In international training, you can increase your professional competence, gain new ideas for the activities of your organisation and learn project skills for the EU’s youth programmes. At the same time, you will network with other international organisations and actors. The training events have been planned by professionals from the field of youth and they are of a high quality and free of charge.

To participate in the training, you must be an employee or a volunteer working with young people or in the EU’s youth programmes.
Adults in a seminar.
Photo: Enni Lydman

International training events funded by Erasmus+ for Youth and the European Solidarity Corps are related to youth work or civic engagement. The method of implementing the training depends on the content of the training and the objectives of the activities.

 Select National Agency and SALTO Resource Centre as the organiser of the activity (Activity organised by) and you will see the training events that the Finnish National Agency will send participants to.

Training courses on project skills and working methods

  • duration 3–4 days + travelling
  • working methods are often functional and based on group work.

Seminars on themes in youth work

  • duration often 3–4 days + travelling
  • number of participants often 20–50
  • operating methods are often speeches, presentations, workshops and partly functional assignments.

Partnership building activity

  • familiarisation with the activities of other organisations and finding partners to shared projects
  • work in the seminar is based on functional methods and takes place in international mixed groups.

Study visits

  • visits are made to several organisations to learn about their working methods and operating strategies
  • number of participants often 15–25
  • visits made within the region or within the city.

Large conferences, fairs and seminars

  • duration 1–2 days
  • dozens or hundreds of participants
  • the topic is discussed at the level of large entities, bringing ideas to the practical level.
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You can apply for participation in all training organised by the national agencies. When you apply for international training, ensure that

  • you have a clear connection with youth work
  • you engage in youth work professionally or actively or 
  • you use the EU's youth programmes for the benefit of young people, for example, by organising voluntary work for young people.

In some cases, young people who work as volunteers or peer instructors in organisations may participate.

Training is sometimes targeted at those who need special expertise and experience in their work with young people. Examples of participants in such training include

  • executive directors of youth services or non-governmental organisations
  • coordinators of youth work or youth services
  • youth information workers
  • professionals doing advisory work or employees in employment services
  • decision-makers in the field of youth
  • youth researchers or teachers of youth work
  • workers of multiprofessional teams outside the youth sector.

As a rule, the training topics are related to youth work, young people’s leisure-time activities and non-formal learning. Teachers and teaching staff are often excluded from these topics.

Training activities are also organised to actors involved in formal education. You can familiarise yourself with European seminars in adult education, general education, vocational education and training (VET), and higher education under the Erasmus+ programme on a website of its own.

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Participation in the training events is free of charge. We will cover the following costs of your trip to the training event

  • travel expenses from your front door to the training location and back
  • accommodation in the training location
  • meals during the event
  • participation fee
  • paid materials used in the training
  • accommodation during the trip if the journey is unreasonably long or the timetables are difficult.         

We will reimburse your organisation for the travel expenses after the trip.

  • Pay the travel costs and the accommodation according to your organisation’s practices.
  • Then invoice us for the travel and accommodation costs.

If your organisation is small and it is financially difficult to organise the travel and accommodation costs, we will help you in advance.

Costs payable by your organisation

When you have been selected to training, agree your participation with your employer according to the normal practices of your organisation. Your organisation will have to pay the following

  • per diem allowances and/or overtime pay
  • insurance. The employer's normal insurance is often enough.
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You can participate in the training events throughout the year. Follow us in the social media and you will receive topical information about the training offers on a weekly basis. You can also subscribe to a newsletter or browse the organised training in the European Training Calendar.

The European Training Calendar lists a large variety of different training opportunities. Select National Agency or SALTO Resource Centre as the organiser and you will see the training organised by us.                                                                 

When selecting the participants, we pay attention to how well the applicant matches the participant profile given for the training. It is also important to us that participants are active in youth work and their daily work involves working with young people directly in their leisure time. We often place new actors to the top of the list.

As a rule, we do not select applicants to participate if they are not active in the field of youth work.

After the end of the application period, we will conduct a pre-selection from all the applications that have been received. The organisation providing the training makes the final selection based on the pre-selections of all countries. Applicants have a good chance to be selected and be able to participate, but sometimes the number of places is too small and there is not room for everyone.

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Read more about the regulations on trips to training. On the following pages, you will find information on the travel arrangements, reporting and invoicing the expenses.

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