Erasmus+ is a programme that funds education, training and youth projects in the European Union. The programme aims to develop transnational cooperation, broaden the horizons of students and teachers and bring different cultures together. Support can be requested for mobility and cooperation projects. Erasmus+ also includes the Jean Monnet programme, which supports innovation, knowledge-sharing and the exchange of information on Europe.
The European Solidarity Corps programme supports a range of youth projects to build open societies, promote intercultural learning, increase active citizenship and involve diverse communities. Support is available for voluntary service and local solidarity projects.
For both programmes, the activities to be implemented are centrally, i.e. by applying for support from the European Agency for Education and Culture (EACEA),
decentralised, i.e. calls for proposals managed by national agencies. In Estonia, the national agencies for both programmes are the Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps Agency, which is part of the Education and Youth Department of the Ministry of Education and Research.
Statistics and participant feedback on the implementation of the programmes are collected on an ongoing basis. A number of evaluations or studies have been carried out covering the 2014-2020 and 2021-2027 periods of Erasmus+ and/or the European Solidarity Corps – for a shorter period, individually by activity, with a more specific focus, or more holistically. However, there is no final summative evaluation of the programmes.
The aim of the evaluation is to provide an overview of the implementation and impact (effectiveness, efficiency, relevance, coherence and European added value) of the programmes and their activities in Estonia;
to make proposals for better implementation of the current programmes;
make proposals for the design of future programmes.
The evaluation reports will be used, inter alia, in the preparation of the evaluation reports of the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes.