Small-scale Partnerships

Overview

Objectives

The main objectives of small-scale partnerships are:

• >attracting and widening access to the Erasmus+ programme for newcomers, less experienced organisations and small-scale actors to the programme;
• supporting the inclusion of target groups with fewer opportunities;
• supporting active European citizenship and bring the European dimension to the local level;
• increasing quality in the work and practices of the organisations and institutions involved, opening up to new actors not naturally included within one sector;
• building capacity of organisations to work transnationally and across sectors;
• addressing common needs and priorities in the fields of education, training, youth and sport;
• enabling transformation and change (at individual, organisational or sectoral level), leading to improvements, in proportion to the context of each organisation.

Activities/actions supported

To be considered for funding, Small-scale Partnerships must address:

• one horizontal priority of the Eramus+ programme (i.e. inclusion and diversity; environmental sustainability; digital dimension; participation and civic engagement) and/or
• at least one specific priority relevant to the field of education, training, youth and sport that is mostly impacted.

For projects in the fields of vocational education and training, school education, adult education and youth managed by the Erasmus+ National Agencies, National Agencies may, among these priorities, give more consideration to those that are particularly relevant in their national context.

Small-scale Partnerships may include the organisation of transnational learning, teaching and training activities of individuals and groups of individuals, in so far as they bring added value in the achievement of the project's objectives.

All activities must take place in the countries of the participating organisations or, if duly justified, in the seat of an Institution of the European Union. Projects must last between 6 and 24 months, with the duration being chosen at application stage.

Anticipated outcomes

Small-scale partnerships are meant to enable organisations to have more means to reach out to people with fewer opportunities, and contribute to the creation and development of transnational networks and to fostering synergies with, and between, local, regional, national and international policies.

Institution providing the funding

Erasmus+ National Agencies and EACEA (depending on the specific topic) 

Size of funding

Option of 2 pre-defined lump sums grants, to be chosen by the applicants: EUR 30 000 and EUR 60 000 

Conditions

Overview of eligibility criteria

Any public or private organisation, established in an EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme can participate in a Small-scale Partnership. Irrespective of the field impacted by the project, Small-scale Partnerships are open to any type of organisation active in any field of education, training, youth, sport or other socio economic sectors as well as to organisations carrying out activities that are transversal to different fields (e.g., local, regional and national authorities, recognition and validation centres, chambers of commerce, trade organisations, guidance centres, cultural and sport organisations).

Overview of award criteria

Award criteria include the following:

• Relevance (up to 30 points), including relevance to Erasmus+ objectives and shared EU values, relevance to needs analysis, relevance to foster synergies between education, training, youth and sport.
• Quality of the project design and implementation (up to 30 points), including clearly defined objectives, adequate methodology, accessible and inclusive project activities, green practices.
• Quality of the partnership and the cooperation arrangements (up to 20 points), including a diverse mix of organisations involved, involvement of newcomers, effective coordination and communication mechanisms.
• Impact (up to 20 points), including positive impacts on participants and organisations, an approach to monitoring and evaluation, a dissemination strategy.

The minimum threshold for proposals to be considered is 60 points out of 100, on the condition that proposals score at least half the maximum points for each award criterion.

Procedures

Application procedures

Application procedures vary depending on the type of Small-scale Partnership and applicant:

• Small-scale Partnerships in the fields of vocational education and training, school education, adult education and youth submitted by any organisation in these fields should apply to the National Agency of the country in which the applicant organisation is established.
• Small-scale Partnerships in the field of sport should apply to the European Education and Culture Executive Agency

Application support available

For more information, please check thetext of the call (see below) as well as the Erasmus+ Programme Guide. 

Useful links

Link to funding opportunity

Link to the programme for more info