Erasmus+ is the largest European educational programme, financing mobility and cooperation projects in the fields of education, training, youth and sports. It was created in 2014, and in 2021 it entered a new seven-year implementation period that will last until 2027.
The projected budget for this seven-year period of the new Erasmus+ programme is larger than ever and amounts to 26 billion euros.
General goal and priorities of the Erasmus+ programme 2021-2027
The Erasmus+ programme seeks to enable the participation of even more individuals and a wider range of organisations during the 2021–2027 period. In this regard, the new programme emphasises inclusiveness, green initiatives and digitalisation as key priorities supported through financial mechanisms, followed by fostering civic values, cultural dialogue, tolerance and understanding of social, cultural and historical heritage.
The general goal of the programme is to support the educational, professional and personal development of people in the fields of education, training, youth and sports through lifelong learning.
Spending time in another country with the aim of learning, training or work should become the standard, as well as acquiring proficiency in two foreign languages in addition to one’s mother tongue.
In this way, the programme significantly contributes to sustainable growth, better employment opportunities and social cohesion. It encourages innovation and bridges gaps in knowledge, skills and competences in Europe.
Who are the members of the programme?
The programme primarily includes European countries, but other countries worldwide can also participate to a certain extent. There are two types of programme members:
- EU Member States and third countries associated to the programme
- Third countries not associated to the programme.
EU Member States and third countries associated to the programme (EU members and six other countries: North Macedonia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Turkey and Serbia) can participate in all parts of the programme, while third countries not associated to the programme (all other countries divided by regions) can participate only in some parts of the programme.
Serbia has been a full member of the Erasmus+ programme since 2019 and has the status of a third country associated to the programme. This means that institutions and organisations from Serbia can apply for all types of projects, just like EU Member States.
Who can participate in the programme?
Institutions and organisations directly or indirectly involved in education can participate in the Erasmus+ programme, as well as any public or private institution/organisation that is active, able and willing to contribute to the implementation of projects in the areas of education and training.
Specifically, these include: pre-schools, primary schools, secondary vocational schools and grammar schools, universities and colleges, schools for adult education, organisations providing various forms of vocational education and training, civil society organisations / citizens’ associations involved in youth training, local governments, small and medium-sized enterprises, professional associations etc.
It is important to know that projects must be submitted by legal entities (i.e. institutions and organisations). However, individuals employed at these institutions and organisations, as well as their pupils, students and trainees, also benefit from them.
How and when you can submit your projects?
Depending on who you submit your Erasmus+ projects to, they are divided into centralised and decentralised.
Centralised projects are submitted to the Executive Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA) in Brussels, while decentralised ones are submitted to the Foundation Tempus.
Information about calls for proposals and deadlines for submitting projects is regularly updated for each year and each type of project on the Calendar of calls page on the Erasmus+ website.
At the beginning of each Call for proposals, the European Commission publishes a Programme Guide that explains in detail who can apply and how. The latest version of this document can be found here.
Programme structure
All Erasmus+ projects, regardless of whether in education, youth or sports, are divided into three areas, the so-called Key Actions (KA): KA1, KA2 and KA3.
KA1 projects focus on international exchanges of staff, students and young people for training or teaching at another institution, scholarships, internships, joint master programmes, skill acquisition, etc.
Mobility projects are open to students and teaching staff in higher education, teachers and pupils in general education, teachers and pupils in vocational education and training, educators in adult education and young people and youth workers in the field of youth. A novelty in this programme is the opportunity for students in general education and those in adult education to participate in mobility projects for the purpose of learning and acquiring new skills.
Projects under Key Action 2 involve cooperation among institutions in the fields of education, training, youth and sports in programme countries, aimed at exchange of experiences and good practices, as well as innovation and excellence. These include, for example, modernisation of curricula, innovation of teaching methodologies, improvement of teaching materials, provision of adult training and cooperation with companies involved in student internships.
These projects encourage the development of innovative policies, policy dialogue and policy implementation, as well as knowledge exchange in the fields of education, training and youth.
Jean Monnet activities are a special part of the programme. Under the 2021–2027 Erasmus+ programme, these activities are now available to institutions in the fields of general and vocational education and training, not only to higher education as in the previous period.
Projects in the field of education are related to formal education, while the youth part involves non-formal learning.
International projects in the field of sports focus on the following topics: inclusion of the general population in sports and physical activities, participation in physical activities as a means to maintain and improve health, promotion of integrity and values in sports, education in sports and through sports, volunteerism, mobility of coaches, managers, volunteers and staff of non-profit sports organisations, as well as tackling issues and challenges in sports such as violence, racism, intolerance and discrimination.
Support for organisations from Serbia
The Foundation Tempus is in charge of implementing the Erasmus+ programme and its role includes supporting all organisations applying for projects.
The Foundation Tempus organises numerous activities throughout the process – from the publication of calls for proposals to the expiration of all deadlines.
After the announcement of a call, the Foundation Tempus organises Erasmus+ Info Days to introduce all interested parties to the new call. After that, the Foundation organises free workshops on writing Erasmus+ projects.
Project officers are always available for individual consultations with stakeholders, either via e-mail or in direct meetings. Once a project is approved and the funds transferred, the Foundation Tempus monitors the implementation of the project until the submission of the final report, providing support to the organisation throughout the project lifecycle.