Centres of Vocational Excellence – Erasmus Plus Programme

The overall objective of the call is to support the establishment and development of transnational cooperation platforms of Centres of Vocational Excellence (CoVEs) to connect Centres operating in a given local context at European level.

The transnational cooperation platforms will bring together CoVEs that:

– Share a common interest in specific sectors or trades (e.g. aeronautics, e-mobility, healthcare, tourism, etc.), or

– Develop together innovative approaches to tackle societal, technological and economic challenges (e.g. climate change, digitalisation, artificial intelligence, sustainable development goals, integration of migrants, supporting learners with disabilities/special needs, upskilling people with low skills and/or low qualification levels, etc.).

The platforms will create world-class reference points for vocational training. They will be inclusive and either bring together existing CoVEs in different countries, or expand the model by linking well-established CoVEs in one country with partners in other countries, that intend to develop CoVEs in their local eco-system, thus contributing to “upward convergence” of VET excellence.

The CoVEs will adopt a bottom-up approach to excellence where VET institutions are capable of rapidly adapting skills provision to evolving local needs. They aim to bring together a set of local/regional partners such as initial and continuing VET providers, tertiary education institutions including universities of applied sciences and polytechnics, research institutions, science parks, companies, social enterprises, chambers and their associations, social partners, sectoral skills councils, professional/sector associations, national and regional authorities and development agencies, public employment services, etc.

Projects must provide evidence that they aim to:

– Establish strong and enduring relationships at both local and transnational levels, between the VET community and businesses, in which interactions are reciprocal and mutually beneficial, and

– Integrate activities, build reflexive relationships between the various activities and services, and

– Be firmly anchored into wider frameworks of regional development, innovation and/or smart specialisation strategies. These can be either existing strategies (to be clearly identified) or being developed in the context of the project (describing how the project contributes to those strategies).