Support for policy reform, Initiatives for policy innovation

Call for Proposals

On 27 November  2014, the Call for Proposals EACEA 33/2014 - Key Action 3 “Support for policy reform - Initiatives for policy innovation” has been published by the European Commission, Directorate Education and Training.

A sharper need to support policy reform in European countries, brought about by the Europe 2020 strategy, has led to the creation of a new specific action - Key Action 3 “Support for policy reform - Initiatives for policy innovation” under the Erasmus+ programme, with the overall aim to strengthen the programme’s direct impact on reforms in education, training and youth. Initiatives for policy innovation offer to participating countries the opportunity to tackle the challenges from the perspective of EU policy by stimulating direct impacts at system level.

The objectives of this KA3 “Support for policy reform - Initiatives for policy innovation” cal are to:

- Propose and field-test innovative solutions to current or future challenges in the education, training or youth field which have the potential to improve and/or transform policies and practices and which can have a sustainable and systemic impact on Europe’s education, training and youth systems;

- Identify, test, develop, and assess new innovative approaches in the fields of education, training and youth, that have the potential of becoming mainstreamed;

- Support trans-national cooperation and mutual learning on forward-looking issues between key stakeholders to provide solutions to current challenges in the education, training and youth sectors and impact on the design of new policies in those fields;

- Facilitate the collection and analysis of substantive evidence allowing the responsible authorities to develop new, innovative and effective policies and practices in the education and training field or in the youth field and elaborating concrete methodologies for a practical implementation of these in the future;

- Provide in-depth knowledge on target group(s), learning, teaching, training or youth work situations and effective methodologies and tools that help policies to develop, as well as conclusions relevant for policy makers in education, training and youth at all levels;

- Reinforce increased attention to policy innovation in education, training or youth field.

In the framework of the current KA3 “Support for policy reform” call, initiatives for policy innovation are projects selected through calls for proposals and co-funded through grants with a dual purpose:

- To support trans-national cooperation on forward thinking for developing new policies. This (ex-ante) stimulation of policy development is implemented through the Forward-Looking Cooperation Projects;

- To support trans-national cooperation for testing the implementation of innovative policies. This testing is implemented through the European Policy experimentation Projects.

The projects proposed under the present KA3 “Support for policy reform - Initiatives for policy innovation” call should lead to significant results in particular in the following areas:

(i) Improvement and/or development of new policies in the fields of education, training or youth through the identification, testing, development and assessment of innovative approaches that have the potential to become mainstreamed and having direct impact on European policy making in the fields of education and training, or youth;

(ii) In-depth evidence and knowledge on target group(s), learning, teaching or youth work situations and effective methodologies and tools to innovate at a system level that will help to initiate new policy actions and/or policies to develop under the call priorities;

(iii) Potential of long-term impact on the effectiveness and efficiency of education and training systems through the mainstreaming of advanced and innovative policy approaches;

(iv) European added-value through the joint cooperation and mutual learning between stakeholders having impact on European policy making.

The present KA3 “Support for policy reform - Initiatives for policy innovation” Call for Proposals supports projects in two strands:

- Strand 1 - Education and Training field. 6 specific priorities are identified: 1) Reducing disparities in learning outcomes affecting learners from disadvantaged backgrounds; 2) Raising the quality of education through the use of learning analytics and learning semantics; 3) Promoting innovative collaborative teaching and learning; 4) Opening up (virtual or physical) infrastructures of education and training institutions to adult learning and provision of modular certified learning opportunities; 5) Improve quality and raise excellence in vocational education and training; 6) Reforming higher education to make it more diversified, responsive and competitive.

- Strand 2 – Youth field. One priority is identified: Using e-participation as an instrument to foster young people's empowerment and active participation in democratic life.

The total budget available for the co-financing of projects under the present call is EUR 17 000 000, and is divided in the following way:

Strand 1 - Education and Training: EUR 15.000.000

Strand 2 - Youth: EUR 2.000.000.

Financial contribution from the EU cannot exceed 75% of the total eligible project costs. The maximum grant per project will be EUR 500.000. The Agency reserves the right not to distribute all the funds available for this call. The project duration must be between 24 and 36 months. Activities must start between 1 November 2015 and 1 January 2016.

The deadline for submitting proposals in the framework of the current KA3 “Support for policy reform - Initiatives for policy innovation” call for proposals is 24 February 2015.

Further information on the current call for proposals is available on the European Commission’s web site at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-plus/funding/forward-looking-cooperation-projects-2014_en