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Call key data
Partnership for Excellence - Centres of Vocational Excellence
Funding Program
Erasmus+ - Key Action 2 – Cooperation among Organisations and Institutions
Call number
ERASMUS-EDU-2023-PEX-COVE
deadlines
Opening
29.11.2022
Deadline
08.06.2023 17:00
Estimated EU contribution per project
max. EU grant per project: € 4,000,000.00
Link to the call
Link to the submission
Call content
short description
The initiative on Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) aims to respond to this policy priority supporting reforms in the VET sector, ensuring high quality skills and competences that lead to quality employment and career-long opportunities, meeting the needs of an innovative, inclusive and sustainable economy. The CoVE initiative also supports the implementation of the European Green Deal, the new Digital Strategy, and the new Industrial and SME Strategies, as skills are key to their success.
Call objectives
Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVE) 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 establish 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 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. They act as catalysts for local business development and innovation, by working closely with companies (in particular SMEs) on applied research projects, creating knowledge and innovation hubs, as well as supporting entrepreneurial initiatives of their learners.
The networks aim for "upward convergence" of VET excellence. They will be open for the involvement of countries with well-developed vocational excellence systems, as well as those in the process of developing similar approaches, aimed at exploring the full potential of VET institutions to play a proactive role in support of growth and innovation.
This initiative introduces a "European dimension" to Vocational Excellence by supporting the implementation of EU VET policy and actions agreed with member states, social partners and VET providers.
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Expected effects and impacts
This action supports the gradual establishment and development of international collaborative networks of Centres of Vocational Excellence.
Centres of Vocational Excellence will operate at two levels:
- At national level involving a wide range of local stakeholders creating skills ecosystems for local innovation, regional development, and social inclusion, while working with CoVEs in other countries through international collaborative networks.
- At international level bringing together CoVEs that share a common interest in:
- a common interest in specific sectors
- innovative approaches to tackle economic and societal challenges (e.g. climate change, digitalisation, artificial intelligence, sustainable development goals, integration of migrants and disadvantaged groups, upskilling people with low qualification levels, etc.), or
- innovative approaches to increase the outreach, quality and effectiveness of existing CoVEs.
The networks will bring together existing CoVEs, or develop the Vocational Excellence model by linking partners from various countries, that intend to develop Vocational Excellence in their local context through international cooperation. They could contribute e.g. to the delivery phase of the New European Bauhaus initiative by collaborating with the communities involved in the local transformations fostered by the initiative.
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Expected results
This call will thus support projects bringing together local or regional partners from various countries developing a set of activities under three clusters; 1) Teaching and learning, 2) Cooperation and partnerships, and 3) Governance and Funding.
CoVEs are intended for organisations providing vocational education and training, at any EQF levels from 3 to 8, including the upper-secondary level, the post-secondary non-tertiary level as well as the tertiary level (e.g. Universities of applied sciences, Polytechnic institutes, etc.).
However, applications cannot include only activities that target learners at tertiary level; applications that focus on VET at post-secondary level (EQF levels 6 to 8) must include at least one other VET qualification level between EQF levels 3 to 5, as well as a strong work-based learning component.
Eligibility Criteria
Regions / countries for funding
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), Other, Private institution, incl. private company (private for profit), Public Body (national, regional and local; incl. EGTCs), Research Institution incl. University, Small and medium-sized enterprise (SME)
Mandatory partnership
Yes
Project Partnership
The partnership must include at least 8 applicants (coordinator and full partners) from a minimum of 4 EU Member States or third countries associated to the Programme.
Each EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme must include:
- at least 1 enterprise, industry or sector representative organisation, and
- at least 1 vocational education and training provider (at secondary and/or tertiary level).
Further composition of the partnership should reflect the specific nature of the proposal.
Organisations from third countries not associated to the Programme can also participate as full partners, affiliated entities or associated partners (not as coordinators), to the extent it is demonstrated that their participation brings an essential added value to the project.
other eligibility criteria
The applicants (coordinator and full partners) must be:
- Legal entities (public or private bodies) active in the field of vocational education and training or in the world of work;
- Established in an EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme (Countries which are in ongoing negotiations for an association agreement and where the agreement enters into force before grant signature are eligible).
Organisations from third countries not associated to the Programme may also participate but not as coordinator. They must be public or private organisations active in the field of vocational education and training or in the world of work.
Exception: organisations from Belarus (Region 2) and the Russian Federation (Region 4) are not eligible to participate in this action.
Participating organisations can be, for example (non-exhaustive list):
- VET providers
- VET providers representative organisations
- Companies, industry or sector representative organisations
- National/regional qualification authorities
- Research institutes
- Innovation agencies
- Regional development authorities
Additional information
Topics
Relevance for EU Macro-Region
EUSAIR - EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region, EUSALP - EU Strategy for the Alpine Space, EUSBSR - EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, EUSDR - EU Strategy for the Danube Region
UN Sustainable Development Goals (UN-SDGs)
project duration
48 months
Additional Information
Proposals must be complete and contain all the requested information and all required annexes and supporting documents:
- Part A — contains administrative information about the participant and the summarised budget for the project (to be filled in directly online)
- Part B — contains the technical description of the project (to be downloaded from the Portal Submission System, completed and then assembled and re-uploaded).
- Part C containing additional project data (to be filled in directly online).
Applications are limited to
- 40 pages for calls for low value grants (€ 60,000.00 or below);
- 120 pages for calls with high value grants (€ 4,000,000.00) and
- 70 pages for all other calls.
For actions managed by the Erasmus+ National Agencies, applications must be submitted electronically via the forms available in the Erasmus+ website and the websites of the Erasmus+ National Agencies.
Call documents
Erasmus+ Programmleitfaden 2023 - DEErasmus+ Programmleitfaden 2023 - DE(5553kB)
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