Partnerships for Cooperation in the fields of education and training – European NGOs (ERASMUS-EDU-2023-PCOOP-ENGO)

The primary goal of Cooperation Partnerships is to allow organisations to increase the quality and relevance of their activities, to develop and reinforce their networks of partners, to increase their capacity to operate jointly at transnational level, boosting internationalisation of their activities and through exchanging or developing new practices and methods as well as sharing and confronting ideas. They aim to support the development, transfer and/or implementation of innovative practices as well as the implementation of joint initiatives promoting cooperation, peer learning and exchanges of experience at European level. Results should be re-usable, transferable, up-scalable and, if possible, have a strong transdisciplinary dimension. Selected projects will be expected to share the results of their activities at local, regional, national level and transnational level.

Cooperation Partnerships are anchored to the priorities and policy frameworks of each Erasmus+ sector, both at European and national level, while aiming at producing incentives for cross-sectoral and horizontal cooperation in thematic areas.

Depending on the field of the project proposed or on the type of applicant, Cooperation Partnerships are managed either by the National Agencies or by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA).

Objectives of the Action

Cooperation Partnerships aim at:

• Increasing quality in the work, activities and practices of organisations and institutions involved, opening up to new actors, not naturally included within one sector;
• Building capacity of organisations to work transnationally and across sectors;
• Addressing common needs and priorities in the fields of education, training, youth and sport;
• Enabling transformation and change (at individual, organisational or sectoral level), leading to improvements and new approaches, in proportion to the context of each organisation.

Who can apply?

Any participating organisation established in an EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme can be the applicant. This organisation applies on behalf of all participating organisations involved in the project.

Which types of organisations are eligible to participate in the project?

Any public or private organisation, established in an EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme or in any third country not associated to the Programme of the world (see section “Eligible Countries” in Part A of this Guide) can participate in a Cooperation Partnership1. Exception: organisations from Belarus (Region 2) are not eligible to participate in this action.

Organisations established in EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme can either participate as the coordinator of the project or as a partner organisation. Organisations in third countries not associated to the Programme cannot participate as project coordinators.

Irrespective of the field impacted by the project, Cooperation Partnerships are open to any type of organisation active in any field of education, training, youth, sport or other socio-economic sectors as well as to organisations carrying out activities that are transversal to different fields (e.g. local, regional and national authorities, recognition and validation centres, chambers of commerce, trade organisations, guidance centres, cultural and sport organisations).

Depending on the priority and the objectives addressed by the project, Cooperation Partnerships should involve the most appropriate and diverse range of partners in order to benefit from their different experiences, profiles and specific expertise and to produce relevant and high quality project results.

Participation of associated partner organisations

In addition to the organisations formally participating in the project (the coordinator and partner organisations), Cooperation Partnerships may also involve other partners from the public or private sector that contribute to the implementation of specific project tasks/activities or support the promotion and sustainability of the project. Within an Erasmus+ project, these partners will be called “associated partners”. For eligibility and contractual management aspects they are not considered to be project partners, and they do not receive any funding from the Programme as part of the project. However, in order to understand their role within the partnership and have a global picture about the proposal, their involvement in the project and in the different activities needs to be clearly described.

Number and profile of participating organisations

A Cooperation Partnership is a transnational project and must involve minimum three organisations from three different EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme. There is no maximum number of participating organisations in one partnership.

As a general rule, Cooperation Partnerships target the cooperation between organisations established in EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme. However, organisations from third countries not associated to the Programme can be involved as partners (not as applicants), if their participation brings an essential added value to the project and as long as the minimum participation from three organisations from three different EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme is fulfilled.

Priorities addressed

To be considered for funding, Cooperation Partnerships must address either:

• at least one horizontal priority

and/or

• at least one specific priority relevant to the field of education, training, youth and sport that is mostly impacted.

For projects in the field of education, training and youth managed by the Erasmus+ National Agencies in indirect management, National Agencies may, among these priorities, give more consideration to those that are particularly relevant in their national context (called “European priorities in the national context”).

Venue of the activities

All the activities of a Cooperation Partnership must take place in the countries of the organisations participating in the project, either as full partners or as associated partners. In addition, if duly justified in relation to the objectives or implementation of the project:

• Activities can also take place at the seat of an Institution of the European Union2 , even if in the project there are no participating organisations from the country that hosts the Institution.
• Activities involving sharing and promotion of results can also take place at relevant thematic transnational events/conferences in EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme or third countries not associated to the Programme.

Horizontal aspects to be considered when designing your project

In addition to complying with the formal criteria and setting up sustainable cooperation arrangement with all project partners, the following elements can contribute to increasing the impact and qualitative implementation of Cooperation Partnerships throughout the different project phases. Applicants are encouraged to take these opportunities and dimensions into account when designing Cooperation Partnership projects.

• Inclusion and Diversity: The Erasmus+ Programme seeks to promote equal opportunities and access, inclusion and fairness across all its actions. To implement these principles, an Inclusion and Diversity Strategy5 has been devised to support a better outreach to participants from more diverse backgrounds, in particular those with fewer opportunities facing obstacles to participate in European Projects. Cooperation partnerships are especially suitable to work on inclusion and diversity as the subject of the project, further developing inclusive and diversity-sensitive practices and methods, in accordance with the corresponding policy priority for the action. Also, independently from the thematic of their projects, organisations should design accessible and inclusive project activities, taking into account the views of participants with fewer opportunities and involving them in decision making throughout the whole process.
• Environmental sustainability: Projects should be designed in an eco-friendly way and should incorporate green practices in all its facets. Organisations and participants should have an environmental-friendly approach when designing the project, which will encourage everyone involved in the project to discuss and learn about environmental issues, reflecting about what can be done at different levels and help organisations and participants come up with alternative, greener ways of implementing project activities.
• Digital dimension: Virtual cooperation and experimentation with virtual and blended learning opportunities are key to successful Cooperation Partnerships. In particular, projects in the field of school education and adult education are strongly encouraged to use European School Education Platform, (including eTwinning), or the adult learning platform EPALE to work together before, during and after the project activities. Projects in the field of youth are strongly encouraged to use the European Youth Portal and the European Youth Strategy Platform to work together before, during and after the project activities.
• Participation and civic engagement: The Programme supports participation and active engagement throughout all its actions. Cooperation Partnership projects should offer opportunities for people’s participation in democratic life, social and civic engagement. The focus will also be on raising awareness on and understanding the European Union context, notably as regards the common EU values, the principles of unity and diversity, as well as their cultural identity, cultural awareness and their social and historical heritage.

The proposed funding model consists of a menu of 3 single lump sums, corresponding to the total grant amount for the project: 120 000 EUR, 250 000 EUR and 400 000 EUR. Applicants will choose between the 3 pre-defined amounts according to the activities they want to undertake and the results they want to achieve.

Where to apply?

For Partnerships in the fields of education, training and youth submitted by any organisation in these fields, with the exception of European NGOs3 :

• To the National Agency of the country in which the applicant organisation is established.

For Partnerships in the field of sport and for Partnerships in the fields of education, training and youth submitted by European NGOs:

• To the Education, Audiovisual and Cultural Executive Agency, based in Brussels
  • European NGOs – Call ID: ERASMUS-2023-PCOOP-ENGO
    • Lot 1: ERASMUS-EDU-2023-PCOOP-ENGO
    • Lot 2: ERASMUS-YOUTH-2023-PCOOP-ENGO

For Partnerships in the field of sport:

• To the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), based in Brussels
  • Sport – Call ID: ERASMUS-SPORT-2023-SCP

In all cases, the same consortium of partners can submit only one application and to one Agency only per deadline4 

When to apply?

For Partnerships in the fields of education, training and youth submitted by any organisation in these fields, with the exception of European NGOs:

• Applicants have to submit their grant application by 22 March at 12:00:00 (midday Brussels time) for projects starting between 1 September and 31 December of the same year.

For Partnerships in the field of youth submitted by any organisation in this field, with the exception of European NGOs:

• Applicants have to submit their grant application by 4 October at 12:00:00 (midday Brussels time) for projects starting between 1 January and 31 August of the following year.

Possible additional deadline:

National Agencies in the field of education and training may organise a second round of applications, for which the rules set out in this Guide will also apply. National Agencies will inform of this possibility via their website.

If a second round is organised applicants have to submit their grant application by 4 October at 12:00:00 (midday Brussels time) for projects starting between 1 January and 31 August of the following year.

For Partnerships in the fields of education, training and youth submitted by European NGOs:

• Applicants have to submit their grant application by 22 March at 17:00:00 (Brussels time).

For Partnerships in the field of sport:

• Applicants have to submit their grant application by 22 March at 17:00:00 (Brussels time).

Applicant organisations will be assessed against the relevant exclusion and selection criteria. For more information please consult Part C of this Guide.