Open call: Online Challenge – Develop your quality E+/ESC project focused on youth participation

Are you a youth leader or youth worker committed to becoming an agent of change in your local community and beyond? Are you interested in applying for an Erasmus+ or European Solidarity Corps Project in 2024 focused on youth participation? Then, the Online Challenge is the place for you! Apply by 10 December 2023, together with your team!

The Online Challenge – Youth Participation Projects aims to challenge and support those interested in submitting their projects by the February 2024 deadline of Erasmus+ or European Solidarity Corps (ESC) through a tailored learning & mentorship programme!

During the Online Challenge, you will:

• learn about youth participation & participatory approaches
• learn about quality elements of an Erasmus+/European Solidarity project
• develop the concept and write participation projects that fit in one of the 3 formats: 1) Erasmus+ KA1 – Youth exchanges; 2) Erasmus+ KA1 – Youth Participation Activities or 3) European Solidarity Corps (ESC30 Solidarity Projects)
• get tailored and quality support from mentors (experienced in developing/assessing E+/ESC projects) who will help you to transfer your project idea into the application form –  about 3 hours weekly, online
• find international partner(s) for the project and develop the project application together with them
• create different online visuals to show the progress of work – to be promoted weekly via your social media channels
• get a YouthPass (if you are part of at least 80% of all activities in the challenge).

Selection criteria

• potential beneficiaries who have little or no experience in participating in Erasmus+ and ESC projects (you can be in any of the following situations: you have joined as a participant in an E+/ESC activity; you have been part of the organising team but not developed a project by yourself; you have maximum two E+/ESC projects that have been approved but you want to learn more about how to develop quality projects)
• youth workers & youth leaders – members of an organisation or informal group (you can and you are encouraged to apply on behalf of a team; the team can include both youth workers & young people or just young people)
• all interested persons – no age limit
• all interested persons capable of communicating effectively in English

Participation requirements

Participants should be available to join the following online meetings:

• 16 December 2023, 10-16:00 CET (kick-off)
• 10 January 2024, 15-18:00 CET
• 11 January 2024, 15-18:00 CET
• date TBD – Partnership finding activity (with people outside the Online challenge)
• 10 February 2024, 10-14:00 CET
• 1 March 2024, 10-11:30 CET (closing)

Other important criteria for participation:

• available to allocate 2-3 working hours (in between the online meetings) for working  with your own team to develop the project idea and meetings/discussions with the mentor (individual work, online meetings, emails, chat messages)
• interested in developing projects with a strong youth participation dimension – specifically one of the 3 formats: 1) Erasmus+  KA1 – Youth exchanges; 2) Erasmus+ KA154 – Youth Participation Activities; 3) ESC (ESC30) Solidarity Projects
• interested in finding partners during the challenge
• share their progress online through weekly updates shared through their social media

The main platform for sessions will be ZOOM (Central European Time). Access to a personal computer and the Internet is required.

For group consultations with mentorship, you can choose the preferred communication channel.

The Online Challenge is part of the strategic partnership New Power in Youth (NPiY SNAC), between several Erasmus+ National Agencies in the field of youth and SALTO Resource Centres. Other NAs are welcome to support participants in this activity, even if they are not part of the NPiY SNAC.