Call: Capacity building in the field of youth

This Key Action supports:

• Partnerships for Cooperation, including Cooperation Partnerships and Small-scale Partnerships;
• Partnerships for Excellence, including Centres for Vocational Excellence, Teachers Academy and Erasmus
• Mundus Action;
• Partnerships for Innovation, including Alliances and Forward-looking projects;
• Capacity Building projects in the field of youth;
• Not-for-profit European sport events.

For the participating organisations, projects supported under this Key Action are intended to produce the following outcomes:

• innovative approaches for addressing their target groups, by providing for example: more attractive education and training programmes, in line with individual needs and expectations; use of participatory approaches and digital methodologies; new or improved processes of recognition and validation of competences; greater effectiveness of activities for the benefit of local communities; new or improved practices to cater for the needs of targets groups with fewer opportunities and to deal with differences in learning outcomes linked to the geographical and socio-economic disparities; new approaches to address social, ethnic, linguistic and cultural diversity; new approaches to better support competitiveness and employment in particular at regional and local level; recognition of excellence in language learning or teaching through the European Language Label;
• a more modern, dynamic, committed and professional environment inside the organisation: ready to integrate good practices and new methods including digital capabilities into daily activities; open to synergies with organisations active in different fields or in other socio-economic sectors; strategic planning of professional development for staff in line with individual needs and organisational objectives;
• increased capacity and professionalism to work at EU/international level: improved management competences and internationalisation strategies; reinforced cooperation with partners from other countries, other fields of education, training and youth and/or other socio-economic sectors; increased allocation of financial resources (other than EU funds) to organise EU/international projects in the field of education, training and youth; increased quality in the preparation, implementation, monitoring and follow-up of EU/international projects;monitoring and follow-up of EU/international projects;
• increased knowledge and awareness regarding sport and physical activity:
• increased awareness of the role of sport in promoting social inclusion, equal opportunities and a healthy lifestyle;

Projects funded under this Key Action are also likely to have a positive impact on the persons directly or indirectly involved in the activities, such as:

• increased sense of initiative and entrepreneurship;
• increased competence in foreign languages;
• increased level of digital competence;
• greater understanding and responsiveness to all kinds of diversity, e.g. social, ethnic, linguistic, gender and cultural diversity as well as diverse abilities;
• improved levels of skills for employability and new business creation (including social entrepreneurship);
• more active participation in society;
• more positive attitude towards the European project and the EU values;
• better understanding and recognition of skills and qualifications in Europe and beyond;
• improved competences, linked to occupational profiles (teaching, training, youth work, sport coaching, etc.);
• better understanding of practices, policies and systems in education, training, youth and sport across countries;
• better understanding of interconnections between formal, non-formal education, vocational training, other forms of learning and labour market respectively;
• increased opportunities for professional development;
• increased motivation and satisfaction in daily work;
• increased practice of sport and physical activity.

At systemic level, they are expected to trigger modernisation and reinforce the response of education and training systems and youth policies to the main challenges of today's world: environmental sustainability, digital transformation, employment, economic stability and growth, but also the need to promote social, civic and intercultural competences, intercultural dialogue, democratic values and fundamental rights, social inclusion, mental health and well-being, non-discrimination and active citizenship, critical thinking and media literacy.
Therefore, the impact of this Key Action is intended to be:

• increased quality of education and training, youth work and sport practices in Europe and beyond: combining higher levels of excellence and attractiveness with increased opportunities for all;
• education, training and youth systems that are better aligned to the needs of and opportunities offered by the labour market, and closer links to business and the community;
• improved provision and assessment of basic and transversal skills, particularly: entrepreneurship, social, civic, intercultural and language competences, critical thinking, digital skills and media literacy;
• increased synergies and links and improved transition between the different sectors of education, training and youth at national level, with improved use of European reference tools for recognition, validation and transparency of competences and qualifications;
• increased use of learning outcomes when describing and defining qualifications, parts of qualifications and curricula, in support to teaching and learning and in assessment;
• increased awareness and openness to social diversity and increased inclusiveness and accessibility of education systems and possibilities
• new and increased inter-regional and transnational cooperation of public authorities in the fields of education, training and youth;
• more strategic and integrated use of ICTs and open educational resources (OER) in education, training and youth systems;
• increased motivation for language learning through innovative teaching methods or better links to practical use of language skills required by the labour market;
• reinforced interaction between practice, research and policy.
• increased level of participation in sport and physical activity as a tool for health and well being
• increased knowledge on how to tackle cross-border threats to the integrity of sport, such as doping, match fixing and violence, as well as all kinds of intolerance and discrimination better support of good governance in sport and dual careers of athletes;
• increased recognition of voluntary activities in sport;
• increased mobility of volunteers, coaches, managers and staff of non-profit sport organisations;
• increased social inclusion and equal opportunities in sport.

Objectives

Capacity-building projects are international cooperation projects based on multilateral partnerships between organisations active in the field of youth in Programme and third countries not associated to the Programme. They aim to support the international cooperation and policy dialogue in the field of youth and non-formal learning, as a driver of sustainable socio-economic development and well-being of youth organisations and young people.

The action will aim at:

• raising the capacity of organisations working with young people outside formal learning;
• promote non-formal learning activities in third countries not associated to the Programme, especially targeting
• young people with fewer opportunities, with a view to improving the level of competences while ensuring the
• active participation of young people in society;
• support the development of youth work in third countries not associated to the Programme, improving its quality
• and recognition;
• foster the development, testing and launching of schemes and programmes of non-formal learning mobility in
• third countries not associated to the Programme;
• contribute to the implementation of the EU Youth Strategy (2019-2027) including the 11 European Youth goals;
• foster cooperation across different regions of the world through joint initiatives;
• enhance synergies and complementarities with formal education systems and/or the labour market;

Thematic Areas / Specific Objectives

Proposals should focus on one or more of the following thematic areas:

• political participation and dialogue with decision-makers;
• inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities;
• democracy, rule of law and values;
• empowerment / engagement / employability of young people ;
• peace and post-conflict reconciliation;
• environment and climate;
• anti-discrimination and gender equality;
• digital and entrepreneurial skills.

Activities:

The activities proposed must be directly linked to the general and specific objectives of the action, i.e. they must correspond to one or more of the thematic areas listed above and they must be detailed in a project description covering the entire implementation period. Finally, in the context of this international worldwide action, project activities must focus on building and strengthening the capacities of youth organisations and young people principally in the third countries not associated to the Programme covered by the action.

Funded projects will be able to integrate a wide range of cooperation, exchange, communication and other activities that:

• contribute to encouraging policy dialogue, cooperation, networking and exchanges of practices;
• promote strategic cooperation between youth organisations on the one hand and public authorities, particularly
• in eligible third countries not associated to the Programme;
• promote the cooperation between youth organisations and organisations active in the education and training
• fields as well as with organisations from the labour market;
• raise the capacities of youth councils, youth platforms and local, regional and national authorities dealing with
• youth, in particular in eligible third countries not associated to the Programme;
• enhance the management, governance, innovation capacity, leadership and internationalisation of youth
• organisations, particularly in eligible third countries not associated to the Programme
• support the development of information and awareness campaigns, as well as the development of information,
• communication and media tools;
• help developing youth work methods, tools and materials;
• create new forms of delivering youth work and providing training and support; facilitate non-formal learning
• mobility.

Examples of activities include:

• the development of tools and methods for the socio-professional development of youth workers and trainers;
• the development of non-formal learning methods, especially those promoting the acquisition/improvement of
• competences, including media literacy skills;
• the development of new forms of practical training schemes and simulation of real life cases in society;
• the development of new forms of youth work, notably strategic use of open and flexible learning, virtual cooperation,
• open educational resources (OER) and better exploitation of the ICT potential;
• the organisation of events/seminars/workshops/exchange of good practice for cooperation, networking,
• awareness raising and peer-learning purposes
• the organisation of mobility activities for young people and/or youth workers in order to test tools and methods
• developed by the partnership. Please note that mobility activities must be secondary to the main objectives of
• the action, and must be instrumental to and underpin the achievement of these objectives

Eligible is any organisation, public or private, with its affiliated entities (if any), working with or for young people outside formal settings established in an EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme, or in a third country not associated to the Programme from regions 1 and 3.

Such organisations can, for example, be:

• a non-profit organisation, association, NGO (including European Youth NGOs);
• a national Youth Council;
• a public authority at local, regional or national level;
• an education or research institution;
• a foundation;

Public or private companies (small, medium or large enterprise (including social enterprises) may be included. Therefore, whereas this action is primarily targeting associations, NGOs and more generally non-for-profit organisations, for-profit organisations can be involved if a clear added value is demonstrated for the project. However, in a capacity building objective, coordination tasks must be limited to non-for-profit organisations.

European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) - https://www.eacea.ec.europa.eu/index_en

Since 2006, the European Education and Culture Executive Agency has been a catalyst for projects in education, training, youth, sport, audiovisual, culture, citizenship and humanitarian aid. On behalf of the European Commission, EACEA strives to foster innovation in these areas, always in a spirit of cross-border cooperation and mutual respect.

EACEA are project managers, facilitators of knowledge exchange, and supporters of European projects that connect people and cultures.

National Agencies

To bring Erasmus+ as close as possible to the participants and make sure it works well across different countries, the EU works with National Agencies to manage the programme.

The National Agencies are based in Programme Countries and their role involves

• providing information on Erasmus+
• selecting projects to be funded
• monitoring and evaluating Erasmus+
• supporting applicants and participants
• working with other National Agencies and the EU
• promoting Erasmus+
• sharing success stories and best practices

The list of National Agencies can be found here. Countries not in the list of Programme countries may alternately have a National Erasmus+ Office.

National Erasmus+ Offices

National Erasmus+ Offices (NEOs) assist the European Commission and local authorities in the implementation of Erasmus+ in certain Partner Countries.

These countries are located in the Western Balkans, the Eastern and Southern Mediterranean and Central Asia. Russia also has a National Office.

Providing information on Erasmus+, monitoring and evaluating funded projects, assisting applicants and participants, supporting policy dialogue and maintaining contact with local authorities and EU Delegations are among the responsibilities of the NEOs.