According to Regulation (EU) 2021/817, the Erasmus+ Programme serves as a pivotal instrument for fostering the educational, professional, and personal development of individuals in education, training, youth, and sport across Europe and beyond. The program’s general objective is to contribute to sustainable growth, quality jobs, social cohesion, innovation, and the reinforcement of European identity and active citizenship. Aligned with the European Pillar of Social Rights and the European Skills Agenda, the program has specific objectives focusing on learning mobility, cooperation, quality, inclusion, creativity, and innovation in education, training, youth, and sport.

Key Actions and Objectives of Erasmus+

The Erasmus+ Programme is structured around key actions (KA1, KA2, KA3), including learning mobility, cooperation among organizations, support to policy development, and Jean Monnet actions. The program’s architecture, now streamlined for Sport activities, mirrors the structure for Education and Training and Youth chapters. This stability ensures continuity from the previous 2014-2020 program while aiming to increase impact. The program’s scope covers all education and training sectors, spanning school education, vocational education and training, higher education, adult learning, youth, and sport, contributing to the realization of a cohesive European Education Area.

L'articolo Erasmus Plus 2024 Annual Work Programme proviene da Youth Networks.

The programme is designed to empower youth and promote solidarity, aligning with broader EU strategies such as the European Education Area, the Digital Education Action Plan, and the European Democracy Action Plan. The document outlines specific policy priorities, including fostering inclusion and diversity, promoting environmental sustainability and climate goals, embracing digital transformation, and encouraging active participation in democratic life. It highlights the various grant management mechanisms, including calls for proposals, both general and specific, which are crucial for mobilizing projects and activities in line with the program’s objectives.

Our Main Highlights in Comparison With 2023

• DiscoverEU

•  Key Action 1 Mobility Projects Budget
• Sport Activities 

• Partnership for Cooperation in the field of youth

• Partnership for Cooperation: Small-Scale Partnership

• Priorities in the field of youth: budget

• Priorities in the field of sport: budget

• Key Action 2

• Youth Participation Activities

DOWNLOAD the 2024 European Solidarity Corps Annual Work Programme.

L'articolo 2024 Annual Work Programme | Highlights on the Differences With 2023 Edition proviene da Youth Networks.

The European Solidarity Corps, launched in 2016 and bolstered by a dedicated regulation in 2018, has become a cornerstone of the EU’s commitment to solidarity and youth empowerment. With a budget exceeding EUR 1 billion for 2021-2027, the Corps has expanded its focus to include volunteering in humanitarian aid, addressing global challenges.

Boasting a quarter-million registered youth by 2020, the Corps goes beyond community impact. It equips participants with vital skills for navigating a dynamic world. Aligned with the EU Youth Strategy, the Corps is more than a volunteer initiative; it’s a bridge connecting youthful aspirations with global needs, fostering socially conscious and globally engaged citizens.

DOWNLOAD the 2024 European Solidarity Corps Annual Work Programme.

Empowering Youth Globally: The European Solidarity Corps and EU Youth Strategy

The European Solidarity Corps, a linchpin of the EU’s commitment to solidarity and youth empowerment, is strategically embedded within the framework of European cooperation in the youth field. At the heart of EU youth policy, the Corps aligns with the renewed Youth Strategy, emphasising active citizenship, solidarity, and positive change inspired by EU values and a shared European identity.

A pivotal aspect of the Youth Strategy is found in the ‘Connect’ priority area, where the Commission aims to expand mobility actions under the Corps. This entails not only bolstering mobility but also supporting implementation through robust policy cooperation and community-building activities. The indicative budget for the 2024 European Solidarity Corps work programme stands at EUR 145,000,000, a crucial financing decision per the regulations governing the Union’s general budget.

Policy Priorities and Strategic Focus

In its mission to empower young people and promote solidarity, the European Solidarity Corps outlines comprehensive policy priorities for the 2024 work programme. These priorities align with broader EU strategies such as the European Education Area, the Digital Education Action Plan, and the European Democracy Action Plan, emphasizing a gender equality perspective in line with the Gender Equality Strategy 2020-25.

Inclusion and Diversity

The Corps actively addresses inclusion and diversity, promoting social inclusion, tolerance, human rights, and the value of differences. A comprehensive strategy supports organizations in reaching participants with fewer opportunities, ensuring equal access. The thematic SALTO Resource Centre for Inclusion and Diversity enhances the inclusive implementation of the programme.

Environmental Sustainability and Climate Goals

The Corps contributes to climate and biodiversity goals by prioritizing the green transition and promoting eco-friendly practices in projects. In line with the European Green Deal, the Corps supports initiatives for environmental conservation, awareness, and resilience to extreme weather events. The thematic green SALTO Resource Centre enhances the green dimension of the programme.

Digital Transformation

In response to the EU’s emphasis on digital leadership, the Corps aims to support Europeans in thriving in the digital age. Projects and activities focus on improving digital skills, fostering digital literacy, and understanding the risks and opportunities of digital technology. The thematic digital SALTO Resource Centre ensures high-quality and inclusive implementation of the digital dimension.

Participation in Democratic Life

At the core of the Corps is the promotion of European common values, civic engagement, and strengthening European identity. Activities aim to engage youth in democratic processes, including European elections, and uphold EU values and human rights. The thematic SALTO Resource Centre for Participation & Information supports high-quality and inclusive implementation.

Annual Policy Priorities: Addressing Urgent Needs

The 2024 work programme emphasizes specific annual policy priorities:

• Relief for Persons Fleeing Conflicts and Disasters

The Corps plays a crucial role in providing relief and assistance to those affected by armed conflicts and disasters. Recent events, such as the Russian invasion of Ukraine, underscore the importance of solidarity in times of crisis.

• Fostering Positive Learning for Vulnerable Youth

The Corps supports learning outcomes for young people with fewer opportunities, aligning with the European Year of Skills and reinforcing the legacy of the European Year of Youth.

Broader Focus Areas: Health and Innovation

Beyond annual priorities, the Corps actively supports initiatives related to health and mental well-being, aligning with the HealthyLifeStyle4All. It also promotes innovation, mobilizing young people to contribute innovative solutions to societal challenges, such as rural depopulation and sustainable energy systems.

The European Solidarity Corps in 2024 emerges not only as a platform for youth engagement but as a dynamic force aligning with EU strategies, addressing pressing global issues, and nurturing a generation of socially conscious and innovative citizens.

Calls for Proposals: Guiding Participation

Calls for proposals, both general and specific, are issued by the Commission or the Executive Agency, aligning with Financial Regulation Article 189(1). The annual general call for proposals, accompanied by the Programme Guide, serves as a comprehensive resource outlining project objectives, requirements, and application procedures.

• Direct and Indirect Management: Diverse Implementation Channels

Actions are implemented through direct and indirect management. National Agencies handle indirect management, while direct management grants are awarded by the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

• Flexible Grant Awarding: Swift Responses to Needs

Grant awards, including those without a formal call for proposals as permitted by Article 195 of the Financial Regulation, showcase the Corps’ adaptability in addressing emerging challenges.

• Navigating 2024 Initiatives: Future Calls and Grants

Part II of the work programme details upcoming calls for proposals and grants, providing clarity for potential beneficiaries. The selection criteria outlined in the Programme Guide will guide the evaluation and awarding process for all grants under the European Solidarity Corps.

L'articolo European Solidarity Corps 2024 Annual Work Programme proviene da Youth Networks.

Are you 18 years old and dreaming of travelling around Europe? Discover how to organise and how to embark on an unforgettable trip with the “DiscoverEU” program, which will allow you to explore all of Europe by train completely free!

Hurry up! In fact, 36,318 travel passes are available for young people from all over Europe (who are 18 years old). The applications for the project will remain open until 18 October.

Read on to find out how to get your travel pass!

What is DiscoverEU?

DiscoverEU is a key initiative within the Erasmus+ programme. The aim of the project is to give young people the chance to embark on a journey of exploration across Europe’s diverse culture and deepen their understanding of its history.

Participants will receive a travel pass that will primarily facilitate rail travel, but there are also some specific guidelines for residents of islands or remote areas.

They will also get a lot of discounts encompassing cultural excursions, educational pursuits, sporting activities, local transportation, accommodations, and dining experiences.

How does it work?

To meet the eligibility criteria, you must fulfill the following conditions:

• Your birthdate must fall between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2005.
• Provide the correct identity card (ID), passport, or residence card number when completing the online application.
• Be a citizen or resident of one of the following:
  • Any European Union Member State, including Overseas Countries and Territories (OCTs).
  • One of the third countries associated with the Erasmus+ program: Iceland, Liechtenstein, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, or Türkiye.

You will also need to take part in a quiz (unless you’re applying as part of a group).

If you are selected, you can embark on your travels for a minimum of 1 day and up to 30 days, spanning from March 1, 2024, to May 31, 2025.

Can I travel with friends?

You have the flexibility to travel on your own or invite up to four friends to join your group, as long as they fulfil the eligibility criteria mentioned earlier.

They should use your application code to submit their own applications.

Furthermore, if you’re interested in coordinating travel plans with other DiscoverEU participants, you can join DiscoverEU Facebook Group that serves as an excellent platform for this purpose.

Once you’re chosen, the Erasmus+ National Agencies will facilitate the process and they will organise pre-departure meetings and traveler meet-ups to enhance your experience.

How to apply?

If you meet all the requirements mentioned above and are willing to leave for this adventure do not wait any longer: the deadline for applications is October 18, 2023!

To send your application and find out more about this opportunity visit the official website of DiscoverEU!

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Are you passionate about sustainability and would like to make the city where you live greener and rich in nature? Discover the EUROplant project, an initiative funded by Eurodesk Poland!

The participants helped make three cities in Poland greener, promoting the importance of sustainability as a collective action.

The EUROplant Project

The project took place in October 2022 in three cities in the southern of Poland (Piekary Śląskie, Częstochowa and Rybnik).

The initiative wanted to improve the quality of life in the cities, renewing green spaces and parks. The association organised some training sessions with the aim of promoting the values of sustainable living and the importance of reducing our environmental impact for the community.

During the project, three tree-planting actions were organised and involved participants of all ages. Older townspeople, children and officials of the city council and the youth city council took part in the action.

The Rethink Foundation

“The Rethink Foundation” collaborated during the organisation of the initiative.

The foundation has the goals of bringing communities together to collaborate and have a good impact on social and environmental projects.

The organisers provided clear guidance to participants on how to properly plant trees within the green areas of cities.

Subsequently the participants registered the trees in the municipal offices, to monitor and cure them in the future.

At the end of the project the participants were extremely satisfied with the positive effects of the initiative and they could enjoy the new green areas of the cities.

The aims of the project

The aims of the project were the following:

• developing gardening skills
• uniting and getting to know residents
• meeting local authorities with residents in a joint action
• expanding knowledge about vegetation in cities
• getting acquainted with the activities of Eurodesk offices
• promoting good civic attitudes
• creating a wooded space that would renew water and reduce the temperature in summer

The conditions of the project

The project had an extremely positive impact on the city and community.

Here is the testimony of Paulina, a participant in the project:

“For me, these towns – Piekary Śląskie, Rybnik and Częstochowa – are part of the industrial region, Silesia, where I come from. Although for several years I have been actively taking care of my immediate environment, the flower beds, lawns and small shrubs around the house, I would never have thought that it would have been so easy to take care of areas belonging to the city and use the space on the estate. I was afraid it would take a lot of time and require a lot of approvals and paperwork. Planting plants together not only helped me get through this, but also proved that the city authorities are willing to get involved in various projects. If there were more of such activities, not only the highly urbanised but also the industrial and heavily polluted areas would probably be redeveloped and greened faster thanks to social initiatives!”

Read more about the project here.

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L'articolo The EUROplant Project | Greener and More Sustainable Cities proviene da Youth Networks.

Are you a youth worker and want to improve your presentation, communication and project management skills?

Discover how to participate in the new training course “Stagecraft for Youth Workers“, organised by BeASILY UG, a young non-profit organisation based in Germany.

The project will take place in Germany from 21 to 29 November and will bring together 31 participants from all over Europe.

The training course

The training course will last 7 days. Through non-formal education activities aims to improve the knowledge and skills of youth workers regarding communication, presentation and facilitation skills development.

Participants will have the opportunity to share and discuss topics such as theatre, comedy, storytelling, psychology, education, music and creative community work.

The organisers will be using a dynamic approach through psychological and theatrical techniques to make the training diverse and exciting.

The aims of the project

The project aims to provide a solid foundation for youth and social workers to communicate effectively and create fun and dynamic activities.

In particular, the organisers will focus on the following goals:

• To develop awareness and build on a greater understanding of the presentation, communication and engagement skills
• To explore and understand the effects of effective presentation and engagement with an audience of young people and in the role of youth worker
• To identify and realise the opportunities to put the skills developed into practice
• To follow the recognition pathways offered through Youthpass
• To explore the opportunities for realising their youth work potential through Erasmus+ and develop future collaborations

The requirements for participation

To participate in the project you must be part of one or more of the following categories:

• Youth or social workers
• Trainers
• Youth coaches
• Volunteering mentors
• Educators

The organisation is looking for 31 participants from the following countries: Czech Republic, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, Türkiye.

The conditions of the project

To participate in the training course is required a fee that will be paid upon arrival. The fee is free to choose and can range from 50 to 100 € depending on the economic availability of the participants.

Board and accommodation are covered by the Erasmus+ programme, while travel expenses from the country of origin to Germany are reimbursed.

The refund varies depending on the country of origin, for more information consult the website of the traning course.

How to apply

To apply, you must apply through the Salto-youth website.

The deadline is set for 1 October and applications submitted after this date will not be considered.

For more information on this project, please contact the organisation at stagecraft23@beasily.com

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L'articolo Improve your Communication Skills | Stagecraft for Youth Workers proviene da Youth Networks.

If you are a non-profit organisation based in a member state of the European Union discover how to become the official organiser of the next European Youth Event (local EYEs)!

The European Parliament is providing financial support through grants to two non-profit organisations to organise the event that will take place in spring 2024.

What is European Youth Event (EYE)?

The EYE (European Youth Event) is an event that aims to bring together thousands of young people from all over the European Union to share and shape their ideas on Europe’s future.

It is a unique opportunity for 16 to 30 year olds to interact, inspire each other and exchange their views and experiences.

A lot of experts, activists, influencers and decision-makers will also be participating in the event.

What will the local events be like?

The event will be focusing on promoting European values and wants to give the opportunity to young people to collaborate and share their views and opinions about their life in Europe.

The events will be:

• Organised under the EYE spirit and branding, and designed to be accessible and inclusive
• offering a diverse range of activities to attract as many young people as possible.
• involving as much as possible cross-border cooperation

The events must take place before the end of May 2024.

Follow up actions should take place until the European elections (6-9 June 2024).

The activities during the events

The organisations responsible for the locals eyes are free to propose some activities.

The activities could be:

• non-formal education activities by young people for young people
• concerts, theatre, dance and acrobatic performances, art and photography exhibitions by young artists
• leisure activities (concert, party) for the evenings

The goals of the events

Expected outcomes for the events are the following:

• promoting democratic values
• fostering the representation and participation of citizens in the European democratic life
• promote the youth vote at the next European Elections 6-9 June 2024.

It is important that through the activities chosen by the organisations the following objectives will be promoted, through non-formal education and fun activities.

The requirements for participation

All those who meet one or more of the following requirements can apply as event organisers:

• Non-profit making organisation
• private legal persons constituted and registered as legal entity for at least three years at the time of application
• legal persons based in one of the Member States of the European Union
• legal persons with no political affiliation

The total budget is EUR 220.000 for both projects. The maximum budget per project is expected to be EUR 110.000.

How to apply

To participate you can send your application through the official website. The deadline is set for 5 September.

For more information on this opportunity we recommend to consult the official website of the project.

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L'articolo Organise the European Youth Event 2024 | Call For 2 Local EYEs proviene da Youth Networks.

Are you a youth worker or do you work in the organisation of solidarity or volunteering projects?

Discover the impact of ESC project by joining “Exploring & Celebrating Impact in European Solidarity Corps Activities“, a training course organised by “The Youth Board of Cyprus”.

The activities will take place from 23 to 27 October in Cyprus.

The organisation

The Youth Board of Cyprus was founded in 1994 with the aim of providing opportunities to young people and to actively participate and be responsible for the social, economic and cultural development of their community and country.

The organisation also offer support to young people with youth related problems through entertainment and creative projects.

What to expect

The participants will have the opportunity to build on their knowledge of the impact ESC programmes have on volunteers.

The training course will also be useful to develop methodologies to evaluate the results of projects and improve the effectiveness of the desired results.

It will also be an experience that will allow the connection between different realities, promoting cultural exchange and non-formal education among the participants.

Requirements

You can participate in the training course if you fall into one (or more) of the following categories:

• Being an active person in the organisation of volunteer projects or have participated in an ESC volunteer project
• Being a youth worker who supports young people in participating in European Solidarity Corps activities
• Being a volunteering coordinator, manager, mentor or coach
• coming from a European Solidarity Corps Programme or Partner Country

How to apply

To participate in the project you can submit your application through the official portal of Salto-Youth.

The project is fully funded by the Erasmus+ programme.

The participants will get a full refund of the return ticket, food and accommodation throughout the project.

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3rd EUROTUREC Conference

The team of the EUROTUREC project (ref. num. CSD-VI/372), with the support of external experts from the National Agency and NGOs with expertise in the sector, hold a conference to provide information about the Erasmus+ KA2 Partnership for Cooperation Call and to create a space for networking between potential applicants.

The conference takes place online, on February 25th from 13:30 to 16:00 CEST (15:30-18:00 Turkish Time), and it requires prior registration by February 22nd. 

There are only 15-20 places available, so please be specific in the info you put in the form to increase the chance of being selected.

The Schedule

Preparation task: each participant will have to prepare in advance a 1-slide presentation of their own organisation. 

Find out more about KA2 Erasmus+ Partnership for Cooperation Call here.

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L'articolo 3rd Euroturec Conference: KA2 Erasmus+ Partnership for Cooperation Call proviene da Youth Networks.

European Universities

The European Universities support systemic, structural and sustainable transnational cooperation among diverse higher education institutions across Europe, covering all their missions:

• education,
• research,
• innovation and
• service to society.

Through cooperation, European universities promote common European values and strengthen the European identity. They support higher education through:

• the high quality they provide;
• high standard performance;
• great attractiveness to young people;
• international competitiveness.

2022 Erasmus Plus European Universities Call

The Call for Proposals builds around 2 topics:

1. Intensification of prior deep institutional transnational cooperation: to provide support for already existing deep institutional transnational cooperation alliances. The aim is to build upon the institutional cooperation achieved so far and to further deepen, intensify and expand the effectiveness of this existing cooperation in order to progress towards the long-term vision of the ‘European Universities’. New higher education institutions have the opportunity to join these existing alliances as full partners.
2. Development of new deep institutional transnational cooperation: to provide support for applicants wishing to establish new deep institutional transnational cooperation in a new ‘European Universities’ alliance.

Further Information

There is an upcoming information session on December 14th, 2021. A chance to ask live your questions about the Call for Proposals 2022 for European Universities. The organizer is EACEA and the information session will be on web streaming.

How To Apply

Find the call for proposals for the 2022 Erasmus+ European Universities.The deadline for applications submission is 22 March 2022.

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