Call 2024 for Cooperation Partnerships in the fields of Education, Training and Youth submitted by European NGOs
Applications can be submitted until 5 March 2024. Only ENGOs can be coordinators, but any relevant organisation can be a partner.
The aim of Erasmus+ cooperation partnerships is to enhance the quality and relevance of the activities of the organisations involved, to develop and strengthen the partners' networks, to improve their joint action at transnational level or to strengthen the internationalisation of their activities, both by exchanging or developing new practices and methods and by sharing and confronting ideas. Furthermore, the organisations involved should open up, through cooperation projects, to new actors who are not naturally involved in their activities within the sector.
There are two types of cooperation partnerships: the first, the so-called decentralised one, where applications are to be submitted to the national agencies and the second one, which is for European NGOs and is the focus of this article, requires applications to be submitted to EACEA only through the FTOP portal. For the latter, only European Non-Governmental Organisations (ENGOs) active in the field of education or youth can be the project coordinator. The budget for this year's call for this type of project is the same as in previous years: €5 million for education and training and €2 million for youth. Projects can apply for grants of €120,000, €250,000 or €400,000, depending on the estimated budget of the project.
The call is divided into two topics and applicants must focus on only one of these themes per project:
Cooperative Partnerships in Education & Training
Cooperative Partnerships in Youth.
What is a European Non-Governmental Organisation (ENGO)?
It is a non-governmental organisation operating through an officially recognised structure composed of a European body/secretariat, legally established at least two years before the deadline for applications (which is a novelty compared to previous calls where it was only one year) in an EU Member State or in a third country associated to the programme. It also must have branches in at least nine EU Member States or third countries associated to the programme. National organisations and branches must have a proven statutory relationship with the European secretariat and be active in the fields of education, training or youth. For more information, see the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2024 (Part D).
What other criteria must the project meet?
The project coordinator must be a European NGO as mentioned above, partner organisations can be any public or private organisation relevant to the project. The consortium must be composed of at least three organisations from three different EU Member States, Erasmus+ associated countries or eventually non-associated countries (these do not count in the minimum consortium composition). The involvement of an organisation from a non-associated country is possible, but it must represent a clear and high added value. In addition to the full partners, meaning the coordinator and the partner organisations, associated partners may also be involved in cooperative partnerships. These can be organisations from the public or private sector that contribute to the implementation of specific tasks/activities of the project or support the promotion and sustainability of the project, but are not receiving a grant. Associated partners may be based in both EU Member States, countries associated to the programme and third countries non associated to the programme (except Russia and Belarus).
The application must be submitted through the FTOP portal by 5:00 PM on March 5. The project duration is between 12 and 36 months and must be determined at the time of application. Additional extensions are possible, but only up to a total duration of 36 months. Compared to previous years, the minimum score for all selection criteria required has been raised to 70 out of 100 (in previous years it was 60). The project must also take into account one or more of the Erasmus+ horizontal priorities (inclusion, sustainability, digitalisation and participation) and at least one specific sectoral priority (these are different for youth and for education and training, see the Erasmus+ Programme Guide, pp. 230-237 (English version)). Activities that can be funded under this type of project include exchanges of experience and good practice, networking events, capacity building, workshops, organisation of conferences, awareness raising, dissemination and promotion activities or activities aimed at involving young people in democratic life and society.
Where to find more information?
The EACEA organised an info session on this call on 30 January 2024, a full recording of which (and presentations) can be found on the event website. During the webinar, the background information and objectives, the conditions for participation in this type of projects and guidance on how to complete the different parts of the application form and write a quality project proposal were presented. In the section on tips on how to prepare a quality project application, it was stressed that it is important to start early and upload the application to FTOP at least 2 days before the deadline, familiarise yourself with the relevant information and the call and structure the project well. It is also necessary to check the complete coherence of the information in the project application, both in terms of financial and involvement of all partners and their roles.
For more information, please refer to the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2024 or the Call (Education and Training and Youth). In case of questions, applicants can contact EACEA via email EACEA-EPLUS-EDU-ENGO@ec.europa.eu (Education and Training) or EACEA-YOUTH@ec.europa.eu (Youth).