The Maltese National Agency would like to inform you of  two new extraordinary KA2 Erasmus+ calls for proposals launched by the European Commission on 25 August 2020. The extraordinary calls were launched in light of the exceptional circumstances presented by Covid-19, to which all of us, including our Education systems, had to adapt to. To this effect, the Erasmus+ Programme is taking up the challenge to confirm its role as the main EU instrument supporting innovation in education, training, youth and sport as well as providing opportunities for personal, socio-educational and professional development of people in Europe and beyond, with the aim of leaving no-one behind.

The two calls aim at supporting digital education readiness and creative skills.

Partnerships for Digital Education Readiness (in the fields of school education, vocational education and training, and higher education): these projects aim at equipping education and training systems to face the challenges presented by the recent sudden shift to online and distance learning, including supporting teachers to develop digital competences and safeguarding the inclusive nature of learning opportunities.

The current COVID-19 crisis has greatly accelerated the need for modernisation and digital transformation of education and training systems across Europe. The goal is to reinforce the ability of education and training institutions to provide high quality, inclusive digital education. The focus will be on building capacity to implement online, blended and distance teaching and learning; to develop digital pedagogical competences of educators, enabling them to deliver high quality inclusive digital education; and to develop and/or use high quality digital content such as innovative online resources and tools. The partnerships will promote networking of institutions across the EU, sharing of resources and expertise, and collaboration with digital technology providers and experts in educational technologies and relevant pedagogical practice, to develop tailor made solutions adapted to local challenges and realities.

Partnerships for Creativity (in the fields of youth, school education and adult education): The COVID-19 crisis has hit the cultural and creative sectors particularly hard. Partnerships for Creativity aim to engage organisations in the fields of formal, informal and non-formal education, together with those from the creative and cultural sectors to stimulate European awareness and empower people of current and future generations – regardless of social and cultural background – to be successful innovators in their local environment. One of the goals is also to equip  young people and adults with the necessary tools and competences needed to come up with creative and innovative solutions to face unprecedented risks, and societal challenges as well as to unveil opportunities that can be sought in a critical context. This action aims to enhance skills development and competences that reinforce  creativity, as well as to boost quality, innovation and recognition of youth work that support the creative potential of youth, thus contributing to the recovery resilience of the cultural and creative sectors.

For further information on the specificities of these two calls, you are encouraged to consult the corrigendum to the 2020 Programme Guide: http://erasmusplus.eupa.org.mt/2020/08/25/second-corrigendum-to-the-2020-erasmus-programme-guide/

The applications will be uploaded online to the Erasmus+ application portal of the European Commission in the coming days. We urge you to keep an eye on EUPA's website for further information. 

http://eupa.org.mt/

The deadline to apply is 29 October 2020.