Help shape the future of vocational education and training (VET) in Europe

For our Pledgers and the Talents following the EIT Deep Tech Talent Initiative we would like to draw your attention to this funding opportunity.

As part of the ERASMUS+ Forward Looking Projects, the European Commission (EC) is looking for innovative and impactful projects that will:

• Support vocational education and training (VET) reforms at national and regional level
• Develop joint VET qualifications or modules
• Foster career opportunities, high-quality skills, and mobility across the EU

There is a total budget of 4 million EUR available.

 

The Erasmus+ flagship initiative on Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) aims to be a driving force for reforms in the VET sector. The main objective is to ensure high quality skills that lead to quality employment and career-long opportunities, swiftly responding to the needs of an innovative, inclusive, and sustainable economy as well as to social needs, and contributing to increasing the attractiveness of VET.

The initiative is closely aligned with the European Skills Agenda and the ambitions for the VET sector as agreed between the Member States in the 2020 Council Recommendation on VET.

Specific activities that can be funded

The project should select at least five activities among those below (list of activities is not exhaustive):

• Organise peer learning activities, networking, in-depth targeted analysis of national/regional frameworks for vocational excellence, set up of governance structures and advice from and to policy makers/stakeholders from across the region
• Share good practices within regions or across Erasmus+ CoVE projects to grow partnerships and expand successful initiatives
• Develop and implement evidence-based methodology and/or engagement strategies to ensure CoVE projects have long-term national and regional impact, involving authorities where possible
• Build connections among vocational excellence stakeholders at all levels, including with European or national initiatives
• Promote vocational excellence at regional and/or national level, to inspire others and influence national and regional training systems
• Connect existing CoVEs with other sectors and skills ecosystems to create economies of scale and work on cross-sectoral societal challenges
• Explore how to sustain CoVE project results, for example recognition of teaching and learning provisions, applying different approaches, in line with relevant national requirements, to support major roll out of the courses at national, regional level to learners and staff, etc.

Expected impact

The projects will foster vocational excellence impact, visibility, promotion, at national, regional, local level through effective framework conditions and activities. They should increase the link between vocational excellence initiatives and national and regional policies.

Cooperation among ongoing and completed Erasmus+ Centres of Vocational Excellence projects will also be strengthened.

Who can apply

To be eligible, 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.
• 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).

Top tip: Focus on relevance, quality, and impact, the 3 award criteria that matter most!