New EU Programme agreed – Erasmus+

Posted: June 26, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Erasmus+, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , | 1 Comment

The EU Irish Presidency has today announced agreement on Erasmus +, the new EU programme for education, training, youth and sport.

Erasmus+ will bring together the Lifelong Learning Programme (Leonardo, Comenius, Grundtvig, Erasmus and Jean Monnet actions), Youth in Action and five other international programmes including Erasmus Mundus and Tempus.

The agreement comes following negotiations brokered by the Irish Presidency between EU member states and the European Parliament.

The Irish Minister for Education and Skills, Ruairí Quinn, T.D., said:

“Erasmus + will improve the employability of young people and open up new opportunities for them. Since 2007, approximately 400,000 people a year across Europe have benefited from the current programmes, and today’s development means that many more people of all ages and backgrounds will be eligible for these supports.”

We will be covering all the latest Erasmus+ developments so follow us on twitter @llpUKecorys or on our blog.

LLP project’s voice heard in European debate

Posted: June 25, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Leonardo, Lifelong Learning Programme | Tags: , , , , , , | Leave a comment

One of our projects recently told us some great news – Norton Radstock College presented at a European level debate hosted by MEP Heinz K Becker as an example of best practice in the development of entrepreneurship skills. We wanted to share their success in promoting their work at this level, and asked them how they enjoyed their 24 hours in Brussels…

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Negotiations concluded for EU budget 2014 – 2020

Posted: June 20, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Erasmus+, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , | Leave a comment

The Irish EU Presidency last night announced that an agreement has been reached with the European Parliament on the EU’s budget for the next seven years.

The EU’s €960 billion budget was set out by the European Council back in February this year. The Irish Presidency has since been negotiating with the European Parliament on behalf of EU member states to reach an agreement on the details of the package.

‘This is a very good day for Europe’

The Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade

The agreed package will now be recommended to both the European Council and the European Parliament, and presented to EU member states on Tuesday. Legally, the confirmed budget has to be published by 1 July.

This agreement on the EU’s multi annual budget signifies a positive step towards confirming the individual budgets for EU funding programmes starting on 1 January 2014. This includes the new EU programme for education, training, youth and sport which is still under negotiation between the European Commission, European Parliament and Council.

Reaching an agreement on the new programme is one of the key tasks under the education and training agenda of the Irish Presidency, which hands over to Lithuania on 1 July.

Keep up to date with the latest information on the new programme and the budget here on our blog or follow us on twitter @llpUKecorys

Sharing your success

Posted: June 19, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Grundtvig, Leonardo, Uncategorized | Tags: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Our Grundtvig and Leonardo Partnerships team have been busy this week hosting their Final Report Seminar at Austin Court in Birmingham.

The event provides projects with clear guidance on completing their Final Report, as well as the opportunity to share their best practice with other organisations from across the UK and meet the National Agency team to discuss any queries.

As part of the Communications Team, I was delighted to be invited along to talk to projects about how they can share their success, with information on the types of dissemination activities and opportunities open to projects throughout their funding journey.

We produce a wide range of guidance notes including  ‘Sharing Success’ and ‘Making a Difference’. Projects can also feature on the projects around the UK map on our website, and in our newsletters and publications.

Social media is a great way of getting the latest project activities out to a large audience. We have a guidance note and online resource for projects wanting to explore the different platforms and ‘Get Connected’. Projects can also follow us on Twitter @llpUKecorys, like us on Facebook, and we have a blog where we regularly feature project case studies, films, quotes and even poetry!

Many of the projects at the event are already well underway with their dissemination activities and it was inspiring to hear from some organisations on how they are using social media at events to engage their audiences.

With the projects coming to the end of their lifecycles, dissemination activities are important for raising awareness and demonstrating the impact of their project achievements and outputs. If you would like to share your success and have any tips to offer other projects for dissemination, please leave your comments below!

Information on the Final Report Seminar will be available shortly on our website.

Making the future possible

Posted: June 6, 2013 | Author: | Filed under: Erasmus+, Lifelong Learning Programme, Uncategorized | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

With one week to go until this year’s Valorisation Conference ‘Making the future possible’, its all go here in the Communications team with the last minute preparations!

The conference, being held jointly with the British Council, will celebrate the seven years of the current Lifelong Learning and Youth in Action programmes, as well as inform delegates about how they can continue their journey into the new programme.

The day is all about community and people sharing their #EUjourney, to be part of the legacy for the future.

You can read the latest blogs and follow all the build up to the event on our conference website www.makingthefuturepossible.com

We are always interested in hearing about your project experiences, so why dont you share your #EUjourney with us!