European Policy Experimentations in the filed of Education and Training led by high-level public authorities

Date de clôture : 21 avr. 2020  
APPEL À PROJET CLÔTURÉ

European policy experimentations under Erasmus+ Key Action 3 (Support for policy reform) - Initiatives for policy innovation1 are transnational cooperation projects supporting the implementation of the European Union policy agendas on Education and Training, including sector-specific agendas such as the Bologna and Copenhagen processes.

European policy experimentations involve mutual learning, exchanges of experience and good practice, evidence building and cooperation among European countries, which are essential elements of the Strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET2020)2. They are therefore a highly relevant tool to support the implementation of the strategic priorities agreed in this context. Proposals under the present call should therefore demonstrate appropriate links with the work carried out under this framework (such as Council Conclusions and Recommendations, Commission Communications and Staff Working Documents, policy handbooks and guidelines, quality frameworks and tools, collections of good practice, etc.). Where relevant, applicants are strongly encouraged to anchor their proposals to the work carried out in Working Groups under ET 2020, explaining how the proposal relates to such work. Proposals should be consistent with the broader policy agenda at EU level3.

Where appropriate, proposals should also refer to work carried out under EU programmes and funds such as the Erasmus+, Lifelong Learning and Youth in Action programmes, the 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) and Horizon 2020, Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF), the European Fund for Strategic Investment, etc., as well as by international organisations such as the Council of Europe or the OECD.

By combining strong institutional leadership, sound evidence and a clear European dimension, European policy experimentations pursue sustainable systemic improvement and innovation. They therefore need to be placed in a well-defined and consistent policy perspective, under the leadership of public authorities at the highest institutional level (Ministry or equivalent, hereafter referred to as "the responsible public authorities").

The submission and selection of proposals is divided in two stages: pre-proposal stage and full proposal stage (see section 3).

The management of this call is delegated by the European Commission to the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, hereinafter referred to as "the Agency".

 

POLICY CONTEXT
Supporting evidence-informed policy in education and training

The European Union pursues an ambitious political, social and economic agenda which involves promoting effective reforms and efficient investment to best meet the needs of countries and stakeholders. In particular, the European Commission's Agenda for Jobs, Growth, Fairness and Democratic Change4 addresses long-term political and socio-economic challenges such as economic recovery, migratory pressures, transformations linked to technological development and global competition or demographic ageing, as well as new emerging challenges such as terrorism or threats to the European Union's fundamental values, which increase the need for the Union to become more resilient.

Education and training play a key role in enhancing personal, cognitive and social development, laying the foundations for tolerant and inclusive societies and providing skills for employability. By reaching out to all citizens - in particular to the disadvantaged - education and training policies are crucial to prevent and tackle poverty, inequality and discrimination, to enhance active participation in society, but also to contribute to innovation, productivity, competitiveness, sustainable growth and upward convergence.

The Joint Report5 of the Council and the Commission on the Implementation of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020) of 2015 introduced six new priorities for European cooperation until 2020 to address the specific challenges that education and training systems are facing in Europe: improving skills for employability, especially for young people; creating open, innovative and digital learning environments, cultivating fundamental values, equality, non-discrimination and active citizenship; supporting educators; ensuring the transparency and recognition of skills and qualifications; ensuring sustainable investment as well as high performance and efficiency.

A number of major initiatives adopted by the European Commission in the fields of education and training support these priorities and are drivers for concrete action:

• A New Skills Agenda for Europe6 outlining actions to improve the quality and relevance of skills formation, make skills more visible and comparable and improve skills intelligence and information.

• A Communication on Improving and modernising education7, which emphasises the strategic of importance of education, acknowledges the improvements in education systems achieved in the European Union but also unresolved challenges.

A Communication and subsequent Council Conclusions on school development and excellent teaching8 highlighted the need for contemporary approaches to teaching and learning. Based on these documents, as well as those on the establishment of a European Education Area, the mandate of the 2018-2020 ET2020 Working Group on Schools is supporting quality and 

professionalism in the teaching professions, in particular by ensuring attractive careers and by supporting professional development.

• A Digital Education Action Plan9
• A Council Recommendation on Key Competences for Lifelong learning10

The priorities of the present call are consistent with these initiatives and aim at supporting them.

As relevant and reliable evidence is essential to underpin policy action, experimentation projects in the context of this call should aim at supporting evidence-informed policy by testing theoretical assumptions in real life situations and assessing the potential for promising measures to be implemented, replicated or scaled up.

The steering role of the responsible public authorities in European policy experimentation projects is therefore essential:

- to ensure consistency between the higher political goals – including the priorities agreed at EU level - and the specific objectives of the projects;

- to ensure adequate project follow-up, scalability and sustainability;
- to feed the results back into the policy process at country and EU level.

 

2. OBJECTIVES, PRIORITY THEMES AND EXPECTED RESULTS

2.1 Objectives

The objectives of this call are to:

• Promote trans-national cooperation and mutual learning among public authorities at the highest institutional level of the eligible countries in order to foster systemic improvement and innovation in the education and training fields,

• Enhance the collection and analysis of substantive evidence to ensure the successful implementation of innovative measures,

• Facilitate the transferability and scalability of effective innovative measures.

2.2 Priority themes
Proposals submitted under the present call should tackle only one of the following priority

themes.

These themes are exclusive: proposals focusing on other themes will not be considered for funding.

Applicants are free to consider any specific aspect or measure within a priority theme.

 

Lot 1
Priority 1 - Digital education and competences

In an economy and society increasingly mediated by digital technologies, all citizens in Europe need to acquire a wide range of digital skills and competences for life, learning and work. The use of digital technologies is widespread but without a solid grounding in digital literacy, this usage can remain passive, unreflective, and centred on a consumerist approach. This can hinder the benefits and opportunities that digital technologies can bring.

Digital transformation is causing unprecedented changes to our society and economy. User generated content and data and advanced Artificial Intelligence, raise complex questions about

human computer interaction and ethics. These trends, moreover, highlight the need for all learners to acquire a deep and critical understanding of digital technologies and the implications for everyday life.

Innovative digital education and learning can play an important role in enhancing digital competences11. EU citizens need digital competences and skills or they risk becoming economically and socially excluded. Significant digital skills gaps exist, however, with 43% of EU citizens still with low levels of digital skills and little progress being made over the past few years. Moreover, there is a certain ‘digital skills divide’ in Europe with large differences between countries.

Digital tools and digital competences may support and enhance guaranteeing equal access to quality education and training in remote areas and/or regions having incomplete educational structures, in particular by linking up with other schools, classes, teachers and pupils around common projects that stimulate learning in a creative environment.

There is a need for all citizens to understand and deal critically with digital technology and to develop a wide spectrum of knowledge, skills and attitudes that refer to digital competences, ranging from general digital literacy to the understanding of computing. This priority will tackle the development of digital competences in its wider definition.

Supporting high quality and inclusive computing education

There is a growing recognition worldwide that computer science education is increasingly necessary for economic opportunity and social mobility as well as for participation in society more widely. Computer science and computational thinking can support citizens in developing the skills they need to be creators in the digital economy, not just consumers, and to be active citizens in our technology-driven world.

Across Europe there is a growing awareness of the importance of offering students the opportunity of computing education. There is, however, a huge variety in the ways that computer science/informatics is promoted, experienced and taught throughout Europe. Many recent reforms have led to the introduction of computing or programming from primary school, however, Computer Science continues to be an optional subject in several countries/regions in Europe. Moreover, many young people and adults never had the opportunity to develop an understanding of computing and are today at risk of being marginalised or unable to fully grasp the implications of digital transformation.

There are several challenges that education systems currently face when regarding computing education. The experimentation will consider some of these challenges and address them:

•   Recruiting, training and retaining teachers. There is the need to address teacher shortages in computer science education, to train current teachers (including primary school teachers) or re-train teachers of other disciplines. How to ensure teachers receive training and peer-to-peer support (eg through communities of practice) for their own professional development.

•   There is a pressing need for more pedagogical knowledge on how to teach and assess computer science, which is a relatively new discipline in school education. How to face the challenge of a rapidly changing body of knowledge and reflect changes and advances in digital technology itself?

•   Inclusive CS education. When Computer Science is presented as an elective subject, there is a strong risk of having imbalances among students – including socio-economic, gender imbalances as fewer female students choose to opt for computer science as an elective subject. Making computer science compulsory from an early age could potentially close gender and socio-economic gaps.

•   Perceptions of the subject. There is in addition the challenge of addressing the reputation and perceptions of the subject and encouraging uptake by students. Computer Science as a subject is perceived by some as academically demanding and potentially uninspiring. There is a risk that the subject does not engage or attract students.

•   Partnerships. The role of non-formal education is an important aspect of computer science education. Currently, many countries have an extensive offer of non-formal computer science education (eg extracurricular activities, weekend clubs). How can formal and non-formal education work in partnership to improve the quality of computer science education. Similarly how can industry support formal education in providing teacher training or other support measure to enhance the quality of computer science education?

The policy experimentation should help decision makers at different levels of education to design programmes and activities that support high-quality computing education from an early age. The overall aim should be to pilot excellence in computing education to help develop more specialised digital skills, as a way to empower citizens and improve the pipeline of digital professionals. Activities could, for example, promote the creation of school networks and links with non-formal education and industry. Activities could also cover more than one educational sectors (for instance, projects linking pre-primary and secondary, or formal and informal sectors, or secondary and higher education, or VET and Higher education. Engagement and cooperation with industry partners is also welcomed.

The policy experimentation will build on the tradition of computer science that is strong in several European countries and propose experimental approaches in offering high quality computing education in different phases of education.

 

Priority 2 - Teaching and teachers

Today's complex societal challenges do not only require new subjects to be taught but also ask for innovative and effective pedagogies and effective learning and teaching environments, geared to deliver creative thinking and forward-looking competences. Creative skills and the ability to work in cross-disciplinary teams are vital for the new jobs that will emerge in this digital age.

Governments call for more engaged citizens and a fairer society, in addition to a flourishing economy. Hence the demand for more informed and engaged citizens and better skilled workforces is greater than ever. We should help equip youngsters with the knowledge and competences required in the global society and fast-changing world of work, regardless of their socio-economic background and their age.

The priority will focus on compulsory general education (i.e. from the first year of primary education until the end of post-secondary non-tertiary education for all kind of learners).

A) School education

For the School education sector, the focus will be on the issue of improving teachers’ careers, in terms of rethinking career structure and guidance and also of how to empower teachers to better navigate the career system.

Knowing that there is an opportunity to develop and advance during one’s career, as well as the possibility to gain varied experience, is an important factor in helping teachers remain motivated. This motivation includes a feeling of empowerment and autonomy: avoiding a feeling of being isolated or locked into one position, and able to recognise one’s own strengths and/or further develop new competences and enrich one’s professional experience. It also requires the sense of passion for the role of the teacher to be kept alive. Nevertheless, if a career is mainly characterised by becoming “better” at “teaching”, this might not be enough to satisfy all teachers. Wider opportunities might be needed to help satisfy the needs of all teachers and for maintaining a more diverse workforce.

The project should aim to respond to the following policy challenges:

•   In times of teacher shortages in many Member States, how to create an attractive profession, which is considered to be challenging by young people who stand in front of making their career choice;

•   In times of teachers leaving the profession prematurely, how to keep teachers motivated during a longer period of up to 30 years;

•   How to avoid that, after a number of years, teachers fall into disillusioned routines (this is essential from the perspective of the quality of pupil learning) or leave the profession concerned about the lack of - or sometimes ‘hidden’ - opportunities or challenges.

Career advancement can be considered an important issue, both in terms of progression through the various levels of a career structure and of progression in terms of experience gained through undertaking additional roles and responsibilities. Such roles could add to the teaching duties, e.g. mentoring, non-classroom pedagogical/ management roles, or through moving through different levels of the education system, e.g. ministry, city council, education agencies, etc.

• Strategies for teacher career advancement could explore the following strands, and/or identify other areas of work that could advance the priority:

•   career guidance for teachers in order to better take ownership for their career and learning and development needs;

•   strategies to develop teachers’ competences, with a focus on leadership, for better managing both their professional learning and their careers;

•   ‘secondments’ schemes for teachers into public authorities or other public or private structures.

Important note: The scope of this priority is not limited to education systems with formal career structures for teachers only. Developing different teacher career paths, and helping teachers navigate them successfully as they move along their career, may involve moves in different directions. Some of these career paths may be formalised but that may not be necessary. However, each path ought to offer opportunities for teachers to experience new perspectives, new challenges or new inspiration. This, in turn will demand different forms of leadership to encourage and support teachers along the way.

B) Vocational education and training (VET)

Preparing young people for specific occupations from the outset as well for upgrading skills of the workforces and their retraining are among the countries’ main objectives.

Highly qualified and motivated VET teachers and in-company trainers, including mentors

are crucial to ensure that learners of all ages in initial and continuing vocational education and training (IVET and CVET) acquire the right knowledge, skills and competences to enter employment and to develop them throughout their working life. They are key when it comes to putting in place an accessible, attractive, valued and quality assured learning provision.

At the same time, teachers and trainers in VET work in the context of innovation, globalisation, and rapid technological and societal changes that challenge education and training systems across Europe. They can be agents for innovation and quality in VET, yet they can face challenges in adapting. What is needed are teams of skilled staff who have strong pedagogical skills, as well as relevant, in-depth knowledge of specific economic sectors and the cutting-edge technologies that are driving them. Some concrete examples here are the emergence of hybrid professionals, as well as ‘I-coaches, or blended coaches, media coaches’, who can facilitate the deployment of ICT in teaching and learning thus teachers build bridge between ICT and education.

At the same time such teams must deliver basic skills and key competences, which are necessary to develop vocational skills and for lifelong learning.

The policy experimentation will seek to identify, test and transfer approaches related to the policy challenges specified. It could take up in particular issues raised by the ET2020 VET Working Group on teachers and trainers.

They should help decision makers find ways to best mainstream successful practices, the projects should aim to respond to the following policy challenges:

 

•   Supporting staff in VET to further develop their skills in line with their changing role in view of the challenges outlined above.

•   Co-creation of knowledge and expertise

•   Addressing new tasks and challenges and developing new learning environments and

  formats

•   Developing hybrid12 professionals, whereby teachers and trainers work both in VET institutions and companies.

Policy experimentation could test pedagogical methods to be introduced as part of initial training or continuing professional development of teachers, trainers and related staff in the field of VET. This might be around the development of their ability to offer and facilitate flexible learning and individualised pathways that embed basic skills and key competences with vocational or technical skills where necessary. It might also explore how professionals will include green skills in their teaching and training. The experimentation could also explore new and innovative adaptations of the EU reference frameworks, DigComp and DigCompEdu.

LOT 2

Priority 3 - Funding mechanisms for upskilling and reskilling, including schemes similar to Individual Learning Accounts

As upskilling and reskilling become a perquisite throughout life, to improve skills, to gain new skills and remain agile and job ready in the face of changing jobs and careers, individuals will have to pursue learning on a regular basis. Current financing of education and training strives to secure adequate funding for initial education at all levels but is not adapted to funding lifelong learning.

The purpose of the Call is to give a small group of Member States the opportunity to test the feasibility of funding mechanisms that would make funds available to adults on an equitable basis, to enable them continue their learning throughout life.

In a typical experiment, a country which has developed such an instrument, for example individual learning accounts, might coach two other countries with varying labour markets and work structures to test how the model could be transferred and adapted to their situation.

The experimentation should cover issues such as:

•  Equitable, sustainable cost-sharing arrangements between the State, employers and individuals (whose participation might also be in terms of time)

•   Redirecting part of the existing public/private funding sources into a common “purse”

•   Possibility left for individuals to add top-ups, including through deployment of targeted

  financial instruments supporting individual loans, income sharing agreements, etc.

•   Links to taxation, state aid and public procurement policies.

Priority 4 - Policy and processes to support the validation of non-formal and informal learning, including through effective guidance

The 2012 Recommendation on validation of non-formal and informal learning has stimulated Member States to take action to provide people with more and better opportunities to validate the skills they develop throughout their life in a variety of settings, from work experience to volunteering. The 208 update of the Inventory on validation of non-formal and informal learning has taken stock of the national efforts, showing that progress has been made throughout Europe. However, it has made clear that there remain huge gaps between countries and the majority of people do not have access to opportunities for validation or have access to them but do not have any form of support or incentive – from information to guidance and practical and financial assistance.

Even in countries where validation arrangement are well established, their take-up by people that could benefit from them is often insufficient, because people are not well informed about these opportunities, don’t know what steps to take, or are little motivated because they fail to see the link to formal programmes and qualifications. In fact validation arrangements are usually not integrated in a comprehensive skills strategy implementing a proper lifelong learning approach. This makes them less effective and less attractive for potential beneficiaries.

Delivering on the objectives of the European Education Area by 2025 requires a leap forward in Europe’s higher education so that it can serve a changing society and economy. This will call for a more flexible, competence-, work- and research based higher education.

Higher education in the coming years will need to ensure that students (including mature students) can be in the driving seat to plan their education journey. Continuous or life-long learning will become more an increasing need. Higher education institutions will have to be prepared to offer relevant options for the continuous learner – especially through short learning courses which can be bundled for further degrees and recognised through “micro-credentials”. Authorities can facilitate the development and quality framework for such courses by creating relevant frameworks.

The call would therefore support a grouping of Member States ready to bring their validation policies to the next step and test their integration in a coherent strategic approach to skills development and recognition, coordinated with formal education and training systems, involving business and civil society, and envisaging the related outreach, information and guidance measures.

Policy experimentation in this area could cover issues such as:

Linking validation of skills, use of micro-credentials (such as badges) and qualification policy;

Support for the development of flexible learning opportunities and structures in higher education which enable individual approaches for continuous learning

Developing and piloting frameworks to embed short learning courses leading to “micro- credentials” of 3-5 ECTS at higher education level in European education systems

Setting up reliable quality assurance processes for flexible learning contents in European perspective

Mainstreaming skills reviews/profiling/audits in sectoral or regional development policies.

Expected results

The proposed projects should lead to significant results in the following areas:

•   Support to the priorities for policy cooperation at EU level set out in the ET 2020 Framework, as appropriate.

•   Improved knowledge and evidence base for reforms with potentially high systemic impact in the sectors concerned in the eligible countries.

•   European added value by jointly identifying best practice and lessons on 'what works' and 'what does not work'.

•   Scalability and transferability of innovative measures. Scaling up does not necessarily only mean duplicating the tested measures on a larger number of beneficiaries. It should rather be understood as creating the best conditions for making the successfully tested measures part of a policy or a system.

•   Sound consistency and complementarity between theory and practice; between EU policies and funding programmes; between European, national and regional measures; between the roles of policy makers, stakeholders and researchers.

Planning and conducting a policy experimentation project

Policy experimentations are based on the collection and evaluation of evidence through large scale field trials relying on robust and widely recognised methodologies. Ideally, such methodologies are expected to provide more representative findings than observation or conceptual analysis.

The attention of the applicants is drawn to the fact that, in the context of this call, policy experimentations are not research projects led by experts and addressing other experts, with the aim of generically advancing knowledge. They are rather "action-research" projects involving cooperation between researchers, decision-makers and stakeholders in order to try out concrete measures that have the potential to be concretely translated into policy or practice in education and training systems in the short/medium term.

Policy experimentations help to assess the relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, potential impact and scalability of innovative policy measures through experimental or semi-experimental approaches. They seek to identify and evaluate a causality link between a measure and a change (or lack of change) that has occurred through that measure, and to determine the logic behind the change (counterfactual analysis). They take place in a controlled environment, through measurable direct interventions and comparisons (e.g. "before/after", or "treated"/"non-treated" groups).

Policy experimentation can be cost-effective, secure stakeholder consensus and a smooth implementation of policy when it is used to test substantial measures at the appropriate stage. In an ex-ante evaluation process involving progressive steps towards implementation, it can be one of the final steps, confirming already robust assumptions and identifying and testing scalable approaches.

In the context of the priority themes of the present call, applicants are encouraged to include - when relevant and appropriate - efficiency evaluations, e.g. based on cost-benefit analysis and cost-effectiveness analysis.

Project evaluation

Applicants should distinguish between:

• the evaluation of the project as a whole, basically covering all the aspects of standard project management, and

• the analysis and interpretation of the findings of the field trials (which are only one – albeit essential - element of the project).

  Applicants are requested to draw up a project quality assurance plan to evaluate the implementation of the project as a whole, which can take the form of:

• an external evaluation, devolved to a "critical friend" within the partnership ("peer review") or subcontracted to an independent expert, and/or

• a self-evaluation by each partner.

  Regarding the analysis and interpretation of the results of the field trials please refer to Annex “Planning and conducting a policy experimentation project” of this call for proposals: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/funding_en - Call reference EACEA/38/2019

 

Project follow-up

Applicants are requested to describe the type of follow-up they would envisage both in case of conclusive and of inconclusive findings, suggesting different options, where appropriate. They may draw on the following hints for inspiration.

In case of conclusive findings (field trials corroborating the testing hypothesis), they should explain how they would concretely use the results for systemic improvement, in particular:

- anticipating and weighing up the advantages and disadvantages that the upscaling of the tested measure would involve for the target groups;

- estimating the resources required for upscaling the measure and mainstreaming it in the system;

- considering various upscaling options, in particular EU funds such as the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) and the European Fund for Strategic Investment (EFSI);

- considering further exploratory work under Erasmus+ or other EU programmes.

Inconclusive findings (eg. findings of the field trials disproving the testing hypothesis) should not necessarily be seen as a failure, but as an opportunity to draw lessons for future policy development and further research. The results of inconclusive experimentations should be carefully scrutinized to identify possible causes (insufficient preliminary evidence, methodological flaws, etc.),

Sustainability of impact

Applicants should be aware that immediate positive impacts of successful experimentations may be contingent on externalities and may not necessarily persist over time. They are therefore encouraged to consider long-term monitoring of the cohorts that participated in successful experimentations and provide an indication of the strategy for long-term monitoring beyond the end of the project.

 

3. INDICATIVE TIMETABLE

(a) Publication of the call

December 2019

(b) Deadline for submitting pre-proposal applications

21 April 2020 at 17:00 (CET/Brussels time)

(c) Evaluation period

April - May 2020

(d) Information to applicants

June 2020

(e) Deadline for submitting full proposal applications

24 September 2020 at 17:00 (CET/Brussels time)

(f) Evaluation period

October 2020

(g) Information to applicants

November 2020

(h) Signature of grant agreement

December 2020

(i) Starting date of the action

Between 1 January 2021 and 28 February 2021

 

Procedure

Proposals will be submitted and evaluated in two stages, involving a pre-proposal (Stage I) and a full proposal (Stage II).

This approach intends to simplify the application process by requesting in the first phase only basic information on the proposal.

Pre-proposal stage:
Pre-proposal applications will contain information on the following:

1. (a)  Relevance of the project (maximum 20 points)

2. (b)  Indicative total budget and requested EU grant

Pre-proposals will be assessed on the basis of the eligibility criteria described in section 6 and the award criterion Relevance of the project (see section 9).

Eligible applicants reaching the minimum threshold of 12 points on the score for the award criterion Relevance of the project will be invited to submit a full proposal and to elaborate further on their proposal.

All applicants having submitted pre-proposals will be notified in written about the pre-selection results and will receive a summary evaluation of their pre-proposal.

Full proposal stage:
Applicants invited to the full proposal stage will be requested to provide information on the

following:

1. 1)  Remaining three award criteria:

   1. (a)  Quality of the project design and implementation (maximum 30 points)

   2. (b)  Quality of the partnership and cooperation arrangements (maximum 20 points)

   3. (c)  Impact, dissemination, and sustainability (maximum 30 points)

2. 2)  Detailed budget

Full proposals will be assessed on the basis of the eligibility criteria (see section 6), exclusion criteria (section 7), selection criteria (section 8), and the three remaining award criteria (section 9).

As a result, those full proposals considered compliant with all the eligibility, exclusion, and selection criteria will be ranked in order of merit according to the total score obtained. The total score for a full proposal will be the total of the scores obtained at the pre-proposal stage and at the full proposal stage (by applying the weighting indicated).

Only eligible full proposals having reached at least the threshold of 60 points on the total score will be considered for EU funding.

All applicants having submitted full proposal applications will be notified in written about the final selection results and receive an evaluation report.

 

4. BUDGET AVAILABLE
The total budget earmarked for the co-financing of projects under this call is EUR 14.000.000

and it is divided between Lot 1 and Lot 2 as following:  Lot 1 EUR 12.000.000

 Lot 2 EUR 2.000.000

The financial contribution from the EU cannot exceed 75% of the total eligible costs. The maximum EU grant per project will be EUR 2.000.000.
The Agency reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available.

 

5. ADMISSIBILITY REQUIREMENTS

In order to be admissible, applications must be:

• -  sent no later than the deadline for submitting applications referred to in section 3;

• -  submitted in writing (see section 14 of the present guidelines), using the application form (eForm) and electronic submission system13 available at:

  https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/funding_en

  using the Call reference EACEA/38/2019 and

• -  drafted in one of the EU official languages, preferably in English.

  Failure to comply with those requirements will lead to rejection of the application.

 

6. ELIGIBILITY CRITERIA

Applications which comply with the following criteria will be the subject of an in-depth evaluation. The eligibility criteria will be assessed at the pre-proposal stage and at the full proposal stage on the basis of the information provided in the application form at the both stages.

6.1 Eligible applicants

Applicants considered eligible to respond to this call are:

1. a)  Public authorities (Ministry or equivalent) responsible for education and training at the highest level in the relevant context (national or decentralised). Responsible public authorities for sectors other than education and training (e.g. employment, youth, finance, social affairs, home affairs, justice, health, etc.) are considered eligible as long as they demonstrate that they have a specific competence in the area in which the experimentation is to be carried out.

2. b)  Public or private organisations active in the fields of education or training or other relevant fields.

3. c)  Public or private organisations or institutions carrying out cross-sector activities linked to education and training in other socio-economic sectors (e.g. NGOs, information or guidance services, public authorities, agencies or services responsible for: education, training, youth, employment, social affairs, home affairs, justice, quality assurance, recognition and/or validation; career guidance, chambers of commerce, business and social partners, trade organisations, civil society, cultural or sport organisations, evaluation or research entities, media etc.).

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 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. However, they have to demonstrate, before being awarded a grant, that they are not in a conflict of interest either because precautionary measures are taken by them or because their internal organisation is such that there is a clear separation of interests (e.g. a minimum separation of accounts, separation of reporting and decision making lines, measures to prevent access to privileged information). Furthermore, costs and revenues of each project or activity for which the EU funds are awarded must be identified.

Entities affiliated to the applicants and natural persons are not eligible to receive funding under this Call for proposals.

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: North Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey.

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.

Partnership composition requirement
The minimum partnership composition requirement for this call is 4 entities representing 3

different programme countries. Specifically:

• -  At least three public authorities (Ministries or equivalent) each from a different Programme country, while at least one of the three public authorities must be from a Member State of the European Union and

• -  At least one public or private entity with expertise in analysis and policy impact evaluation ("researcher"). Such entity shall be responsible for the methodological aspects and the field trial protocols. The partnership can involve more than one such entity, as long as the work is coordinated and consistent.

Coordination requirement
A project proposal can only be coordinated and submitted, on behalf of all applicants, by one

of the following:

•   A public authority (Ministry or equivalent) as described under section 6.1.a);

•   A public or private entity delegated by a public authority. Delegated entities must have an explicit endorsement in writing (a delegation letter) by a public authority to submit and coordinate the project proposal on their behalf. Only delegated entitites that are in a position to demonstrate their existence as a legal person for at least 3 years14 on the date of the deadline for submission of pre-proposals referred to in section 3 are considered eligible as "coordinator" for the purpose of this call.

Applications must be submitted by the legal representative of the coordinator on behalf of all applicants.

Supporting documents

In order to assess the applicants' eligibility, the following supporting documents are requested - via the Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal (FTOP):

•  private entity: extract from the official journal, copy of articles of association, extract of trade or association register, certificate of liability to VAT (if, as in certain countries, the trade register number and VAT number are identical, only one of these documents is required);

•   public entity: copy of the resolution, decision or other official document establishing the public-law entity;

•   entities without legal personality: documents providing evidence that their representative(s) have the capacity to undertake legal obligations on their behalf.

  - annexed to the application:

•   consortium: in addition to the supporting documents referring to their legal status, consortium members (partners) will submit mandate letters confirming their participation to the project,

•   delegated entity: if a public authority/ Ministry delegates its coordination role in the project to a private or public entity, the public authority/ Ministry must submit a delegation letter endorsing the private or public entity to submit and coordinate the project on their (Ministry) behalf.

Associated partners: Additionally, the project may benefit from the involvement of associated partners. These organisations can contribute to the implementation of specific tasks /activities and/or support the dissemination and sustainability of the project. They will not benefit financially from the EU grant and associated partners can be established in either Programme or partner countries. For that purpose, applicants shall identify such associated partners in the 'Detailed Project Description' which is part of the Application Package.

6.2 Eligible activities

Eligible activities must be in line with Annex to the guidelines for applicants “Planning and conducting a policy experimentation project”: https://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus- plus/funding_en - Call reference EACEA/38/2019).

The field trials must take place at least in three countries whose public authorities/ Ministries are involved in the project.

Only activities taking place in the Programme countries (see section 6.1) 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 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 other countries than the Programme countries must have the prior specific authorization from the Executive Agency.

Implementation period

• Activities must start between 1 January 2021 and 28 February 2021.
• Project's duration must be between 24 and 36 months.

 

(TRUNCATED)

Lien officiel :   Disponible pour les utilisateurs enregistrés