RFAs: Promoting an Environment for Vocational Excellence at National and/or Regional Level

The projects should thereby increase the impact of the individual CoVEs, and promote their sustainability and scalability beyond Erasmus+ funding. The projects could expand activities, and/or partnerships and mainstream successful CoVEs projects at national level.

The Erasmus+ flagship initiative on Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) aims to be a driving force for reforms in the Vocational Educational and Training (VET) sector. The main objective is to ensure high quality skills that lead to quality employment and career-long opportunities, swiftly responding to the needs of an innovative, inclusive, and sustainable economy as well as to social needs, and contributing to increasing the attractiveness of VET.

Funding Information

• The estimated available call budget is EUR 32 000 000.
• Vocational Education and Training: Promote an enabling and supportive environment for vocational excellence at national and/or regional level- EUR 8 000 000
• Projects should normally range between 24 and 36 months.

Eligible Activities

• Peer learning activities, networking, in-depth targeted analysis of national/regional frameworks for vocational excellence, set up of governance structures and advice from and to policy makers/stakeholders from the different countries;
• Support exchanges of good practices in a particular region/country and/or across the Erasmus+ CoVEs projects, with a thematic or sectoral focus, with the aim to expand activities and/or partnerships, scale up and mainstream successful projects at national level;
• Develop and implement an evidence-based methodology and/or engagement strategy, in order to secure the systemic impact of the CoVE initiative on the national and regional levels, including exploring a strong role for national and regional authorities;
• Create synergies at local/regional/national level among vocational excellence stakeholders, including with European or national initiatives;
• Promoting vocational excellence at regional and/or national level, and act as catalyst/inspiration to other stakeholders and to national and regional VET systems;
• Connect existing CoVEs to skills ecosystems / CoVEs in other economic sectors to create economies of scale and work on cross-sectoral societal challenges;
• Explore how to ensure the sustainability of the results of the CoVE projects, for example recognition of teaching and learning provisions, applying different approaches, in line with relevant national requirements, to support major roll out of the courses at national, regional level to learners and staff, etc.

Expected Impact 

• The projects will foster vocational excellence impact, visibility, promotion, at national, regional, local level through effective framework conditions and activities. They should increase the link between vocational excellence initiatives and national and regional policies. Cooperation among ongoing and completed Erasmus+ Centres of Vocational Excellence projects will also be strengthened.

Eligibility Criteria

• In order to be eligible, the applicants (beneficiaries and affiliated entities) must:
  • be legal entities (public or private bodies) active in the fields of education and training, research and innovation or in the world of work.
  • be established in one of the eligible countries, i.e.:
    • Erasmus+ Programme Countries:
      • EU Member States (including overseas countries and territories (OCTs))
    • non-EU countries:
      • listed EEA countries and countries associated to the Erasmus+ Programme
      • for higher education institutions (HEIs) established in Erasmus+ Programme Countries: be holders of the ECHE certificate (Erasmus Charter for Higher Education).
    • Organisations from third countries not associated to the Programme can only be involved as associated partners (not as beneficiaries and affiliated entities).
• Exception: organisations from Belarus and the Russian Federation are not eligible to participate in this action.

For more information, visit EC.