Woman with a bicycle at a metro station
Photo: Getty Images | Sasha Suzi

Erasmus+ is the European Union’s programme for education, training, youth and sport. The programme covers all levels of education: early childhood education and care, basic education, general upper secondary education, vocational education and training, higher education and adult education. The programme is aimed at developing education, training and youth work and improving the educational level, skills and employment opportunities of young people. In sport, the programme encourages sport organisations to engage in European cooperation.

The Finnish National Agency for Education EDUFI is the National Agency responsible for the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes in Finland.

The Erasmus+ programme funds different mobility projects and partnerships for cooperation.

Mobility projects provide learners with opportunities for learning experiences and/or gaining vocational experience abroad. For staff, mobility periods enable professional development, networking opportunities and exchange of good practices. A mobility project may be, for example, a youth exchange planned by young people themselves or an educational institution’s mobility project involving several hundred people.  

For example, different partnerships for cooperation can be used to exchange good practices, develop curricula, plan joint degree programmes and develop policies in the fields of education, training and youth. The project may be a small-scale partnership between two organisations, an Erasmus Mundus Joint Master Degree offered by several higher education institutions together, or a project aimed at developing the European Centres for Vocational Excellence.  

You will need partners from other countries for most of the projects. 

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With the help of Erasmus+, participants can improve their language proficiency, international competence and cooperation skills. Periods abroad increase their understanding of diversity and provide abilities to act in the increasingly international world. Erasmus+ also offers opportunities for internationalisation at home to individuals who do not participate in mobility or projects. Participation in the programme strengthens European identity and promotes active citizenship. 

For institutions and organisations, Erasmus+ offers an opportunity to develop the organisation's activities in cooperation with international partners. In practice, this may be done by adopting a good practice in one's own organisation, by developing new methods in cooperation with project partners or by creating joint study modules, among other things. With the projects, staff can improve their competence and expand their networks. Your organisation may also disseminate its special expertise to other actors in the sector. At best, Erasmus+ projects help you promote your organisation's strategic goals or the implementation of the national core curricula in everyday work. There are numerous possibilities!

It is always interesting to bring actors from different countries and cultures together to learn from each other.

– Ville Vierimaa, Coordinator, International Affairs, Careeria, DigiVET4All project  

Other higher education institutions have taken a cue from the methods developed in our project. Even though the Erasmus+ funding ended in autumn 2017, the project still lives on. The project also enabled participants to develop professionally: the teachers who were involved feel they gained new skills and found pedagogical tools for teaching.

– Marjatta Rännäli, Senior Lecturer, Turku University of Applied Sciences, CoMoViWo project 

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Erasmus+ offers opportunities to different types of organisations from daycare centres to higher education institutions, from youth clubs to museums and from sport clubs to companies. In the field of youth, informal groups of young people can also apply for funding. Individual persons cannot apply for a grant directly from us. For example, students apply for Erasmus+ grants from their own educational institution. 

Go to the website of each sector to find out what kind of organisations or groups of young people can apply for Erasmus+ funding. 

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There are different options for how your organisation can participate in Erasmus+ mobility activities:

  • The easiest way is to apply for a short-term Erasmus+ mobility project. This is a low-threshold method for trying out mobility activities in the Erasmus+ programme. The call for grant applications is once a year and funding is awarded for one year at a time. 
  • You can also join already existing activities, for example, by hosting mobile individuals from a foreign organisation or by joining a larger mobility consortium, a network. In these cases, you do not need to apply for funding; a representative of the sending organisation or the coordinator of the mobility consortium will submit the application.
  • If you are planning long-term activities, the alternative is to apply for Erasmus+ accreditation. Erasmus+ accreditation means a quality-assured “Erasmus+ membership”. 

Accreditation is granted to the organisation or network for several years. The funding for learner and staff mobility of accredited organisations is guaranteed for the entire programme period. 

If you would like to participate in a partnership for cooperation, you have several options. Cooperation partnerships are the easiest way to start:

  • small-scale partnerships can be small projects involving a few partners and focusing on exchanging good practices.
  • cooperation partnerships are more extensive partnerships that develop concrete products, such as joint study units and teaching materials.

For more information about Erasmus+ actions and different options, see the page introducing the actions.

You can also participate in the programme through eTwinning. eTwinning activities are part of the Erasmus+ programme and can be used to implement international projects online. eTwinning does not include any fees, applications or obligations to report. As a teacher, you can join and decide yourself what you want to do and when. For pupils, eTwinning offers an opportunity for learning, internationalisation at home, keeping in contact and knowledge-building with pupils and children of the same age in other countries. Participants will familiarise themselves with foreign languages and cultures in the digital learning environment.

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Do you need partners for an Erasmus+ project? Do you want to network and learn about European education systems? You can use the online forums and seminars in the Erasmus+ programme to find project partners. 

eTwinning is a European online tool for internationalisation for teachers and staff in early childhood education and care, basic education and upper secondary education. Among hundreds of thousands of registered teachers, you will easily find colleagues for cooperation projects that focus on active participation of children and young people.

EPALE is especially for those looking for a partner for a project under Erasmus+ for Adult education. In EPALE's Partner Search functionality, you can describe the project you are planning and browse the project ideas of other users. You can contact an actor suitable for your project directly and form partnerships. Did you know that Finnish adult educators are the second most sought-after project partners in Europe!

Erasmus+ organises European seminars and training that also offer opportunities for networking and developing project ideas with support from the Erasmus+ National Agencies. 

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Reserve time for generating ideas for your project and planning it. We provide help for the different stages of the application process.

We organise information events online for applicants when the application rounds have opened. You will receive basic information on the rules for the action in question, instructions for drawing up the budget and tips for writing an application that is convincing and of a high quality. 

We also provide advice by email and over the telephone. Contact us to discuss what would be the most suitable way for you to start Erasmus+ activities! 

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We organise training on topics such as project management and communication for projects that have been awarded funding. In other words, you will not be left on your own with the project, but will get support from us for the implementation of a high-quality project. You will also be able to network with other people implementing similar projects and get valuable peer support from them. 

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