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Erasmus+ gets €200m boost as part of Covid-19 response

Image: BATMANV, via Shutterstock

Funding allocated to digital learning and increasing diversity in the arts

The European Commission has allocated another €200 million to the EU’s Erasmus+ mobility scheme for 2020, to boost the programme in response to Covid-19.

An update to the Erasumus+ work programme published on 14 August brought the 2020 funding for the programme to €3.78 billion.
EU R&D commissioner Mariya Gabriel said that, in light of the pandemic’s “great disruption for education and training”, the increased funding was “an important step towards recovery”.

Half of the new money has been allocated to “innovative practices in a digital era”, with the other €100m allocated to skills development and inclusion in creativity and the arts.

Through its digital activities, Erasmus+ will emphasise promoting gender equality and addressing access issues among underrepresented groups. It will support development of “digital competences of educators, citizens and organisations, including the development and use of open educational resources, open textbooks, and free and open-source educational software”.

As part of the new emphasis on arts, the programme will give priority to “actions that can contribute to job creation, sustainable development and social inclusion through the arts” by partnering with organisations in the cultural and creative sectors.