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  1. An institution, body, office or agency established by or based on the Treaty on European Union and the Treaties establishing the European Communities.

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Call key data

Topic 5: Adult learning: Improving career guidance to support adults’ participation in training

Funding Program

Erasmus+ - Key Action 2 – Cooperation among Organisations and Institutions

Call number

ERASMUS-EDU-2025-PI-FORWARD-ADULT-CG

deadlines

Opening
18.12.2024

Deadline
27.05.2025 17:00

Funding rate

80%

Estimated EU contribution per project

max. € 1,000,000.00

Link to the call

ec.europa.eu

Link to the submission

ec.europa.eu

Call content

short description

This action will aim to foster innovation, creativity and participation, as well as social entrepreneurship, in different fields of education and training, within sectors or across sectors and disciplines. The Pact for Skills is the flagship action of the 2020 European Skills Agenda. Projects under this Topic will identify and test methods and mechanisms to improve guidance and counselling services to adults, with a particular focus on reaching out to and supporting workers in small and micro-enterprises. Projects can address up- and reskilling for all levels of staff, including workers with low basic skills, but also management. Ideally, projects should devise approaches that have the potential of becoming mainstreamed.

Call objectives

This action will aim to foster innovation, creativity and participation, as well as social entrepreneurship, in different fields of education and training, within sectors or across sectors and disciplines. 

Forward-Looking Projects are large-scale projects that aim to identify, develop, test and/or assess innovative (policy) approaches that have the potential of becoming mainstreamed, thus improving education and training systems. They will support forward-looking ideas responding to key European priorities. They should give input for improving education and training systems, as well as bring a substantial innovative effect in terms of methods and practices to all types of learning and active participation settings for Europe's social cohesion. 

The goal is to support transnational cooperation projects implementing a coherent and comprehensive set of sectoral or cross-sectoral activities that either: a) foster innovation in terms of scope, ground-breaking methods and practices, and/or b) ensure a transfer of innovation (across countries, policy sectors or target groups), thus ensuring at European level a sustainable exploitation of innovative project results and/or transferability into different contexts and audiences. The partnerships should be composed of a mix of public and private organisations combining researchers, practitioners and partners with the capacity to reach policy makers.

Forward-Looking Projects should therefore be implemented by a mixed partnership of organisations: 

  • based on excellence and state of the art knowledge;
  • having the capacity to innovate;
  • able to generate systemic impact through their activities and the potential to drive the policy agenda in the fields of education and training. 

The general objectives are as follows: 

  • Implementing innovative initiatives with a strong impact on education and training reforms in specific strategic policy areas;
  • Contributing to the strengthening of Europe's innovation capacity by promoting innovation in education and training;
  • Creating systemic change through fostering innovation at both practice and policy level;
  • Support forward-looking ideas focusing on key topics and priorities at EU level, with a clear potential to be mainstreamed in one or more sectors;
  • As fully innovative, ground-breaking educational methods and practices and/or transfer of innovation: ensuring at EU level a sustainable exploitation of innovative project results and/or transferability into different contexts and audiences. 

The specific objectives include: 

  • Identifying, developing, testing and/or assessing innovative approaches that have the potential to be mainstreamed in order to improve education and training systems, as well as the effectiveness of policies and practices in the field of education and training;
  • Launching pilot actions to test solutions and address future challenges, aiming to create sustainable and systemic impact;
  • Supporting transnational cooperation and mutual learning on forward-looking issues amongst key stakeholders and empowering them to develop innovative solutions and promote the transfer of those solutions in new settings, including capacity building of relevant stakeholders.

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Expected effects and impacts

  • Higher participation rate of adults in lifelong learning;
  • Strategies on ways to improve career guidance and counselling to support adults to make informed choices about up- and reskilling opportunities and to improve their career management skills;
  • Action plans for career guidance and counselling solutions;
  • Models for enhanced career guidance, counselling and mentoring for the up- and reskilling of adults, especially for people without a functional level of basic skills and for workers in small and micro-enterprises;
  • Improved reflections on the specific up- and reskilling needs of SMEs and micro enterprises;
  • Availability of tried and tested tools that can be upscaled, to link automatised and in-person career guidance services. 

Projects should result in effective structural collaboration frameworks where all actors involved share the responsibility for adult skills development. 

DIGITAL EDUCATION

Projects under this area can address different educational sectors or bridge educational sectors, and must support high quality and inclusive digital education, in line with the Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027. 

Various initiatives at EU level aim to address challenges of the digital transition and meet the ever-increasing demand for digital skills. The Digital Compass and the European Pillar of Social Rights Action Plan set ambitious targets to support EU Member States in digital skills development in a lifelong learning perspective. They aim to ensure that 80% of adults have at least basic digital skills and that 20 million ICT specialists are employed in the EU by 2030, with more women. These targets are reflected in the decision on the Digital Decade policy programme 2030 and are complemented by a target set in the European Education Area of reducing the rate of eight-grader low achievers in computer and information literacy to less than 15% by 2030. However, key indicators show that there still is a long way to go to achieve the digital skills targets: 

  • 44% of EU citizens lack basic digital skills;
  • Almost 10 million ICT specialists were employed in 2023, out of which 81% were male;
  • 34% of students still underachieve in computer and information literacy;
  • Only 39% of teachers feel well prepared to use digital technologies for teaching. 

Digital transformation is especially important for education and training, youth and sport, as a systematic process of change where technology is used to enable new processes and methods, with the goal to increase quality and inclusiveness of education, training and youth work. Purposeful use of digital and other emerging technologies provides new learning and communication possibilities, enhances information access, and allows for modern pedagogical approaches for educators to further improve teaching and learners to improve their learning, in both formal and non-formal settings. Having digital infrastructure and equipment on one hand, and digital skills on the other are a prerequisite for successful digital education, training youth work. 

Education and training are key for personal development, social cohesion, competitiveness, and innovation. The Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 is the main European Commission flagship initiative to make education and training fit for the digital age. It covers all formal education and training, in a life-long learning perspective, and all levels of digital skills (from basic to advanced), including informal and non-formal learning and youth work for digital skills development. 

The two strategic priorities of the Digital Education Action Plan aim at: 

  • developing a high performing digital education ecosystem; and
  • enhancing digital skills and competences for the digital transformation. 

These priorities have been further developed through two Council recommendations adopted in November 2023. The Council Recommendation on the key enabling factors for successful digital education and training outlines the vision for universal access to inclusive and high-quality digital education and training for everyone in formal education and training and proposes a coherent framework for investment, governance and capacity building. The Council Recommendation on improving the provision of digital skills and competences in education and training aims to support Member States in facing common challenges related to the low level of digital skills in different segments of the population.

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Expected results

The European Year of Skills has spread the message that lifelong skills development should become the norm for everybody, namely to respond to labour and skills shortages, which put at risk the European economy and the European social model. Three quarters (78%) of small and medium-sized businesses said in a recent Eurobarometer survey that they find it difficult to recruit the talent they need. At the same time, 21% of people aged 20-64 in the EU are currently inactive and require targeted assistance to enter the labour market. 

Participation of adults in learning remains too limited. The 2022 Adult Education Survey found that 39.5% of adults participated in training in the previous 12 months, only 2 percentage points better than in 2016 and very far from the target that at least 60% of all adults should be participating in training every year by 2030.

A key success factor to ensure that adults are able to engage in up- and reskilling is that they have access to guidance and counselling enabling them to make informed choices about up- and reskilling opportunities. This is especially important for persons without a functional level of basic skills who risk getting stuck in a “low skills-poor jobs trap”. Access to career guidance is also very important for people working for small and micro-enterprises who have less opportunities to participate in training. At the same time, career guidance and counselling are not only an asset for workers. They also are of the utmost importance to help companies struggling with labour shortages and to face the triple transition in Europe. 

Projects under this Topic will identify and test methods and mechanisms to improve guidance and counselling services to adults, with a particular focus on reaching out to and supporting workers in small and micro-enterprises. Projects can address up- and reskilling for all levels of staff, including workers with low basic skills, but also management. Ideally, projects should devise approaches that have the potential of becoming mainstreamed.

Main activities under this Topic could involve (non-exhaustive list): 

  • Provision of coordinated services (whether in person or online) open to all adults and organisations (in particular SMEs and micro-enterprises) through ‘one-stop shops', offering skills assessment, directing individuals (and groups of individuals) to tailor-made learning options, with validation of the acquired skills;
  • Improvement of the career management skills of individuals, which will help them to navigate smoothly through different learning and work opportunities, i.e. to help people learn the necessary knowledge in order to make them more autonomous in their career choices and better adapt to some of the changes in the labour market during their working lives;
  • Support to employers, especially small and micro-enterprises, to identify which skills their enterprises will need and how they can support their employees to assess and acquire these skills;
  • Reinforcement of career guidance counsellors’ training and skills development so that they can support individuals to unlock their full potential;
  • Making use of skills intelligence and digital tools, including artificial intelligence, in career guidance to capitalise on new efficiencies and scale;
  • Testing of such tools in combination with in-person guidance and counselling methods, on a sample of users.

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Eligibility Criteria

Regions / countries for funding

EU Member States, Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)
Albania (Shqipëria), Bosnia and Herzegovina (Bosna i Hercegovina / Босна и Херцеговина), Faeroes (Føroyar / Færøerne), Iceland (Ísland), Kosovo (Kosova/Kosovë / Косово), Liechtenstein, Montenegro (Црна Гора), North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Switzerland (Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera), Türkiye

eligible entities

Education and training institution, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)

Mandatory partnership

Yes

Project Partnership

Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least 3 applicants (beneficiaries, not affiliated entities), from a minimum of 3 EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme.

In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must: 

  • be legal entities (public or private bodies) active in the fields of education and training, research and innovation or in the world of work. For Topic 4 ‘Adult Learning: Support to the Pact for Skills’, these bodies should also be registered members of the Pact for skills;
  • be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e. Erasmus+ Programme Countries:
    • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
    • non-EU countries: listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Erasmus+ Programme (list of participating countries)
  • for higher education institutions (HEIs) established in Erasmus+ Programme Countries (see above): be holders of the ECHE certificate (Erasmus Charter for Higher Education). 

Organisations from third countries not associated to the Programme can only be involved as associated partners (not as beneficiaries and affiliated entities). Exception: organisations from Belarus and the Russian Federation are not eligible to participate in this action.

other eligibility criteria

Specific cases:

Natural persons — Natural persons are NOT eligible (with the exception of self employed persons, i.e. sole traders, where the company does not have legal personality separate from that of the natural person). 

International organisations — International organisations are NOT eligible. The rules on eligible countries do not apply to them. 

Entities without legal personality — Entities which do not have legal personality under their national law may exceptionally participate, provided that their representatives have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf, and offer guarantees for the protection of the EU financial interests equivalent to that offered by legal persons. 

EU bodies — EU bodies (with the exception of the European Commission Joint Research Centre) can NOT be part of the consortium. 

Associations and interest groupings — Entities composed of members may participate as ‘sole beneficiaries’ or ‘beneficiaries without legal personality’. Please note that if the action will be implemented by the members, they should also participate (either as beneficiaries or as affiliated entities, otherwise their costs will NOT be eligible).

Countries currently negotiating association agreements — Beneficiaries from countries with ongoing negotiations for participation in the programme (see list of participating countries above) may participate in the call and can sign grants if the negotiations are concluded before grant signature and if the association covers the call (i.e. is retroactive and covers both the part of the programme and the year when the call was launched).

Financial support to third parties is not allowed.

Topic 4 and topic 5 share a total budget of € 8,000,000.00.

Additional information

Topics

Digitalisation, Digital Society, ICT, 
Education & Training, Children & Youth, Media

Relevance for EU Macro-Region

EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region

UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)

project duration

between 24 and 36 months

Additional Information

Proposals must be submitted before the call deadline (see timetable section 4). 

Proposals must be submitted electronically via the Funding & Tenders Portal Electronic Submission System (accessible via the Topic page in the Calls for proposals section). Paper submissions are NOT possible. 

Proposals (including annexes and supporting documents) must be submitted using the forms provided inside the Submission System ( NOT the documents available on the Topic page — they are only for information). 

Proposals must be complete and contain all the requested information and all required annexes and supporting documents:

  • Application Form Part A — contains administrative information about the participants (future coordinator, beneficiaries and affiliated entities) and the summarised budget for the project (to be filled in directly online)
  • Application Form Part B — contains the technical description of the project (template to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed, assembled and re-uploaded)
  • Part C — contains the project’s contribution to EU programme key performance indicators (to be filled in directly online)
  • Mandatory annexes and supporting documents (templates to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed, assembled and re uploaded):
    • Detailed budget table/calculator

Please be aware that since the detailed budget table serves as the basis for fixing the lump sums for the grants (and since lump sums must be reliable proxies for the actual costs of a project), the costs you include MUST comply with the basic eligibility conditions for EU actual cost grants (see AGA — Annotated Grant Agreement, art 6). This is particularly important for purchases and subcontracting, which must comply with best value for money (or if appropriate the lowest price) and be free of any conflict of interests. If the budget table contains ineligible costs, the grant may be reduced (even later on during the project implementation or after their end). 

Proposals are limited to maximum 70 pages (Part B).

Call documents

ERASMUS-EDU-2025-PI-FORWARDERASMUS-EDU-2025-PI-FORWARD(1214kB)

Contact

Erasmus+ National Agencies
Website

European Education and Culture Executive Agency
Website

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