interest:

• EU projects and funding Perspectives for local governments: Webinar 1 (13/10/2021) Webinar 2 (19/10/2021) Webinar 3 (4/11/2021)
• Strategic Management of European Funding (February 2019): Webinar 1 – the fundamentals of the strategic approach to using EU resources Webinar 2 – how to write a European project well Webinar 3 – the transition from the planning phase to operational programming.

Municipalities and European projects: the perspective of Francesco Monaco

We had the opportunity to delve into the topic of municipalities’ capabilities in dealing with European projects with Francesco Monaco, head of the Department of European Funds and Territorial Investments at the IFEL Foundation.

D. How have you seen the capacity of municipalities develop in the area of European projects and access to European funds? What has been IFEL’s role in this process?

If we consider, from an evolutionary perspective, the various cycles in which the programming of the EU’s Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) is divided, we certainly observe an improvement in the capacity of municipalities to use European funds. These improvements coincide, in large part, with the growth in the role and responsibilities gradually assigned to municipalities by the current system of fund governance.

With regard to the so-called “indirect funds” under state and regional management, for example in the area of cohesion policy funds (ERDF, ESF), the possibility for municipalities and cities to take on the function of “intermediate body” on the basis of a strong delegation given by the managing authorities of the programs, has strongly marked the increase in administrative and technical capacity, both in large cities (beneficiaries of the PON Metro) and in “medium-sized” cities, protagonists of urban Axes in the Regional Operational Programs.

The qualitative leap, if the place-based programming, management and control model adopted to date by the EU is confirmed in the 2028-2034 MFF, will not fail to be realized even in municipalities of smaller population size or “functional urban areas” engaged in the integrated territorial strategies of the new programs.

Separate discussion deserves reflection on the use of directly managed funds. Here we observe an increase in knowledge and awareness of plans, programs and implementation tools (notices, calls for proposals, etc.) that has affected, among others, Italian municipalities and cities. The number of participations in EU “calls” has also increased. However, the results in terms of funded projects are lower than expected. Municipalities are finding it difficult to mobilize the expertise needed to draft competitive proposals as well as to build appropriate trans-European partnerships. The underlying problem in part is objective and well-known: over the past decade, local governments have lost more than a quarter of their staffing levels. The greatest losses have been suffered by technical offices where the capacity for planning and implementation of local public investments is concentrated.

As IFEL, in support of municipalities, we put in place a robust technical professional updating action through our School; during the course of the year, we also schedule numerous information initiatives on the main EU lines of interest to municipalities (Horizon, LIFE, UIA, INTERREG, etc.) to provide entities with concrete guidance on how to take advantage of these opportunities. But all this is not enough. For next year, in fact, we are planning to structure a real support line capable of helping municipalities in the preparation of project proposals. We would like to find an operational mode of support that is as effective and easy to deliver as possible. That is why in the coming weeks we will open a methodological reflection with a pool of experts, to be extended later to the different players engaged in the field of PA consulting.

Municipalities and new planning 2028-2034: Vanni Resta’s perspective

We had the opportunity to delve into the topic of municipalities’ perspectives in the upcoming 2028-2034 programming with Resta, EU projects and funding designer and lecturer, who is responsible for several courses organized on the topic by IFEL.

D. What, from your point of view, are the crucial aspects to be monitored, as far as direct programs are concerned, in these two years leading up to the implementation of the new MFF? And what can we (municipalities first and foremost) expect from the next seven years?

As is well known, the European Commission made two proposals for the new 2028-2034 multi-year budget (on July 16, 2025 and September 6, 2025). Of these initiatives, the first, so to speak, was more political in nature, while, the second was technical in nature. In both acts many initiatives directly managed by the EU were rethought. For example, in general, the consolidation of programs into new large “envelopes” with greater flexibility and instruments dedicated to competitiveness, defense, European citizenship and foreign policy.

For both levels described there are elements to monitor. Certainly, for the political one, it is necessary to keep an eye on the orientation that all member countries will have toward the new European Competitiveness Fund, the new Global Europe and the new AgoraEU program. Then, on the technical side, it will be crucial for EU project designers to follow the discussion on the implementation of the programs. In fact, as expounded by Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva, there are plans, for example, to use unprecedented “lottery”-type mechanisms in the evaluation of those proposals that exceed a minimum quality threshold that would be selected by drawing lots. Also in the operationalization in the Tenth Framework Program (of which we will understand whether the name “Horizon” will be retained), there are further aspects such as the elimination of the distinction between “Research and Innovation Actions (RIA)” and “Innovation Actions (IA)” and their co-funding percentages, in addition, the modification of the template, the reduction of the length of the work programs of the different clusters, the more massive use of consortia formed by “hub-and-spoke.”

It is precisely on these elements that I intended to focus the two IFEL School webinars on October 28 and October 30. In the knowledge that, especially as far as economic allocations are concerned, the game, in my opinion will only close, as moreover has already happened with the current MFF, at the end of 2027: as demonstrated also by the recent letter (November 9) from Commission President Von der Leyen, sent to Parliament President Roberta Metsola and Danish Prime Minister Frederiksen (President-in-Office of the Council) to tone down the conflict caused precisely by the division of resources in the proposal of last July.

Not just training: IFEL’s publications and tools on European funds

IFEL’s work is not only educational, but combines training and information: initiatives such as The “PNRR of Things,” an information report on PNRR-funded projects in collaboration with Il Sole24ore, and Gazzetta IFEL, a weekly update podcast on the main regulatory news affecting local finance and economy, were born with this slant.

In addition, since 2021, IFEL has launched, with the Easy project, the Observatory on Municipal Investments, and the #PNRRinCOMUNE section that allows users to view PNRR investment allocations aimed at municipalities, metropolitan cities, unions of municipalities and mountain communities.

Additional content and more in-depth studies can be found in the “publications” section of the website, where regular periodic reports, studies and insights on the territorial impact of Cohesion Policy, the NRP and the new features foreseen in the new European budget (which we started talking about here) are shared. IFEL follows a pragmatic approach, making available useful publications not only to spread knowledge about EU Policies, but also to operationally support municipalities that want to access European funds. We therefore advise you to consult the site regularly for the latest news.

Among the latest studies, the “Compass for Territorial Cohesion- A Map for Orienting on the EU’s New Priorities,” a dossier published in May 2025, offers an analytical reading of the new scenarios and possible new intervention tools that will be made available to local organisations by cohesion policy. The document also traces the mid-term review process of cohesion policy by indicating the stages at which it is possible to offer – for local organisations, in the EU Parliament and in the Committee of the Regions – a contribution of ideas and proposals. The last part of the document is devoted to the state of the art of the European Urban Agenda.

Also very interesting is the dossier “European Territorial Cooperation 2021-2027: the main funding opportunities for municipalities,” which is part of IFEL’s annual activities dedicated to an in-depth study of integrated territorial strategies (urban and non-urban) supported by ERDF, ESF+ and EAFRD. The first part of the dossier is devoted to the history and evolution over time of European Territorial Cooperation, while the second part focuses on the Territorial Cooperation programs of greatest interest to local governments and municipalities, particularly URBACT.

IFEL’s initiatives are an important support to bridge the skills gap that enable municipalities to intercept European funds, contributing concretely to the achievement of Cohesion Policy objectives. In future articles we will continue to talk to you about European funds and the experiences of local organisations, through insights into European programs, such as URBACT, and the good practices of some Italian municipalities.