Key Action 2: Cooperation among organisations and institutions

This Key Action supports:

• Partnerships for Cooperation, including:

• Cooperation Partnerships: 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.
• Small-scale Partnerships: this action aims at widening access to the programme to small-scale actors and individuals who are hard to reach in the fields of school education, adult education, vocational education and training, youth and sport. With lower grant amounts awarded to organisations, shorter duration and simpler administrative requirements compared to the Cooperation Partnerships, this action aims at reaching out to grassroots organisations and newcomers to the Programme and less experienced organisations, reducing entry barriers to the programme for organisations with smaller organisational capacity.

• Partnerships for Excellence, including:

• European Universities: This action supports the emergence of bottom-up networks of higher education institutions, which will bring cross-border cooperation to the next level of ambition, through the development of joint long-term strategies for top-quality education, research and innovation, based on a common vision and shared values;
• Centres for Vocational Excellence (CoVE): This initiative supports a bottom-up approach to vocational excellence involving a wide range of local stakeholders enabling VET institutions to rapidly adapt skills provision to evolving economic and social needs. They operate in a given local context, creating skills ecosystems for innovation, regional development, and social inclusion, while working with CoVEs in other countries through international collaborative networks.  They provide opportunities for initial training of young people as well as the continuing up-skilling and re-skilling of adults, through flexible and timely offer of training that meets the needs of a dynamic labour market, in the context of the green and digital transitions;
• Erasmus+ Teachers Academies: The overall objective of this action is to create European partnerships of teacher education and training providers to set up Erasmus+ Teacher Academies that will develop a European and international outlook in teacher education. These Academies will embrace multilingualism and cultural diversity, develop teacher education in line with the EU’s priorities in education policy and contribute to the objectives of the European Education Area.
• Erasmus Mundus Action: This action aims at fostering excellence and world-wide internationalisation of higher education institutions via study programmes – at master course level – jointly delivered and jointly recognised by higher education institutions established in Europe, and open to institutions in other countries of the world.

• Partnerships for Innovation, including:

• Alliances for Innovation: This action aims at fostering strategic cooperation between key players in higher education and vocational education and training, business and research – the "knowledge triangle" – to foster innovation and modernisation of education and training systems in identifying and supplying the right set of skills, knowledge and competences to match the future labour market demand in sectors and fields that are strategic for Europe's sustainable growth and competitiveness;
• Forward-looking projects: This action will aim to foster innovation, creativity and participation, as well as social entrepreneurship in different fields of education and training. It will support forward-looking ideas based around key European priorities, and that have the potential of becoming mainstreamed and giving input for improving education and training systems, as well as to bring a substantial innovative effect in terms of methods and practices to all types of learning and active participation settings for Europe's social cohesion.

• Capacity Building projects including

• Capacity Building projects in the field of higher education: This action supports international cooperation projects based on multilateral partnerships between organisations active in the higher education field in EU Member States or third countries associated to the programme and third countries not associated to the programme. They aim to support the relevance, quality, modernisation and accessibility and of higher education in third countries not associated to the programme as a driver of sustainable socio-economic development.
• Capacity Building projects in the field of vocational education and training: This action in the field of Vocational Education and Training supports international cooperation projects based on multilateral partnerships between organisations active in the field of VET in EU Member States, third countries associated to the programme and third countries not associated to the programme. They aim to support the relevance, accessibility, and responsiveness of VET institutions and systems in third countries not associated to the programme, as a driver of sustainable socio-economic development.
• Capacity Building projects in the field of youth: this action supports cooperation and exchange in the field of youth between organisations in EU Member States, third countries associated to the programme and third countries not associated to the Programme, and covers non-formal learning activities, with a focus on raising the capacity of organisations working with young people outside formal learning, while ensuring the active participation of young people.
• Capacity Building projects in the field of sport: The action will support international cooperation projects based on multilateral partnerships between organisations active in the field of sport in EU Member States, third countries associated to the programme and third countries not associated to the programme. They aim to support sport activities and policies in third countries not associated to the programme as a vehicle to promote values as well as an educational tool to promote the personal and social development of individuals and build more cohesive communities.

Not-for-profit sport events: This action will support the preparation, organisation and follow up of not-for-profit sport events, organised either in one single country or in several countries by not-for-profit organisations or public bodies active in the field of sport. These events will aim at increasing the visibility of the Erasmus+ sport actions as well as raise awareness on the role of sport in promoting social inclusion, equal opportunities and health-enhancing physical activities.

Online platforms such as eTwinning, the Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe (EPALE), the School Education Gateway (SEG) and the European Youth Portal will offer virtual collaboration spaces, partner-finding databases, communities of practice and other online services for teachers, trainers, youth workers, policy makers and other practitioners, as well as for pupils, young people and adult learners in Europe and beyond.