For years, KA2 Cooperation Partnerships have represented one of the main ways organisations across Europe collaborate, and guidance on the programme now points toward adapting project strategy to new priorities.1
Erasmus+ is the European Union's programme for education, training, youth and sport, and Key Action 2 (KA2) funds cooperation projects between organisations in different countries.2
What KA2 partnerships actually fund
Under Key Action 2, the European Union supports cooperation projects between organisations working in the youth field.2
These projects aim to exchange good practice, adopt new technologies, and develop innovative teaching and learning methods.2
They also support non-formal learning, meaning learning that happens outside a traditional classroom, and help build shared tools and activities at local, regional, national or European level.2
Recent projects show the pattern
One current KA2 Cooperation Partnership in the youth field, called Youth Voices Rising: Empowering Through Local and EU Advocacy Network for Active Improvement of Youth Work, runs from 1 April 2025 to 31 May 2027.2
It is designed to equip young people with skills to influence policy-making and strengthen their civic participation.2
The project aims to empower young people, including those with fewer opportunities, to become active participants in democratic life through training and international lobbying activity.2
Who else is involved in shaping these projects
Consultancies that specialise in EU funding, such as EProjectConsult, describe strong proposal writing and stakeholder framing as essential elements for a successful, positively evaluated European-funded project.3
One such firm says it can support organisations in proposal writing or involve them in EC proposals it writes on behalf of its national clients.3
Strategic Partnerships and how funding is structured
A related funding line, the KA2 Strategic Partnership, funds the production of project results or outcomes.4
It also covers activities aimed at sharing a project's results and promoting its impact once the work is complete.4
Strategic Partnerships give organisations a structured way to collaborate together over the life of a project.4
The bigger picture: European academic cooperation is expanding
Separately from KA2, European university alliances are a distinct EU-backed initiative that launched in 2019 to support the internationalisation of higher education across the continent.7
There are now more than 65 of these alliances, involving over 570 higher education institutions and 11 million students across Europe.7
They are described as flagships of the European University Initiative, aiming to improve the international competitiveness of higher education in Europe.7
National access to Erasmus can still shift
In Hungary, the Erasmus programme is set to become available again at all universities after restrictions had affected 21 institutions.8
Hungary's Education and Children's Affairs Minister, Judit Lannert, said the government had taken the steps needed by the end of August so Erasmus could return for the 2026-27 academic year.8
She said the 21 previously restricted universities now have valid Erasmus mobility applications for that academic year, reopening international mobility opportunities for their students.8
What this means if you are planning a KA2 proposal
Navigating change in how KA2 cooperation is evaluated means paying closer attention to innovation criteria, not just partnership structure.1
Building in measurable non-formal learning outcomes, EU-wide dissemination plans, and links to youth advocacy or policy influence can align a proposal with the direction current cooperation and innovation projects are already taking.2