This document summarizes a meeting between European music colleges discussing potential partnerships. Key points include: the Erasmus+ program supports strategic partnerships to develop innovative practices; eligible activities include strengthening cooperation, promoting recognition of learning, and supporting learners with disabilities; partnerships should develop tangible outputs or processes, have measurable impact, and sustainable results; technical requirements for partnerships include having at least 3 organizations in 3 countries, with defined roles and contributions; assessment criteria include relevance, quality, impact, and sustainability.

1. Meeting of European Music Colleges Ljubljana, 16-17 April 2015

5. • 75% of land area covered by water or
forest
• 188,00 lakes (10% )
• 180,000 islands
• 7th largest country in Europe
• Population 5,4milj
• 50% of the population live in urban areas
• 20% of the population live in the capital
region

7. INTERNATIONAL COMPARISONS 2012-2014
Economic
competitiveness
Finland #3
USA #7
Global equity index
Finland #2
USA #48
Least failed state
Finland #1
USA #19
Corruption perception
index
Finland #2
USA #24
Global innovation
index
Finland #4
USA #10
The UN happiness
index
Finland #2
USA #11
Child poverty rate
Finland 4%
USA 22%
Child wellbeing
Finland #4
USA #26
Global gender gap
index
Finland #2
USA #22
To be a mother
Finland #1
USA #30
Technological
advancement
Finland #2
USA #22
Political
empowerement of
women
Finland #2
USA #55

8. Central Finland and Jyväskylä
Central Finland is a province consisting of 23 municipalities.
Jyväskylä is the provincial centre of Central Finland.
Population
Jyväskylä: 132 000
Central Finland: 274 000
Jyväskylä Educational Consortium
6 000/2 000/10 000/ 1 200
Jyväskylä College
24/ 4 500/ 450

9. Erasmus+ Key Action 2 – Strategic partnerships
The Actions supported under this Key Action are expected to bring positive and
long-lasting effects on the participating organisations.
This Key Action is expected to result in the development, transfer and/or
implementation of innovative practices at organisational, local, regional, national
or European levels.

10. Horizontal priorities
• developing basic and transversal skills (such as entrepreneurship, digital skills
and language competences) , using innovative and learner-centred
pedagogical approaches and developing appropriate assessment and
certification methods.;
• enhancing digital integration in learning, teaching, training and youth work at
various levels: promoting access to and learning through Open Educational
Resources (OER);
• contributing to the development of a European Area of Skills and
Qualifications: promoting stronger coherence between different EU and
national transparency and recognition tools, supporting projects that
facilitate the recognition and validation of non-formal and informal learning
and its permeability with formal education pathways as well as permeability
between different fields.;

11. VET priorities
• supporting the development of high quality VET with a strong work-based
learning component;
• increasing the labour market relevance of VET provision and reducing skills
mismatches and shortages in economic sectors through timely adaptation of
curricula and qualifications profiles;
• increasing transparency and mutual trust between VET systems ;
• fostering the promotion of easily accessible and career oriented continuing
VET;
• promoting the development of skills and competences of teachers and
trainers, with a particular focus on work-based teaching, partnerships
between school teachers and in-company trainers, and training of in-
company trainers.

12. Activities supported
• activities that strengthen the cooperation between organisations with a view
to establishing exchanges of practices;
• activities that promote the development, testing and/or implementation of
innovative practices in the field of education, training and youth;
• activities that facilitate the recognition and validation of knowledge, skills and
competences acquired through formal, non-formal and informal learning;
• activities of cooperation between regional authorities to promote the
development of education, training and youth systems and their integration in
actions of local and regional development;

13. • activities to support learners with disabilities/special needs to complete
education cycles and facilitate their transition into the labour market, including
by combating segregation and discrimination in education for marginalised
communities;
• activities to better prepare and deploy the education and training
professionals for equity, diversity and inclusion challenges in the learning
environment;
• transnational initiatives fostering entrepreneurial mind-sets and skills, to
encourage active citizenship and entrepreneurship (including social
entrepreneurship), jointly carried out by two or more groups of young people
from different countries.

14. The projects can be PRODUCT –oriented (mostly tangible results) or
PROCESS – oriented (combinations of tangible and intangible results).
Development, creation, transfer and implementation of new, concrete and
innovative products/results/methods/contents/materials.
Impact; what will change because of the project and how can the change be
Identified/measured?
Sustainability; how will the results be used after the project is finished?
Dissemination; starts at the beginning of the project (communication and
dissemination plans), open access requirement.

15. Technical aspects
Min. 3 partners from 3 member countries.
Max. number of funded organisations: 10
Length: 2 or 3 years (24-36 months)
Strategic Partnerships may organise transnational training, teaching or learning
activities of individuals, in so far as they bring added value in the achievement of
the project's objectives.
One application for the whole partnership submitted by the coordinator
to the NA of the coordinating country.
 contracts  funding distributed to partners based of outputs

16. Next application round: March 2016
 results June 2016  projects can start in August/Sept 2016
Funding: max. 150 000 eur/year
Funded categories: management and implementation, transnational project
meetings, intellectual outputs, transnational teaching/learning activities,
multiplier events, exceptional costs and special needs support.
All intellectual outputs must be openly distributed (copyrights/ cc -licenses).
Blended learning activities: min. 5 days + travel

17. Assessment criteria
Relevance - 30 points
Quality of the project design and implementation - 20 points
Quality of the project team and the cooperation arrangements - 20 points
Impact and sustainability - 30 points

18. Questions that should be answered during the meeting
 What is the common aim for the partnership?
 What will change because of this action?
 What will be the (tangible/intangible) results?
 Who will participate: teachers/experts/students?
 Do we have enough/ the right kind of partners?
 What are the partners roles / what do each of us contribute to the project?
 How will the results be sustained after the project is finished?

19. Strong partnerships are built on trust
and mutual trust is based on facts (and the process),
not on (blind) faith.

20. Rea Tuominen
International Coordinator
Jyväskylä College
rea.tuominen@jao.fi