Erasmus+ 2021-2027 is supersized: Does bigger mean better for cultural organisations?
Ask the average European graduate about Erasmus and chances are they’ll bring up the hugely successful academic mobility programme that sends university students on a study year abroad. In fact, since its launch in 1987, the framework programme has provided grants for more than 10 million participants, many of them young people studying or doing internships in a European institution out of their home country.
What fewer people seem to know is that there’s much more to Erasmus than funding student mobility. Over the years, the Erasmus programme—which rebranded as Erasmus+ in 2014—has facilitated an enormous variety of study periods abroad, traineeships, apprenticeships and staff exchanges in all fields of education, training, youth and sport.
And while a key target demographic of the programme is university students, the range of eligible participants for formal, non-formal and informal learning has always been wider. Erasmus beneficiaries are in fact quite diverse, and becoming even more so in the new cycle. In addition to university students, those in vocational training and education (VET), youth workers and sports trainers, Erasmus+ mobility exchanges will now be open to younger children at school, as well as adult learners, essentially widening the reach of the programme to all.
It’s safe to say the programme has evolved and expanded, and with the new annual work programme for Erasmus+ 2021-2027 launched just a few weeks ago and approved by the European Parliament earlier this week, new and diverse opportunities have also emerged for the cultural and creative sector (CCS).
A nearly doubled budget (€28.4 billion, up from €14.7 billion for 2014-2020) and a wider range of projects covered will doubtless be good news for CCS organisations. And while much of the new programme will be somewhat familiar to previous applicants, new and repeat candidates working on their Erasmus+ applications should be aware of the changes that will affect the funding and project management processes.
“ Erasmus beneficiaries are in fact quite diverse, and becoming even more so in the new cycle.”
Getting to know the new Erasmus+
Longtime fans of Erasmus+ will be pleased to know that the programme continues to offer full financial support to successful applicants, so beneficiaries don’t need to arrange co-funding for their projects. This is one of the biggest draws of the programme, as most others (think the new Horizon Europe, or Creative Europe) tend to require some degree of co-financing from the project partners towards the overall cost of the project, a burden that means many worthy projects never see the light of day.
The three Key Actions and their respective budget allocations are also broadly unchanged: KA1, which supports mobility opportunities in lifelong learning, once again enjoys the lion’s share of the budget (70%, up from 66% in the previous cycle), while KA2 and KA3 have the remaining 30% at their disposal to invest in cooperation projects and policy development. More concretely, they aim to help organisations to gain experience in international cooperation, strengthen their capacity, build up their networks, produce innovative approaches and exchange good practices.
What changes are relevant to the CCS?
Much like the new Horizon Europe, the new cycle of Erasmus+ doesn’t introduce brand new fundamentals. Instead, it brings to the forefront certain existing guiding principles that CCS organisations need to be aware of when designing their proposals.
Luckily, Erasmus+ sets out these principles quite clearly: applicants are far more likely to be successful if their project prioritises one or more of the following: inclusion and diversity, environmentally sustainable practices, or the transition to digital in education and training.
Previously ineligible applicants may also now be in with a shot. The new Erasmus+ is trying to reach a broader swathe of applicants by lowering barriers to access (for an example, see the small-scale partnerships scheme specifically aimed at newcomers).
Other key changes include the introduction of the Erasmus+ Accreditation scheme. It pre-approves organisations that implement high-quality mobility projects for funding for the duration of the programme cycle (i.e., seven years), greatly reducing the administrative burden and allowing them to think and plan more strategically for the future.
Speaking of paperwork, we’re finally moving into an era of streamlined applications (hurrah!). Now, before anyone gets too excited about this development, we should stress that Erasmus+ is still very much a complex European funding programme, and so remains relatively bureaucratic (especially in project management, which is unsurprising given the programme funds projects fully and expects all the receipts!). What has changed is that the programme is now more accessible through simplifications in the application and reporting processes. That’s not nothing, especially when considering the usually overstretched resources of the typical cultural organisation.
A shorter, and more straightforward, application process is great news, but it doesn’t change the fact that CCS organisations need to locate and plan for the opportunities that are most suited to them.
“The new Erasmus+ is trying to reach a broader swathe of applicants by lowering barriers to access.”
Erasmus+ opportunities for CCS organisations
All three Key Actions provide opportunities for CCS organisations:
Key Action 1: Mobility of individuals
Under KA1, organisations can send staff or target groups abroad for learning and professional development. As mentioned above, the majority of the Erasmus+ budget will go to funding transnational activities. In a post-pandemic era, this will mean a move towards blended mobility, where online/virtual learning and exchanges will complement physical mobility. It also means flexibility in the duration of mobilities: the number of short-term and long-term mobilities for vocational training, for example, has doubled.
Key Action 2: Cooperation for innovation and exchange of good practices
Under KA2, organisations can collaborate with partners from Europe and beyond on developing and exchanging innovative education, training and youth work practices. To see this in action, check out the media literacy project called SMILES that we recently helped get funded. SMILES is organising workshops to facilitate knowledge exchange between teachers and librarians on media literacy for teens in Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands.
Key Action 3: Support for policy reform
And finally, under KA3, organisations looking to foster European solidarity and inclusive democratic participation through culture and creativity can work together in policy development. Youth in Culture is a great recent example, where project partners got young people involved in creating policy at the community level.
The take on Erasmus+
Despite the ongoing challenges to European mobility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Erasmus+ 2021-2027 promises to be bigger and better than its predecessor. And the steady tide of applications seems to be in step with the new opportunities, hinting that learners are still very keen on participating in the programme. In 2020, for example, we saw a 7% year-on-year rise in applications from France.
What matters more than ever is for CCS organisations to do their homework on the ins and outs of Erasmus+. For one, while opportunities are published on the European Commission portal, applications must be submitted via national agencies, so make sure you find your local Erasmus+ branch, and get to know their priorities and procedures.
Next, beware the double-edged sword of 100% funding. While it opens up opportunities for previously marginalised participants like startups and cultural SMEs, it also makes certain aspects of project management and financial accountability relatively inflexible. For example, as budgets are set for specific activities, it’s difficult to move money around if your project needs change as you’re implementing it.
In short, when it comes to securing an Erasmus+ project, it really is all in the planning. When a call is launched, see how good a fit it is for your organisation. Make sure to think through all the activities that will be implemented in your project, and set a realistic schedule for each.
And finally, make sure you have the right project partners on board. While cross-border collaborations and mobility will look a little different going forward—fewer in-person meetings, a lot more conference calls—it doesn’t change the fact that good partnerships and networks are the foundation to any successful Erasmus+ project.
Maureen Blache has been a junior consultant at TrueMotion since February 2020. Over the last three years, she has been gaining experience in grant writing and managing EU projects with a strong social and cultural focus.