Call: Virtual Exchanges with the Western Balkans

Erasmus+ 2021-2027 is the EU Programme in the fields of education, training, youth and sport, which are key areas that support citizens in their personal and professional development. High quality, inclusive education and training, as well as informal and non-formal learning, ultimately equip young people and participants of all ages with the qualifications and skills needed for their meaningful participation in democratic society, intercultural understanding and successful transition in the labour market. 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.

Objectives

The general objective of the Programme is to support, through lifelong learning, the educational, professional and personal development of people in education, training, youth and sport, in Europe and beyond, thereby contributing to sustainable growth, quality jobs and social cohesion, to driving innovation, and to strengthening European identity and active citizenship.

The Programme has the following specific objectives:

• promote learning mobility of individuals and groups, as well as cooperation, quality, inclusion and equity, excellence, creativity and innovation at the level of organisations and policies in the field of education and training;
• promote non-formal and informal learning mobility and active participation among young people, as well as cooperation, quality, inclusion, creativity and innovation at the level of organisations and policies in the field of youth;
• promote learning mobility of sport staff, as well as cooperation, quality, inclusion, creativity and innovation at the level of sport organisations and sport policies.

Priorities

Inclusion and Diversity

The programme seeks to increase the qualitative impact of its actions and to ensure equal opportunities. To this end, the programme will reach out to people of different ages and from diverse cultural, social and economic backgrounds. It will focus on people with fewer opportunities, including those with disabilities, educational difficulties, or a migrant background, as well as those living in rural and remote areas.

Digital Transformation

In line with the Digital Education Action Plan’s priorities, the programme will develop accessible and high-quality digital learning, foster the capacity of teachers, trainers and youth workers, etc. to use digital tools and content, test and promote distance, as well as blended learning. The mobility actions of the programme will provide an increased number of opportunities to acquire and develop digital skills through initiatives such as the Digital Opportunity Traineeships scheme. The implementation of the programme will be significantly digitalised and simplified for participants, in particular through the European Student Card initiative and a revamped IT architecture for beneficiaries and implementing bodies.

Environment and fight against climate change

In line with the European Green Deal, the programme will lead by example, by encouraging participants to use lower-carbon transport as an alternative to flying. Erasmus funding will also be channelled into building up knowledge and understanding of sustainability and climate action, so that Europeans acquire the world-leading competences needed to create sustainable societies, lifestyles and economies.

Participation in democratic life

The Programme addresses the citizens’ limited participation in its democratic processes and their lack of knowledge about the European Union, and tries to help them overcome the difficulties in actively engaging and participating in their communities or in the Union's political and social life. Strengthening citizens’ understanding of the European Union from an early age is crucial for the Union’s future.

Objectives

The specific objectives of this call are the following:

• encouraging intercultural dialogue with third countries not associated to the programme and increasing tolerance through online people-to-people interactions, building on digital, youth-friendly technologies;
• promoting various types of virtual exchanges as a complement to Erasmus+ physical mobility, allowing more young people to benefit from intercultural and international experience;
• Enhancing critical thinking and media literacy, particularly in the use of internet and social media, such as to counter discrimination indoctrination, polarization and violent radicalisation;
• fostering the digital and soft skills development of students, young people and youth workers, including the practice of foreign languages and teamwork, notably to enhance employability;
• promoting citizenship and the common values of freedom, tolerance and non-discrimination through education;
• strengthening the youth dimension in the relations of the EU with third countries.

Activities that can be funded

Projects will be funded based on work plans that may integrate a wide range of online cooperation activities, including for example:

• online-facilitated discussions between young people of youth organisations based in different countries, as part of youth projects. They could include role playing simulations. Participating organisations must arrange virtual exchanges for people in the 13-30 age-range. If a project involves people under 18, participating organisations are required to obtain prior authorisation from their parents or those acting on their behalf;
• training for youth workers willing to develop a virtual exchange project with colleagues from other countries;
• online facilitated discussions between students of Higher Education institutions based in different countries, as part of higher education degrees;
• training for university professors/staff willing to develop a virtual exchange project with colleagues from other countries;
• interactive open online courses including traditional course materials such as filmed lectures, readings, and problem sets (like the well-known MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, but putting an emphasis on interactive user forums in small groups to support community interactions among students, professors, teaching assistants, young people and youth workers).

In order to carry out the above activities, projects should rely, as far as possible, on existing tools and platforms. Should there be a need to develop new tools or platforms for specific projects; this would have to be properly justified. Individual participants must be based in the countries of the organisations participating in the project.

Expected impact

The activities and outputs of the different projects will aim at reaching a positive impact in relation to the objectives of the call that, while varying in accordance with the projects’ specificities, should be closely connected to the learning dimension of the virtual exchanges. Each project proposal should include information on this expected impact. Applicants are encouraged to foresee feedback from participating individuals and organisations, particularly as for the learning value, when reporting about the projects’ impact.

In order to be eligible, the applicants must be:

• legal entities (public or private bodies)
• be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
  • Erasmus+ Programm Countiers (EU Member State and non-EU countries)
  • Erasmus+ Partner Countries
• Individuals are not eligible

Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least 4 applicants (beneficiaries; not affiliated entities) which complies with the following conditions:

• Only applicants from Erasmus+ Programme Countries can take the role of coordinator.
• The consortium must have a minimum of 2 higher education institutions or 2 youth organisations from two Programme Countries

and

• 2 higher education institutions or 2 youth organisations from 2 eligible Partner Countries within the same region.
• The number of organisations from the Programme Countries may not be higher than the number of organisations from the Partner Countries.
• In the case of Sub-Saharan Africa, applicants are encouraged to involve partners from a wider range of countries in their proposal, including least developed countries19 and/or partners that have less experience in Erasmus+.

Proposal page limits and layout:

The application form will have two parts:

• Part A to be filled in directly online  (administrative information, summarised budget, call-specific questions, etc.)
• Part B to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system
• Part C to be filled in directly online containing additional project data
• mandatory annexes and supporting documents (to be uploaded):
  • list of previous projects (key projects for the last 4 years) (template available in Part B)

Page limit - Part B: 70 pages

The available call budget is EUR 1,000,000.00. This budget might be increased by maximum 20%.

Project budget (maximum grant amount): EUR 500.000 per project. 

The grant will be a budget-based mixed actual cost grant. This means that it will reimburse ONLY certain types of costs (eligible costs) and costs that were actually incurred for your project (NOT the budgeted costs). For unit costs and flat-rates, you can charge the amounts calculated as explained in the Grant Agreement.

The costs will be reimbursed at the funding rate fixed in the Grant Agreement (95%)

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.

The list of National Erasmus+ Offices is available on the website of the Education, Culture, and Audiovisual Executive Agency.