This is it!
Earlier this year, President Juncker invited the institutions to be nine times more ambitious!
Juncker declarations follow the political will of a consistent increase of the Erasmus+ budget expressed by several heads of State and government of some Member States such as Belgium, France, Italy. Furthermore, during the Rome Summit on the 60th anniversary of the treaty.
Civil society organisations could not sit on the bench. We accepted the challenge and, within the Erasmus+ Coalition, we came up with the idea for a campaign asking 10 times more!
During the first phase of the campaign, the Coalition will collect additional statements from key stakeholders and institutions, organisations and individuals in the EU, and will bring them up in the light of a wider range of partners through social media and event communications. In the meanwhile, the Coalition will build evidence on the positive changes that more funding would have on the quality, access, and inclusiveness of the activities for the beneficiaries of the programme. The campaign will be launched in September 2017. The Campaign is coordinated by the Lifelong Learning Platform, the European Youth Forum and Eurodesk. It will run mainly over the internet for the coming months, and it is aimed at positively influencing the outcomes of the next MFF negotiations, due to happen in June 2018.
Why 10 times more? More funding can support the following aims:
Widening its access for a truly lifelong learning programme: To widen its access to a larger group of beneficiaries from all ages and different education purposes, and to respond to the high demand of smaller organisations and individual citizens that struggle to access and be successful in the current programme.
Strengthen its social dimension for better inclusion: To increase Erasmus+ outreach and support to the most vulnerable and marginalised groups, thus addressing the needs of all learners and their diverse backgrounds and aptitudes, including people with disabilities and from disadvantaged socio-economic background.
Empowerment of citizens through education: To contribute to societal progress by promoting shared civic values and active citizenship through mobility, volunteering and cooperation projects.
Competitiveness and employment: To support the economic growth and employability providing opportunities to acquire and recognise basic and transversal skills, competences and knowledge
Quality mobility experience and projects: To improve the quality of learning mobility experiences and transnational partnerships by providing the necessary funding and tools to beneficiaries.
Effective management and evaluation: To increase the programme’s flexibility and effectiveness to meet the needs of beneficiaries, while modernising methodologies and processes.
Peer Learning, Capacity Building and Exchange: To support cooperation among Member States and education stakeholders that will contribute to the modernisation of education and lifelong learning systems through peer learning and capacity-building facilitating policy reforms in line with Member States’ needs.
Cross-sector and multilevel cooperation: To strengthen the support to civil society organisations as intermediaries between the European and grassroots levels as a way to ease citizens’ access to the opportunities offered by the Programme, and to encourage partnerships with other stakeholders active in the field of education, training, youth and sport.
Education as a driver for Sustainable Development Goals: To raise awareness and enhance the implementation of the SDGs in Europe using education as the most powerful and proven vehicle for sustainable development thus making lifelong learning a reality for all.
Internationalising education and lifelong learning systems: To reinforce the global dimension of the programme and the internationalisation of education institutions and different learning environments in order to build bridges with societies and economies across the globe and therefore being more competitive and resilient in a globalised world.
Do you want to learn more about this Campaign, and find the way to be active in it? Check out the brand new website and stay up-to-date on the next steps! If you wish to actively support the Campaign, contact us!