Call For Proposals — EACEA/34/2019

Under The Erasmus+ Programme

Key Action 3 — Support for policy reform

Social inclusion and common values: the contribution in the field of education and training

(2019/C 358/03)

1.   Objectives

This call for proposals will support transnational cooperation projects in the fields of general education and training and adult education. The call comprises two lots, one for general education and training (Lot 1) and one for adult education (Lot 2).

Each application must address one general objective and one of the specific objectives, which are listed separately for Lot 1 and for Lot 2. Both the general and specific objectives of the call are exhaustive: proposals that do not address them will not be considered.

Lot 1 — General education and training

General objectives

Projects submitted under this lot should aim at:

1.	Disseminating and/or scaling up good practices on inclusive learning initiated in particular at local level. In the context of the present call, scaling up means replicating good practice on a wider scale/transferring it to a different context or implementing it at a higher/systemic level; or

2.	Developing and implementing innovative methods and practices to foster inclusive education and promote common values.

Specific objectives

Proposals should address one of the following specific objectives:

a)	Enhancing the acquisition of social and civic competences, fostering knowledge, understanding and ownership of values and fundamental rights;

b)	Promoting inclusive education and training and fostering the education of disadvantaged learners, including through supporting educational staff in addressing diversity and reinforcing diversity among education staff;

c)	Enhancing critical thinking and media literacy among learners, parents and educational staff;

d)	Supporting the inclusion of newly arrived migrants in good quality education, including by assessing knowledge and validating prior learning;

e)	Fostering digital skills and competences of digitally excluded groups (including older people, migrants and young people from disadvantaged backgrounds) though partnerships between schools, business and the non-formal sector, including public libraries.

Projects under Lot 1 are encouraged to involve role models as an integral part of their activities.

Lot 2 — Adult education

The aim of this lot is to support projects that create or further develop transnational and national networks of adult education providers. These projects should help build up the capacity of Adult Education providers to implement European policy on adult learning at national and regional levels.

General objectives

Proposals should address one of the following three general objectives:

1.	Within participating countries, help to establish new national or regional networks of adult education providers, and facilitate their involvement in European cooperation (1); or

2.	Within participating countries, provide capacity-building support to existing national or regional networks of adult education providers, and improve their cooperation at European level; or

3.	Strengthen existing transnational networks of adult education providers by means of mutual learning, peer counselling, and capacity building.

Specific objectives

In addition, proposals should foster European cooperation between different providers (and relevant stakeholders), on either:

a)	Specific themes in adult learning (e.g. digital skills, literacy and numeracy, citizenship, career management skills, health literacy, personal finance, migrant integration, intergenerational learning, social inclusion …); or

b)	Specific innovative pedagogical approaches in adult education (e.g. blended learning, personalised learning approaches, educational technologies…); or

c)	Specific adult education learner groups (e.g. adult education for seniors or for people in isolated rural areas, inactive people, prisoners…); or

d)	Specific organisational management themes (financial sustainability, building up local or regional networks, internationalisation, strategic, professional development of staff, communication and social media engagement etc.); or

e)	Specific models of Adult Education (e.g. folk high schools, ‘second chance’); or

f)	Adult education generally.

2.   Eligibility

2.1.   Eligible applicants

Eligible applicants are public and private organisations active in the field of general education and training and adult education, or other socioeconomic sectors or organisations carrying out cross-sector activities (e.g. cultural organisations, civil society, sport organisations, recognition centres, chambers of commerce, trade organisations, etc.).

If higher education institutions are involved, they must have been awarded an Erasmus Charter for Higher Education (ECHE).

National Agencies or other structures and networks of the Erasmus+ Programme, receiving a direct grant from the Commission in accordance with the legal basis of the Erasmus+ Programme are not eligible to participate. Nevertheless, the legal entities hosting the Erasmus+ National Agencies or the structures and networks mentioned above are considered eligible applicants.

Only applications from legal entities established in the following programme countries are eligible:

—	Member States of the European Union;

—	the EFTA/EEA countries: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway;

—	EU candidate countries: North Macedonia, Turkey and Serbia.

For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the grant. If the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the grant period without concluding an agreement with the EU ensuring in particular that British applicants continue to be eligible, you will cease to receive EU funding (while continuing, where possible, to participate) or be required to leave the project on the basis of Article II.17 of the grant agreement.

Proposals from applicants in candidate countries may be selected, if on the date of award, agreements have entered into force setting out the arrangements for the participation of those countries in the programme.

Specific requirements by lot

Lot 1:

The minimum partnership composition requirement for this lot is 4 eligible organisations from 4 different programme countries.

If networks are involved in the project, the consortium must include at least 2 organisations which are not members of the network(s) and the consortium has to represent at least 4 eligible countries.

Lot 2:

The minimum number of partners required for this lot is 4 eligible organisations from 4 different programme countries.

If one of the 4 organisations is an existing transnational network, the project must include at least 2 organisations that are not members of that network.

2.2.   Eligible activities and project duration

Only activities taking place in Programme countries (see Section 2.1) will be considered eligible for funding. Any costs relating to activities undertaken outside these countries or by organisations that are not registered in the Programme countries are not eligible. Exceptionally and on case by case basis activities involving other countries than the Programme countries can be granted but must have the prior and specific authorization from the Executive Agency.

Activities must start on: either 1 November or 1 December 2020 or 15 January 2021.

The project duration must be 24 or 36 months.

3.   Expected results and examples of activities

Projects under Lot 1 — Education and training should lead to results such as:

—	increased awareness, knowledge and understanding of good practices in the relevant educational institutions and communities;

—	increased use of state of the art innovative approaches in policy or practice;

—	increased awareness, motivation and competence of educational leaders and educators with regard to inclusive educational approaches and the promotion of common values;

—	active engagement of families and local communities in supporting inclusive educational approaches and the promotion of common values;

—	more widespread and effective tools to support education and training institutions and learning providers in implementing inclusive education approaches and in promoting common values.

Examples of activities

Activities aimed at achieving the expected results listed above could include:

—	Cooperation and networking models which involve combinations of relevant (public/private) stakeholders across different sectors;

—	Adapting and applying learning practices to new target populations;

—	Conferences, seminars, workshops and meetings with policy and decision makers;

—	Assessing, sharing and validating good practices and learning experiences;

—	Training and other capacity-building activities (e.g. for teachers, local authorities, prison staff, etc.);

—	Supportive approaches and outreach practices from young people to young people as well as role model activities;

—	Targeted awareness-raising and dissemination activities including information material and effective communication strategies;

—	Operational or policy recommendations in the field of education and training that are relevant to the objectives of the Council Recommendation on promoting common values, inclusive education, and the European dimension of teaching and of the Paris Declaration;

—	Supportive approaches and outreach practices addressing disadvantaged groups and newly arrived migrants and refugees.

Projects under Lot 2 — Adult Education should lead to concrete results such as:

—	new networks of adult education providers, that increase their impact at local level and cooperate effectively at European level;

—	more effective and impactful cooperation at European level by existing networks of adult education providers.

Examples of activities

Activities aimed at achieving the expected results listed above could include:

—	Connecting with other stakeholder groups and networks, etc., in order to overcome the fragmented nature of adult education and training provision;

—	Piloting, assessing, validating and sharing good practices for building capacity in adult education;

—	Adapting and applying capacity-building practices to new situations, organisations, or regions;

—	Training and other capacity-building activities (e.g. for staff of local or regional authorities, staff of civil society organisations, associations, etc.);

—	Developing and implementing the necessary legal and financial structures to establish sustainable long term cooperation in the network;

—	Developing evidence-based operational or policy recommendations that are relevant to Adult Education at national or European level.

4.   Budget available:

The total budget available for the co-financing of projects under the present call is EUR 20 000 000 allocated as follows:

— Lot 1 – General education and training	EUR 14 000 000
— Lot 2 – Adult education	EUR 6 000 000

The financial contribution from the EU cannot exceed 80 % of the total eligible project costs.

The maximum grant per project will be:

—	EUR 400 000 for projects of 24 months duration;

—	EUR 500 000 for projects of 36 months duration.

The Agency reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

5.   Award criteria

Eligible proposals for both lots will be assessed on the basis of the following criteria:

1)	Relevance of the project (30 %)

2)	Quality of the project design and implementation (20 %)

3)	Quality of the partnership and the cooperation arrangements (20 %)

4)	Lot 1: Impact, dissemination and sustainability (30 %); Lot 2: Impact and sustainability (30 %).

6.   Submission procedure and deadline

The submission deadline is: 25 February 2020 – 17:00 (Brussels time).

Applicants are requested to read carefully all information about the call for proposals EACEA/34/2019 and the submission procedure and to use the obligatory documents, which can be found under:

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/funding_en (Call reference EACEA/34/2019)

The application and its annexes must be submitted online using the designated e-form.

7.   Call information

All information on the Call EACEA/34/2019 is available from the following website:

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/funding_en (Call reference EACEA/34/2019)

Email contact: EACEA-Policy-Support@ec.europa.eu

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(1)  Wherever possible, in each country, links should be established with the National Coordinator for adult learning and the national representative on the ET2020 Working Group on adult learning.