Erasmus+, an information video from Funding Master
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Erasmus+ is the EU’s Programme in the fields of education, training, youth and sport for the period 2021-2027.
The general objective of the Programme is to support, through lifelong learning,
the educational, professional and personal development of people in the sector.
thereby contributing to sustainable growth, quality jobs and social cohesion,
it also aims to drive innovation and to strengthening European identity and active citizenship.
It is, to say the least, an ambitious programme with a sizeable budget projected at around €26 billion over seven years.
The programme builds on the success of the 2014-2020, Erasmus+ programme.
The focus of the new programme is to offer more opportunities to more participants and to a wider range of organisations.
According to the programme manual, the rationale for the programme is that...
‘European citizens need to be better equipped with the knowledge, skills and competences needed in a dynamically changing society
that is increasingly mobile, multicultural and digital.
Spending time in another country to study, to learn and to work should become the standard,
while speaking two other languages in addition to ones’ mother tongue should be the norm’.
So the programme has high goals and hopes to offer more and better in:
developmental opportunities for people of different ages and from diverse cultural, social and economic backgrounds.
To serve those better with fewer opportunities, , including people with disabilities and migrants.
as well as European Union citizens living in remote areas or facing socio-economic difficulties.
In particular young people to engage and learn to participate in civic society, raising awareness about European Union common values.
Further, developing digital skills and competences and skills in forward-looking fields, such as
combating climate change, clean energy, artificial intelligence, robotics and big data analysis.
Finally, that organisations and participants involved should have an environmental-friendly approach to their work and activities.
The 4 priorities of the Erasmus+ Programme are: Inclusion and Diversity,
Digital Transformation,
Environment and fight against climate change,
Participation in democratic society.
As a rule, an Erasmus+ project should have 4 stages:
Planning, Preparation, Implementation, Follow Up.
This is a big programme with big goals. So, let's examine it in more detail.
The programme is structured around 3 Key Actions:
KEY ACTION 1 – MOBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS
KEY ACTION 2 – COOPERATION AMONG ORGANISATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS
KEY ACTION 3 – SUPPORT TO POLICY DEVELOPMENT AND COOPERATION
Overall, management of the programme rests with the European Education Audio-visual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA)
and it is responsible for the implementation of a number of actions of the Erasmus+ Programme.
National Agencies (one in every Member State) implement the remaining of the actions.
Erasmus+ operates around Open Calls with specific dates set each year, usually around May and October.
Participation in Erasmus+ is designed to be as wide as possible for citizens of EU Member States
Once you meet the criteria you can apply. For certain actions,
individuals, educational institutions and nonprofit organisations and businesses from Partner (non-EU Member) countries are included.
More information on programmes and sub programmes, can be accessed from the Erasmus+ operational manual.
So, let's look at the Key Actions in more detail.
KA1, Mobility. The biggest difference between this programme and the old one is the increased emphasis on mobility.
The budget for Mobility has been increased with the intention of trebling the number of participants on KA1's.
Specifically, we are talking about Mobility for:
Students, Young People, Apprentices, Teachers and Academics
to travel and study in other European countries.
There is a set menu of grants under each KA1 sub heading and you should refer directly to the Erasmus+ Programme Manual for specific details.
By far and away the largest part of the budget, mobility is a key objective for the EU on 2 fronts;
educationally it advances participants knowledge and perspective
and strategically for the EU project,
participants who do travel across Europe have a better perspective on the European Project and are more likely to support it in the future.
KA2 is cooperation amongst organisations and Institutions.
This key action promotes innovation and shared learning in the fields of:
Primary, post-primary and third-level education, Vocational Training
Adult Education, Youth Work and Not for profit sport.
There are a number of KA2 sub heading.
Partnerships for Cooperation includes 2 things: Cooperation Partnerships (previously Strategic Partnerships)
and the new Small-scale Partnerships (aimed at getting more organisations involved).
In 2021, partnerships for cooperation must address one or more of the following priorities:
Inclusion and diversity in all fields of education, training, youth and sport: 63 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:07,000 Environment and fight against climate change:
Addressing digital transformation through development of digital readiness, resilience and capacity:
Common values, civic engagement and participation:
All projects must address one or more of these objectives but also specific sector objectives.
In the field of higher education:
priorities focus on promoting innovation, STEM or STEAM, women in research and STEM and , improving digital capabilities.
In the field of school education:
priority will be given to tackling learning disadvantage, improving skills,
supporting teachers and increasing interest in participation in STEM and languages.
In the field of vocational education and training (both initial and continuing),
priority will be given to meeting the needs of the labour market, making VET more attractive, flexible and responsive.
In the field of adult education:
priority will be given to improving and increasing adult education opportunities and uptake.
In the filed of youth:
priority is given to recognising innovative youth work, giving young people capacity building
in taking initiative, entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship and innovation.
Overall, Cooperation Partnerships aim to
Increase the quality of the work, activities and practices of organisations and institutions involved,
open up the programme to new actors,
Build capacity of organisations to work transnationally and across sectors;
Overall, to address common needs and enable transformation and change.
Projects can last between 12 and 36 months.
There is a 20th May deadline for first round applications each year plus a 3rd November deadline if there is a second round.
The total project grant varies whether it is managed by a national agency or from Brussels.
At National Agencies: the budget can range between €100,000 and €400,000 for the project
depending on the duration which can be between 12 and 36 months.
If managed by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency in Brussels there is potentially a menu of 3 lump sums
which the project can choose from: €120,000, €250,000 and €400,000 depending on the project and its duration.
The budget parameters have been somewhat simplified since the last programme for drafting a budget
compared to an old strategic partnership.
There have been a number of minor definitional changesb such as Intellectual Outputs are now Project Results
but these do not really change the nature of a KA2 project or application.
Small-scale Partnerships are new and aimed at getting more, smaller organisations involved in Erasmus.
The projects should focus on including the relevant target group and promoting European civic participation.
These projects have smaller budgets.
There is a menu of 2 budget amounts of either €30,000 or €60,000.
The Partnerships for Excellence support projects with a long-term sustainable persepctive such as
Centres of Vocational Excellence, Erasmus+ Teacher Academies and Erasmus Mundus Actions.
More information from the Educational, Audio-visual and Culture Executive Agency and the Erasmus+ operational manual.
Partnerships for Innovation are sectoral or cross-sectoral alliances (Strategic Alliances in the previous programme)
that develop actions at a strategic European level in their specific realms of expertise.
This action aims to include business and industry into the programme.
More information from the Educational, Audio-visual and Culture Executive Agency and the Erasmus+ operational manual.
Other sub programmes include Capacity Building in the field of Youth and Not-for-profit European sports events.
More information on these can be seen in the operational manual.
Key Action 3 provides support to policy cooperation at European Union level.
These are the policy-level projects.
KA3 actions prepare and support the implementation of the EU policy agenda on education, training, youth and sport
and carry out policy experimentations.
The main programmes here are the European Youth Together Programme and the Jean Monnet Actions.
The Jean Monnet actions cover the whole range of policy development at thrid-level education.
More information on KA3 programmes can be accessed in the Erasmus+ operational manual.
So, what have we learned?
Erasmus+ is a large, ambitious programme.
It's budget is largely focused on Mobility and encouraging young European to travel and learn in other European countries.
The KA2 actions focus on innovation and developing new and innovative tools in education, training and youth.
KA3 actions continue to focus on policy development in education, training, youth and sport.
Overall, the structure of Erasmus+ has not changed much from the old programme
and provides considerable opportunities for increased mobility and innovation in the sector over the next 7 years.
Contact Funding Master: www.fundingmaster.eu. info@fundingmaster.eu.
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