Capacity Building in the field of Youth (ERASMUS-YOUTH-2024-CB

Capacity-building in the field of youth projects are international cooperation projects based on multilateral partnerships between organisations active in the field of youth in the EU and countries associated to the Programme, on the one hand, and in third countries not associated to the Programme, on the other hand. For the latter, this action targets exclusively countries in Region 1 (Western Balkans), Region 2 (Eastern Partnership) and Region 3 (Southern Mediterranean). Projects aim at supporting international cooperation in the field of youth and non-formal learning, as a driver of sustainable socio-economic development and well-being among youth organisations and young people.

Objectives of the Action

The action targets organisations active in the field of youth and aims at:

• raising the capacity of organisations working with young people outside formal learning;
• promoting non-formal learning activities in the eligible third countries not associated to the Programme, especially in organisations that target young people with fewer opportunities, and foster the participation of young people in all their diversity, with a view to improving their level of competences and opportunities to act, thus enabling them to ensure the active participation of young people in society;
• supporting the development of youth work in the eligible third countries not associated to the Programme, improving its quality and recognition;
• fostering the development, testing and launching of schemes and programmes allowing organisations to enhance non-formal learning mobility in the eligible third countries not associated to the Programme;
• supporting organisations in the eligible third countries not associated to the Programme to contribute to the implementation of the EU Youth Strategy (2019-2027) including the 11 European Youth goals, the European Youth Work Agenda the Youth Action Plan in the EU External Action (2022-2027) and to the follow-up of the European Year of Skills launched in 2023;
• fostering cooperation between youth organisations across different regions of the world through joint initiatives;
• fostering participation of smaller organisations, as well as organisations from remote areas and smaller localities;
• enhancing synergies and complementarities of youth organisations working with young people outside formal learning with formal education systems and/or the labour market

Thematic areas/specific objectives

Proposals should focus on supporting youth organisations working with young people outside formal learning in one or more of the following thematic areas:

• political participation, civic engagement and dialogue with decision-makers;  
• inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities;
• democracy, rule of law and values, youth leadership;
• empowerment / engagement / employability of young people;
• peace and post-conflict reconciliation;
• environment and climate;  
• anti-discrimination and gender equality;  
• digital and entrepreneurial skills.

Activities

The activities proposed must be directly linked to the general and specific objectives of the action, i.e. they must correspond to one or more of the thematic areas listed above and they must be detailed in a project description covering the entire implementation period. Importantly, in the context of this international action, project activities must focus on building and strengthening the capacities of youth organisations, so that they are better equipped to support young people principally in the third countries not associated to the Programme covered by the action.

Funded projects will be able to integrate a wide range of cooperation, exchange, communication and other activities of youth organisations working with young people outside formal learning that:

• contribute to encouraging policy dialogue, cooperation, networking and exchanges of practices;
• promote strategic cooperation between youth organisations on the one hand and public authorities, particularly in eligible third countries not associated to the Programme;
• promote the cooperation between youth organisations and organisations active in the education and training fields as well as with organisations active in the labour market;  
• raise the capacities of youth councils, youth platforms and local, regional and national authorities dealing with youth, in particular in eligible third countries not associated to the Programme;  
• enhance the management, governance, innovation capacity, leadership and internationalisation of youth organisations, particularly in eligible third countries not associated to the Programme;
• support the development by youth organisations, particularly in eligible third countries not associated to the Programme, of information and awareness campaigns, as well as the development of information, communication and media tools;
• help youth organisations, particularly in eligible third countries not associated to the Programme, to develop youth work methods, tools and materials, including encouraging initiatives of co-creation and co-design of projects, allowing participatory project creation;
• help youth organisations, particularly in eligible third countries not associated to the Programme, to create new forms of delivering youth work and providing training and support; facilitate non-formal learning mobility.

Examples of activities include:

• the development of tools and methods for the socio-professional development of youth workers and trainers;
• the development of non-formal learning methods, especially those promoting the acquisition/improvement of competences, including media literacy skills;
• the development of new forms of practical training schemes and simulation of real life cases in society;
• the development of new forms of youth work, notably strategic use of open and flexible learning, virtual co-operation, open educational resources (OER) and better exploitation of the ICT potential;
• the organisation of events/seminars/workshops/exchange of good practice for cooperation, networking, awareness raising and  peer-learning purposes
• the organisation of mobility activities for youth workers in order to test tools and methods developed by the partnership. Please note that mobility activities must be secondary to the main objectives of the action, and must be instrumental to and underpin the achievement of these objectives  

Setting up a project

A Capacity Building project in the field of youth consists of four stages, which start even before the project proposal is selected for funding ¹   e.g. 1) Project identification and initiation; 2) Project preparation, design and planning; 3) Project implementation and monitoring of activities; and 4) Project review and impact assessment.  

Participating organisations and participants involved in the activities should take an active role in all those stages and thus enhance their learning experience.  

• Identification and initiation; identify a problem, need or opportunity that you can address with your project idea in the context of the call; identify the key activities and the main outcomes that can be expected from the project; map the relevant stakeholders and potential partners; formulate the project’s objective(s); ensure the project’s alignment to the participating organisations’ strategic objectives; undertake some initial planning to get the project off to a good start, and put together the information required to continue to the next phase etc.;
• Preparation, design and planning; specify the project scope and appropriate approach; outline clearly the methodology proposed ensuring consistency between project objectives and activities; decide on a schedule for the tasks involved; estimate the necessary resources and develop the detail of the project e.g. needs assessment; define sound objectives and impact indicators (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound); identify project and learning outcomes; development of work programme, activity formats, expected impact, estimated overall budget; preparing a project implementation plan and a sound and realistic communication plan including strategic aspects of project governance, monitoring, quality control, reporting and dissemination of results; define practical arrangements and confirmation of the target group(s) for the envisaged activities; set up agreements with partners and write the proposal etc.;  
• Implementation and monitoring of activities: carry out the project implementation according to plans fulfilling requirements for reporting and communication; monitor ongoing activities and assessing project performance against project plans; identify and take corrective action to address deviations from plans and to address issues and risks; identify non-conformities with the set quality standards and taking corrective actions etc.;
• Review and impact assessment: assess project performance against project objectives and implementation plans; evaluate the activities and their impact at different levels, share and use the project’s results, etc.

Horizontal aspects to be considered when designing your project

In addition to complying with the formal criteria and setting up sustainable cooperation arrangement with all project partners, the following elements can contribute to increasing the impact and qualitative implementation of Capacity Building projects throughout the different project phases. Applicants are encouraged to take these opportunities and dimensions into account when designing their project.

Environmental sustainability

Projects should be designed in an eco-friendly way and should incorporate green practices in all its facets. Organisations and participants should have an environmental-friendly approach when designing the project, which will encourage everyone involved in the project to discuss and learn about environmental issues, reflecting about what can be done at different levels and help organisations and participants come up with alternative, greener ways of implementing project activities. 

Inclusion and Diversity

The Erasmus+ Programme seeks to promote equal opportunities and access, inclusion and fairness across all its actions. To implement these principles, an Inclusion and Diversity Strategy has been devised to support a better outreach to participants from more diverse backgrounds, in particular those with fewer opportunities facing obstacles to participate in European Projects. Organisations should design accessible and inclusive project activities, taking into account the views of participants with fewer opportunities and involving them in decision making throughout the whole process.  

Digital dimension

Virtual cooperation and experimentation with virtual and blended learning opportunities are key to successful projects. In particular, projects are strongly encouraged to use the European Youth Portal and the European Youth Strategy Platform to work together before, during and after the project activities.

Common values, civic engagement and participation

Projects will support active citizenship and ethics, as well as foster the development of social and intercultural competences, critical thinking and media literacy. The focus will also be on raising awareness on and understanding the European Union context in the world.

Which are the criteria to be met to apply for Capacity Building in the field of youth?

Eligibility criteria

In order to be eligible for an Erasmus grant, project proposals for Capacity Building in the field of Youth must comply with the following criteria:

Who can apply?

In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affliated entities, if applicable) must be

• legal entities:
  • NGOs (including European Youth NGOs and national Youth Councils) working in the field of Youth
  • public authorities at local, regional or national level
  • public or private companies (small, medium or large enterprise (including social enterprises) may also participate but not as coordinator.
• legally established in an EU Member STate or third country associated to the Programme, or in third countries not associated to the Programme from regions 1 (Western Balkans), Region 2 ( Neighbourhood East)² or Region 3 (South Mediterranean countries). Please see section “Eligible Countries” in Part A of Programme Guide.

Consortium composition (Number and profile of participating organisation)

Proposals must be submitted by a consortium of at least 4 applicants (beneficiaries, not affiliated entities), which complies with the following conditions:

• minimum 1 legal entity from an EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme;
• minimum 2 legal entities from 2 different eligible third countries not associated to the Programme belonging to the same eligible Region mentioned above in “Who can apply”.
  • Organisations from different eligible regions cannot participate in the same projects. Cross-regional projects are not eligible.

Affiliated entities and associated partners do not count for the consortium composition.

Geographical location (Venue of the activities)

Activities must take place in the countries of the applicant organisations (coordinator, beneficiaries and affliated entities if any).

In duly justified cases, activities can also take place in other eligible countries of this action.