Cooperation Partnerships in the field of Youth

The primary goal of Cooperation Partnerships is to allow organisations to increase the quality and relevance of their activities, to develop and reinforce their networks of partners, to increase their capacity to operate jointly at transnational level, boosting internationalisation of their activities and through exchanging or developing new practices and methods as well as sharing and confronting ideas.

Call objectives

They aim to support the development, transfer and/or implementation of innovative practices as well as the implementation of joint initiatives promoting cooperation, peer learning and exchanges of experience at European level. Results should be re-usable, transferable, up-scalable and, if possible, have a strong transdisciplinary dimension.

Selected projects will be expected to share the results of their activities at local, regional, national level and transnational level.

Cooperation Partnerships are anchored to the priorities and policy frameworks of each Erasmus+ sector, both at European and national level, while aiming at producing incentives for cross-sectoral and horizontal cooperation in thematic areas.

Cooperation Partnerships aim at:

  • Increasing quality in the work, activities and practices of 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 and new approaches, in proportion to the context of each organisation.

Expected results

To be considered for funding, Cooperation Partnerships must address:

  • at least one horizontal priority 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 field of education, training and youth managed by the Erasmus+ National Agencies in indirect management, National Agencies may, among these priorities, give more consideration to those that are particularly relevant in their national context (called “European priorities in the national context”).

National Agencies must duly inform potential applicants through their official websites.

For projects in the field of sport only one priority (horizontal or specific) can be addressed.

Eligibility Criteria

Regions / countries for funding

EU Member States, Overseas Countries and Territories (OCT)
Iceland (Ísland), Liechtenstein, North Macedonia (Северна Македонија), Norway (Norge), Serbia (Srbija/Сpбија), Türkiye

eligible entities

Education and training institution, Non-Profit Organisation (NPO) / Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University

Project Partnership

A Cooperation Partnership is a transnational project and must involve minimum three organisations from three different EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme. There is no maximum number of participating organisations in one partnership.

All participating organisations must be identified at the time of applying for a grant.

For applications submitted to National Agencies in the fields of school education, vocational education and training, adult education and youth, the same organisation (one OID) cannot be involved in more than 10  applications overall per deadline, either as applicant or partner.

As a general rule, Cooperation Partnerships target the cooperation between organisations established in EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme.

However, organisations from third countries not associated to the Programme can be involved as partners (not as applicants), if their participation brings an essential added value to the project and as long as the minimum participation from three organisations from three different EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme is fulfilled.

Any participating organisation established in an EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme can be the applicant/coordinator. This organisation applies on behalf of all participating organisations involved in the project.

In order to be eligible, applicant organisations must have been legally established at least 2 years before the application deadline.

For Partnerships in the fields of education, training and youth submitted by European NGOs and managed by the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) the applicant coordinator must be a European NGO active in the field of education, training and youth.

Any public or private organisation, established in an EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme or in any third country not associated to the Programme of the world (see section “Eligible Countries” in Part A of the Programme Guide) can participate in a Cooperation Partnership. Exception: organisations from Belarus (Region 2) and the Russian Federation (Region 4) are not eligible to participate in this action.

Organisations established in EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme can either participate as the coordinator of the project or as a partner organisation.

Organisations in third countries not associated to the Programme cannot participate as project coordinators.

Irrespective of the field impacted by the project, Cooperation 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).

Depending on the priority and the objectives addressed by the project, Cooperation Partnerships should involve the most appropriate and diverse range of partners in order to benefit from their different experiences, profiles and specific expertise and to produce relevant and high quality project results.

In addition to the organisations formally participating in the project (the coordinator and partner organisations), Cooperation Partnerships may also involve other partners from the public or private sector that contribute to the implementation of specific project tasks/activities or support the promotion and sustainability of the project. Within an Erasmus+ project, these partners will be called “associated partners”.

other eligibility criteria

All the activities of a Cooperation Partnership must take place in the countries of the organisations participating in the project, either as full partners or as associated partners. In addition, if duly justified in relation to the objectives or implementation of the project:

  • Activities can also take place at the seat of an Institution of the European Union, even if in the project there are no participating organisations from the country that hosts the Institution.
  • ctivities involving sharing and promotion of results can also take place at relevant thematic transnational events/conferences in EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme or third countries not associated to the Programme.

Funding rules:

The proposed funding model consists of a menu of 3 single lump sums, corresponding to the total grant amount for the project: 120 000 EUR, 250 000 EUR and 400 000 EUR. Applicants will choose between the 3 pre-defined amounts according to the activities they want to undertake and the results they want to achieve. When planning their projects, the applicant organisations – together with their project partners – will need to choose the single lump sum amount more appropriate to cover the costs of their projects, based on their needs and objectives. If the project is selected for funding, the requested lump sum amount becomes the overall grant amount.