Alliances for Education and Enterprises

Overview

The "Alliances for Education and Enterprises," part of the Erasmus+ program, is a funding opportunity designed to enhance Europe's innovation capacity by fostering collaboration between education institutions and enterprises. This initiative focuses on creating partnerships that address critical skills gaps through transnational projects.

Eligible participants for this funding include public or private organizations established in EU Member States or in third countries associated with Erasmus+. Consortia must include at least eight partners from a minimum of four different EU Member States or countries associated with Erasmus+. The partnership must consist of at least three labor market actors, such as enterprises, and three education and training providers, including vocational education and training (VET) institutions and higher education institutions (HEIs).

The program provides lump sum grants, with funding amounts of up to 1 million euros for two-year projects and 1.5 million euros for three-year projects. The cumulative budget for this call is 67 million euros. Project applications are solicited through a single-stage open call, with a submission deadline set for March 10, 2026.

The targeted sectors include education, innovation, and enterprise development, particularly focusing on skills related to digital competences, environmental sustainability, STEM fields, and entrepreneurship. Projects must demonstrate innovation by developing new curricula, fostering entrepreneurial attitudes, and creating synergies between educational institutions and the business sector.

While specific countries are not explicitly mentioned, the opportunity is broadly available to all EU Member States and third countries linked to the Erasmus+ program, particularly highlighting the inclusion of nations from the Western Balkans.

Applications must follow guidelines detailed in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide, ensuring comprehensive proposals tailored to address societal challenges such as climate change, digitization, and emerging technologies. The evaluation and funding decisions are part of a structured timeline, aiming for completion by September 2026.

Overall, this funding opportunity encourages educational institutions and enterprises to collaborate in innovative ways, tackling pressing challenges and contributing to enhanced education and training systems across Europe.

Detail

The Alliances for Innovation call, under the Erasmus+ Programme, aims to bolster Europe's innovation capacity by fostering collaboration and knowledge exchange between higher education, vocational education and training (both initial and continuous), and the broader socio-economic environment, including research. The call specifically targets the design and creation of new curricula for higher education (HE) and vocational education and training (VET) to address skills mismatches and promote entrepreneurial mindsets within the EU.

The primary objective is to implement a comprehensive set of sectoral or cross-sectoral activities adaptable to future knowledge developments across the EU. The focus is on talent and skills development, emphasizing digital competences, the transition to a circular and greener economy, and the adoption of new technologies, particularly boosting STEM skills and talent.

Lot 1: Alliances for Education and Enterprises, seeks transnational, structured, and result-driven projects where partners share common goals to foster innovation, new skills, and entrepreneurial mindsets. These alliances aim to foster innovation in higher education, vocational education and training, enterprises and the broader socio-economic environment. This includes confronting societal and economic challenges such as climate change, changing demographics, digitisation, the emergence of new, disruptive technologies such as artificial intelligence generating demand for STEM skills and talent and rapid employment changes through social innovation and community resilience as well as labour market innovation. In 2026, this topic will also address the challenge of severe skills gaps in sectors crucial for Europe’s competitiveness in line with the Union of Skills initiative.

Alliances for Education and Enterprises should bring together enterprises and both higher education and vocational training providers to work together in partnership. Operating within one economic sector or several different economic sectors, they create reliable and sustainable relations and demonstrate their innovative and transnational character in all aspects. While each partnership must include at least one VET and one higher education organisation, they can address either both or one of these educational fields. The cooperation between VET and higher education organisations should be relevant and should benefit both sectors.

The intended aims include: fostering innovative approaches to teaching and learning, supporting skills development in STEM, fostering incubators within education institutions, promoting corporate social responsibility, stimulating entrepreneurial attitudes, improving the quality of skills developed through education, facilitating knowledge exchange between education sectors, research, public sector and business, and building effective education systems. Supporting dedicated joint programmes or developing jointly micro-credentials and supporting mentorship for start up and scale ups in sectors crucial for Europe’s competitiveness where severe skills gaps occur. Higher education institutions are encouraged to use the HEInnovate self-assessment tool before applying, above all if they are coordinating the proposal. HEInnovate will help them identify their strengths and weaknesses in terms of entrepreneurship and innovation. The proposal and the consortium composition can therefore be better prepared and combine all the necessary expertise.

Key Conditions:

1. Admissibility Conditions: Proposal page limit and layout are described in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026 and Part B of the Application Form. The page limit for Part B (Technical Description) is 120 pages for all 3 Lots, including the list of relevant previous projects. Layout is described in the Important Notice of the application form.

2. Eligible Countries are described in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026.

3. Other Eligible Conditions are described in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026.

4. Financial and operational capacity and exclusion are described in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026.

5a. Evaluation and award: Submission and evaluation processes are described in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026.

5b. Evaluation and award: Award criteria, scoring and thresholds are described in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026.

5c. Evaluation and award: Indicative timeline for evaluation and grant agreement are described in the Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026.

Timeline:

Publication of the call: 28 November 2025.

Deadline for submitting applications: 10 March 2026, 17:00 (Brussels time).

Evaluation period: March - July 2026.

Information to applicants: by September 2026.

Signature of grant agreement: September - December 2026.

6. Legal and financial set-up of the grants: n/a

Documents:

Application form templates: Standard application form (ERASMUS BB and LSII), Detailed budget table (ERASMUS LSII).

Guidance: Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026, Model Grant Agreements (MGA), Lump Sum MGA.

Additional documents: ERASMUS+ Work Programme, ERASMUS Regulation 2021/817, EU Financial Regulation 2024/2509, Rules for Legal Entity Validation, LEAR Appointment and Financial Capacity Assessment, EU Grants AGA Annotated Model Grant Agreement, How to manage your lump sum grants, Funding & Tenders Portal Online Manual, Funding & Tenders Portal Terms and Conditions, Funding & Tenders Portal Privacy Statement.

Budget:

The total budget for the call is EUR 67,000,000.

The call includes the following topics: ERASMUS-EDU-2026-PI-ALL-INNO-STEM - ERASMUS-LS ERASMUS Lump Sum Grants, ERASMUS-EDU-2026-PI-ALL-INNO-BLUEPRINT - ERASMUS-LS ERASMUS Lump Sum Grants, ERASMUS-EDU-2026-PI-ALL-INNO-EDU-ENTERP - ERASMUS-LS ERASMUS Lump Sum Grants.

The call follows a single-stage submission process.

The opening date is planned for 4 December 2025, and the deadline for submission is 10 March 2026.

Partner Search:

The portal facilitates partner searches for collaboration. LEARs, Account Administrators, and self-registrants can publish partner requests.

Support:

For help, contact EACEA-EPLUS-ALLIANCES@ec.europa.eu. Additional resources include the Funding & Tenders Portal FAQ, IT Helpdesk, and Online Manual.

In summary, this Erasmus+ call for Alliances for Innovation seeks to enhance Europe's innovation ecosystem by fostering partnerships between educational institutions and enterprises. The focus is on developing new skills and curricula to address current and future challenges, particularly in digital competences, green economy transition, and STEM fields. The call encourages transnational projects that stimulate entrepreneurial mindsets and improve the relevance of education and training systems. The total budget is EUR 67 million, and the application deadline is 10 March 2026.

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Breakdown

Eligible Applicant Types: The eligible applicant types include enterprises, higher education institutions, and vocational education and training providers. The call emphasizes the need for transnational partnerships, requiring at least one VET and one higher education organization. Other workers, and educational staff are also mentioned.

Funding Type: The funding type is a grant, specifically an ERASMUS Lump Sum Grant (ERASMUS-LS).

Consortium Requirement: A consortium is required. The call specifies transnational partnerships and requires at least one VET and one higher education organization in each consortium.

Beneficiary Scope (Geographic Eligibility): The geographic eligibility is likely within the EU, as the call is part of the Erasmus+ program and aims to strengthen Europe’s innovation capacity. The Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2026, which is referenced multiple times, will contain more specific details on eligible countries.

Target Sector: The target sectors are education, innovation, and enterprise, with a focus on boosting skills in areas like digital competences, green skills, STEM, and entrepreneurship. It also addresses challenges related to climate change, demographics, and the adoption of new technologies like artificial intelligence.

Mentioned Countries: No specific countries are explicitly mentioned, but the focus is on the EU.

Project Stage: The project stage targets development and implementation of activities, including designing new curricula, fostering innovation in teaching and learning, and supporting skills development. It aims to build and support effective education and training systems.

Funding Amount: The total budget for the topic is EUR 67,000,000. The indicative number of grants is not specified in the provided text.

Application Type: The application type is an open call, with a single-stage submission process.

Nature of Support: Beneficiaries will receive money in the form of lump sum grants.

Application Stages: The application process is single-stage.

Success Rates: The success rates are not mentioned in the provided text.

Co-funding Requirement: The co-funding requirement is not explicitly mentioned in the provided text.

Summary:

This opportunity, under the Erasmus+ program, is a call for "Alliances for Innovation," specifically "Alliances for Education and Enterprises." It aims to strengthen Europe's innovation capacity by fostering cooperation and knowledge flow between higher education, vocational education and training, and the broader socio-economic environment. The call seeks to address skills mismatches and boost the provision of new skills, particularly in digital competences, green skills, and STEM, to support the twin digital and green transitions.

The funding is provided as lump sum grants to transnational consortia that include at least one vocational education and training (VET) provider and one higher education institution. Projects should implement coherent and comprehensive activities adaptable to future knowledge developments across the EU. The call encourages projects that foster innovation in teaching and learning, support skills development in STEM, promote incubators within education institutions, and stimulate entrepreneurial mindsets.

The total budget for this call is EUR 67 million. The application process is single-stage, with a deadline of March 10, 2026. Higher education institutions are encouraged to use the HEInnovate self-assessment tool to identify their strengths and weaknesses in entrepreneurship and innovation before applying. The call emphasizes the importance of addressing societal and economic challenges such as climate change, digitization, and the emergence of new technologies like AI.

Short Summary

Impact
The funding aims to strengthen Europe's innovation capacity and address critical skills gaps by fostering structured partnerships between education institutions and enterprises.
Applicant
Applicants should possess skills in project management, collaboration across sectors, and expertise in education, training, or enterprise innovation.
Developments
Funding will support projects focused on developing new curricula, fostering innovation in teaching and learning, and supporting skills development in STEM and green economy sectors.
Applicant Type
This funding is designed for public or private organizations established in EU Member States or third countries associated with the Erasmus+ Programme, including educational institutions and enterprises.
Consortium
A consortium of at least 8 applicants covering at least 4 EU Member States or associated countries is required.
Funding Amount
Funding amounts range from €1,000,000 for 2-year projects to €1,500,000 for 3-year projects.
Countries
The funding is relevant for all EU Member States and third countries associated with the Erasmus+ Programme, with specific considerations for Western Balkans countries.
Industry
The funding targets the education and training sector with a focus on innovation, digitalization, and sustainable development.

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