CALL FOR PROPOSALS — EACEA/36/2018

Erasmus+ programme, Key Action 3 — Support for policy reform

Initiatives for policy innovation

European Forward-Looking Cooperation Projects in the fields of education and training

(2018/C 454/05)

1.   Description, objectives, and priorities

Forward-Looking Cooperation Projects (FLCPs) are large-scale projects with the aim to identify, test, develop or assess innovative policy approaches that have the potential of becoming mainstreamed and improving education and training systems.

They should provide in-depth knowledge on target group(s), learning, teaching or training situations and effective methodologies and tools that help policies to develop, as well as conclusions relevant for policymakers in education and training at all levels.

FLCPs should therefore be led and implemented by high-profile representative stakeholders with a proven record of excellence and state-of-the-art knowledge, the capacity to innovate or generate systemic impact through their activities and the potential to drive the policy agenda in the fields of education and training.

The general objectives of this call are:

—	to promote innovation in education and training fields through European cooperation at both policy and practice levels,

—	to empower key stakeholders in developing and mainstreaming policy innovation.

The specific objectives of this call are:

—	to kick-start longer-term changes and field-test innovative solutions to challenges in the education and training fields, which have the potential of becoming mainstreamed and to generate a sustainable and systemic impact on education and training systems,

—	to support trans-national cooperation and mutual learning on forward-looking issues among key stakeholders,

—	to facilitate the collection and analysis of evidence to substantiate innovative policies and practices.

Proposals submitted under the present call must address one of the six priorities listed below:

1.	Acquisition of basic skills by low-skilled adults;

2.	Designing and assessing the effectiveness of continuing training to meet current and future skill needs;

3.	Promoting innovative technology in the field of providing career guidance;

4.	Promoting innovative and cross-disciplinary approaches to STE(A)M teaching in education;

5.	Promoting the use of self-reflection tools to support innovation and systemic change in education and training institutions;

6.	Higher education — achieving the aims of the Digital Education Action Plan (including Open Science), and assessing learning outcomes for the purpose of benchmarking among higher education institutions.

Proposals not addressing any of the six call priorities will not be considered.

2.   Eligible applicants

Eligible applicants are public and private organisations active in the fields of education, training and youth or other socioeconomic sectors, or organisations carrying out cross-sector activities (e.g. recognition centres, chambers of commerce, trade organisations, civil society and cultural organisations, stakeholders’ networks, NGOs, education ministries, training providers, etc.).

Only applications from legal entities established in the following Programme Countries are eligible:

—	the 28 Member States of the European Union,

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

—	EU candidate countries: the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Turkey and Serbia (1).

For British applicants: Please be aware that eligibility criteria must be complied with for the entire duration of the project. If the United Kingdom withdraws from the EU during the project 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.16.3.1(a) of the Grant Agreement.

The minimum partnership composition requirement for this call is three organisations representing three Programme Countries.

3.   Eligible activities and project duration

Only activities taking place in Programme Countries (see Section 2) will be considered eligible for funding. Any costs relating to activities undertaken in Partner Countries (2) or by organisations that are not registered in the Programme Countries are not eligible unless they are necessary for the completion of the project and duly explained and justified in the application form. Any amendment to the activities that involves Partner Countries must have the prior specific authorisation from the Executive Agency.

Activities must start on 1 November 2019, 1 December 2019 or 1 January 2020.

The project duration must be between 24 and 36 months.

4.   Expected results

The projects proposed under the present call should lead to proven results in at least one of the following areas:

(i)	Development and/or improvement of innovative actions in the fields of education and training in line with the call priorities (see Section 1);

(ii)	Improved evidence and understanding on target group(s), learning and teaching situations and effective methodologies and tools that can inspire and stimulate innovation at system level;

(iii)

Evidence of potential long-term impact on education and training systems through the mainstreaming of advanced and innovative policy approaches developed by the projects;

(iv)	European added-value through reinforced trans-national cooperation and mutual learning among major stakeholders.

5.   Budget

The total budget available for the co-financing of projects under the present call is EUR 12 000 000.

Financial contribution from the EU cannot exceed 75 % of the total eligible project costs.

The maximum grant per project is EUR 500 000.

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

6.   Award criteria

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

1.	Relevance of the project (30 %)

2.	Quality of the project design and implementation (30 %)

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

4.	Impact on policy development and dissemination (20 %)

Only proposals having reached the minimum quality thresholds:

—

at least the threshold of 50 % of each of the 4 individual criteria (i.e. minimum 15 points for respectively ‘Relevance of the project’ and ‘Quality of the project design and implementation’; 10 points for respectively ‘Quality of the partnership and cooperation arrangements’ and ‘Impact on policy development and dissemination’, and

—	at least the threshold of 70 % on the total score (i.e. aggregate score of the 4 award criteria)

will be considered for EU funding. Applications falling below those thresholds shall be rejected.

7.   Submission procedure and deadline

Applications must be submitted not later than 19 March 2019 — 12.00 noon CET (Brussels time).

Applicants are requested to read carefully all information about the call for proposals EACEA/36/2018, the submission procedure and to use the documents forming part of the application (Application Package) at: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/funding/forward-looking-cooperationprojects-2019_en

The application and its compulsory annexes must be submitted online using the designated e-form available at the following address: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/PPMT/

8.   Further information

For more details, please refer to the Guidelines for Applicants.

The Guidelines for Applicants and the Application Package are available on the following website:

https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/funding/forward-looking-cooperationprojects-2019_en

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

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(1)  Serbia: The budgetary adaptations determined by Serbia’s becoming a Programme Country of the Erasmus+ programme shall apply from 1 January 2019 subject to the adoption of the Commission Decision approving the (amendment to the) Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Serbia on the participation of the Republic of Serbia in ‘Erasmus+’: the Union programme for education, training, youth and sport as of 1 January 2019.

(2)  Partner Countries: countries which do not participate fully in the Erasmus+ programme and are therefore not Programme Countries.