Chief among these are the European Education Area, Digital Education Action Plan, the EU Youth Strategy and the EU Work Plan for Sport. Their shared objective is to effectively and swiftly prepare European citizens for the twin green and digital transitions while ensuring that no one is left behind. All of these policies have their own standalone initiatives to advance their goals, but the overarching EU programme that will progress many of their cross-sectoral priorities is Erasmus+.
Erasmus+ is the EU’s programme to support education, training, youth and sport for 2021-2027. Its main objectives are to provide support for lifelong learning, contribute to building a European Education Area, and promote learning mobility in education, training, youth, and sport. Through advancing these objectives, Erasmus+ aims to improve the quality of education and training systems, foster greater social cohesion and strengthen European identity and active citizenship.
The programme’s four key priorities for 2021-2027 are:
- Inclusion and diversity
- Digital transformation
- Environment and the fight against climate change
- Participation in democratic life
Its budget of €26.2 billion will fund projects for civil society organisations working in the fields of adult education, higher education, school education, vocational education and training, youth work and sport. In Ireland, Léargas and the Higher Education Authority (HEA) are the national agencies for Erasmus+. The HEA manages the higher education strand while Léargas manages the adult education, school education, vocational education and training and youth strands. The Erasmus+ Sport strand is managed centrally in Brussels.
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