Erasmus+
Europe drives educational innovation with new Erasmus+ calls
Alliances for Innovation and Centres of Vocational Excellence take centre stage in Key Action 2, with deadlines ranging from February to June 2025

The European Commission has unveiled a series of calls under the Erasmus+ programme aimed at transforming the education, vocational training, and youth sectors in Europe and beyond. Standing out among these initiatives are the Alliances for Innovation, focused on fostering cooperation between education and business, and the Centres of Vocational Excellence, designed to create skills ecosystems tailored to labour market needs. Both initiatives are part of Key Action 2 of the programme, with submission deadlines between March and June 2025.
The Alliances for Innovation, with a submission deadline of 6 March 2025, serve as the primary driver for strengthening Europe’s capacity for innovation. These alliances are designed to bridge the gap between the educational and business sectors, encouraging collaboration to create skills and curricula that meet the emerging needs of productive industries. This effort is structured into two categories: Alliances for Education and Enterprises, and Alliances for Sectoral Cooperation on Skills, the latter aligned with the Blueprint—Europe’s roadmap for reducing labour market mismatches.
Meanwhile, the Centres of Vocational Excellence aim to transform vocational education and training (VET) into a driver of regional and social innovation. With a submission deadline of 11 June 2025, this call seeks to develop international cooperation networks that enable educational institutions to swiftly adapt to economic and social changes.
“Erasmus+ doesn’t just fund projects; it facilitates connections between key players in education and the labour market. These calls present a unique opportunity for organisations to implement projects with real, sustainable impacts on their communities,” explains Giada Bertolini, a consultant at Zabala Innovation and an expert in the programme. “Our teams have extensive experience with these types of calls and can support clients by offering coaching sessions and proposal review services,” she adds.
Innovation and the labour market
The core focus of the Alliances for Innovation is to strengthen cooperation between education and the socio-economic environment. Lot 1 projects, aimed at Education and Enterprises, seek to bridge the gap between the skills offered by educational systems and the demands of the labour market, with budgets of up to €1 million for two-year projects and €1.5 million for three-year projects.
Lot 2 initiatives, with a maximum budget of €4 million (for a duration of four years), promote large-scale sectoral strategies to address the specific challenges of key industries, such as digitalisation and sustainability.
The beneficiaries of these calls range from universities to private companies, including non-governmental organisations and research centres. However, for Sectoral Cooperation Alliances, applicants must be members of the Pact for Skills, a network promoted by the European Union that brings together entities committed to developing sector-specific skills for strategic industries.
Additionally, the Centres of Vocational Excellence represent an integrated model of local and international collaboration. They operate as ecosystems where businesses, authorities, educational institutions, and social organisations work together to develop skills tailored to the specific challenges of each region. This call, with a maximum funding of €4 million per project, focuses not only on employability but also on social inclusion, aligning with the EU’s regional development priorities. The duration of each project is four years.
Other Erasmus calls
In addition to these initiatives, Key Action 2 includes other relevant calls, such as Cooperation Partnerships (ranging from €120,000 to €250,000 or €400,000 per project, for a duration of 12 to 36 months), which have a submission deadline of 5 March 2025. These partnerships allow organisations to share best practices, develop transnational projects, and expand their impact in the fields of education, training, youth, and sports.
For smaller entities, Small-Scale Partnerships (ranging from €30,000 to €60,000 for projects lasting between 6 and 24 months) offer an alternative with fewer administrative requirements and shorter durations, facilitating access to funding for projects that promote participation and the exchange of ideas. These partnerships have a potential second submission deadline scheduled for 1 October 2025.
In parallel, the Capacity Building calls in Higher Education, Vocational Training, Youth, and Sports—scheduled between February and March 2025—reinforce Erasmus+’s international dimension. These initiatives primarily target non-associated third countries with the aim of fostering global cooperation and knowledge exchange.