Grundtvig

Adult Education and Lifelong Learning

What is Grundtvig?

The Main Aims of Grundtvig

The Overall Structure of Grundtvig

Grundtvig 1 and Grundtvig 4

Grundtvig 2

Grundtvig 3Adult Education Courses

Who was Grundtvig?

Contact Point

Grundtvig Activities

Grundtvig Contact Seminar

WHAT IS GRUNDTVIG?

Grundtvig is the action within the Socrates Programme which is aimed at enhancing the European dimension of adult education and lifelong learning. It supports a wide range of activities designed to promote innovation and the improved availability, accessibility and quality of educational provision for adults, by means of European co-operation.

The Grundtvig action addresses a great variety of educational providers, but the final beneficiaries are adults who, at whatever stage of their lives, wish to learn in order to increase their capacity to play a full and active role in society and develop their intercultural awareness; improve their employability by acquiring or updating their general skills; enhance their capacity to access or re-enter formal education schemes. This learning can be accomplished within the framework of formal or non-formal or by means of autonomous learning.

The purpose of this action of Socrates is to enhance adult education provision by means of European co-operation. To this end the action supports the following four types of activities:

Participating Organisations

The Grundtvig action is open to every organisation working in the field of adult learning within the formal or the non-formal system or providing informal education. The following organisations are eligible to take part in all Grundtvig activities.

Adult education providers belonging to the formal or non-formal system (e.g. primary and secondary schools giving courses for adults, folk high schools, community schools); universities carrying out research and /or curriculum development activities or providing educational opportunities for adult learners; organisations training adult educational staff; non-formal or informal education providers for adults, such as non-profit foundations and associations, trade unions, libraries and museums. Mixed partnerships involving institutions from both the formal and the non-formal sector will be particularly encouraged.

Grundtvig 1 - Transnational cooperation projects(COM)*

Grundtvig 2 - Learning partnerships(NA)*

Grundtvig 3 - Mobility for training of educational staff(NA)*

Grundtvig 4 - Networks(COM)*

Two basic types of application and selection procedures apply:

• COM - Centralised actions,original applications go to the COMission, copied to the National agency.

• NA- Decentralised actions, applications go to the National Agency.

THE MAIN AIMS OF GRUNDTVIG

The operational aims of the Action may be summarised as follows:

1. Promoting the development of concrete products and valid results which will be of use in several participating countries (if possible, throughout Europe), and to encourage the development of innovative materials and resources for adult education.





2. Promoting European co-operation between bodies providing adult education and lifelong learning.





3. Contributing to improving the quality of teacher training relating to persons involved in the teaching of adults and the training of adult educators.





4. Furthering the debate on lifelong learning and contributing to the dissemination of good practice.

Grundtvig provides support for:

• Developing learning materials.

• Developing information and guidance services for adult learners or providers.

• Organising awareness-raising activities to increase the demand for lifelong learning.

• Enabling adult educators to update their skills in another European Country.

• Involving learners in joint projects with their counterparts in other European countries.

• Establishing networks to disseminate products and results to new audiences.

How can I apply for Grundtvig 1 and Grundtvig 4?

The yearly deadline for Grundtvig 1 and 4 is on the 1st November. By this date the applicant institution needs to send a pre-proposal application at the Socrates Office in Brussels, copied to the Malta Socrates Agency. Although the European Commission will hold the final decision for the evaluation of these applications, it is very important that a copy is also sent to the Malta office, since it will be responsible for part of the evaluation for the application. A team of adult education experts at the European Commission will evaluate the pre-proposal application, and if evaluated positively the applicant will be requested to present a full-proposal application by 1st March. If the application is once again evaluated positively, the applicant will then receive a contract for the requested funds and can start with the project work.

Who can apply for Grundtvig 1 and 4?

Any type of organisation working in the field of adult learning including community groups, trade unions, voluntary organisations and companies. An adult is defined as anyone over 25, and 16-24 year olds not in initial education and not undergoing formal education. The applicant institution will usually be the coordinating institution in the project, and thus be responsible for the preparation of the application (in collaboration with the partners) and also the general management of the project including the sharing of the grant allocated with the partners. Any institution can join a project as a partner only.

Very important Points to consider when writing a Grundtvig 1 and 4 proposal:

• Projects will be funded for one or two years, and may in exceptional cases be supported for three years. The applicant will request the total grant for the number of years applied for including the share for the partners in the project.





• The level of funding will vary from one project to another, however in the past the average yearly grant allocated to Grundtvig 1 has been in the region of 40,000 to 100,000 Euros and for Grundtvig 4 has been 50,000 to 150,000 Euros per year.





• Each project is done in partnership with other organisations /institutions in European countries eligible for participation in Socrates. Partnership for Grundtvig 1 needs to involve at least other 3 eligible countries one of which needs to be an EU member state, while for Grundtvig 4 partnership needs to involve at least six different countries. The more geographically spread and balanced the partnership is, the more the project will have a possibility of being funded.





• Have a clear working plan and division of tasks between the coordinating institution and its partners; and have a clear sharing of budget resources between the coordinating institution and its partners.





• Show elements of strong project management such as clear objectives, and clearly described methods to be used in order to achieve the desired results; the phases of the project and its concrete outcomes.





• Have a real European dimension with regard to content, results and dissemination; show strong elements of dissemination and creation of products and services which are easily transferable from one learning area to another and also from one European country to another.





• Include a strategy for evaluation within the project plan.

Application Forms for Grundtvig 1 and 4

Pre-proposal Form

Full proposal Form

Documents and Grundtvig Themes

Memorandum of Lifelong Learning

The Grundtvig Priority Themes

Grundtvig Strategic Messages

Grundtvig within Socrates II

More information on GRUNDTVIG is available here.

GRUNDTVIG 2 - Learning Partnerships

These are smaller-scale co-operation projects with an emphasis on reaching new audiences. The Grundtvig learning partnership is a framework for co-operation activities between organisations working in the field of adult learning. The structure of the activities are very similar to those of the Grundtvig 1 projects but compared to the transnational co-operation projects, which are product-oriented, the learning partnerships focus more on process, and aim to broaden the participation of smaller organisations that want to include European co-operation in their education activities.

The aim of these Learning partnerships is that through taking part, adult learners stand to gain:

• Greater motivation to continue learning and to gain further qualifications for a better life.

• Increased self-confidence, self-esteem and improved interpersonal skills

• An increased awareness of the challenges that the diversity within Europe in terms of the cultural, economic and the social scene, effect the live of adults.

How can I apply for Grundtvig 2?

Applications can be obtained in electronic version from this site or in hard copy from the local Socrates Office (National Agency). This is a one-stage application with a deadline of 1st March. By this date the applicant needs to present the application duly filled in to the NA. The decision of allocation of the grant requested is taken on a decentralized level, where the National agencies involved in each partnership evaluated the application on a number of pre-set criteria and if the majority of the Agencies involved agree in an inter-agency consultation that the application merits the grant, the applicant will receive a contract for the partnership. Projects will usually be funded for one or two years, and the applicant will need to renew the application and the request for the budget each year.

What is the difference between joining a learning partnership as a partner and not as a coordinator?

The difference is mainly in the application procedure and the grant received.
In both instances the applicant needs to present the application to the local Socrates Office. If the institution joins as a partner it needs to fill in the sections relevant to the individual institutions (generally Section A) and the Budget Section. The information about the project is prepared by the institutions together and a copy of this section which the coordinating institution will present to its national agency, needs to be included with the application of the institution joining as a partner.

The budget section may vary between the different institutions joining in the same project.The coordinating institution will receive a maximum of 5000 euro per year and the partner institution will receive up to 4000 euro per year, plus an additional variable amount which will be allocated for mobility to support the project. Unlike Grundtvig 1, the grant which the coordinating institution applies for and receives will be entirely for that institution only and it does not need to be shared with the partner institutions. Each partner institution will apply to their own national agency for the request of the grant.

What happens if my application is evaluated positively and I am awarded the Grundtvig 2 grant?

The institution will receive a contract from the National agency which will list the responsibilities and the rights of the institution receiving the grant and also the total grant awarded to the applicant. If the applicant agrees to receive the stipulated grant, the contract needs to be signed and returned to the agency. Upon receipt of the signed contract the agency will issue the 80% of the total grant. Upon the finalization of the first year of work on the project, the beneficiary institution will present an activity report and a financial report and upon receipt of these reports the NA will issue the remaining 20% of the grant.

Application Form:

Grundtvig 2

Getting a Project, Network or Learning Partnership started.

If you intent to get a project started and are looking for partners and other institutions to join your project as required by the Grundtvig application the following steps can be taken:

• Contact the Socrates Office and you will receive help to find appropriate partners for your project.





• Access the Norwegian National Agency's partner-finding website





• Apply for a Preparatory Visit, to undertake a visit in another country in order to lay the foundations and the preparations for a future project. Such grants will be awarded for a period of up to 1 week and will not normally exceed 1,000 Euros per person. Applications need to be submitted to the local Socrates Office at least 1 month before the submission of the Grundtvig 1, 2 or 4 applications.





• Preparatory Visits Application Form

GRUNDTVIG 3 - Mobility for Training of Educational Staff

Under this action, the Commission provides grants to undertake short-term training courses, taking place in a country other than the one in which the participant normally works. The objective of the mobility for training is to improve the quality of adult learning provisions by facilitating transnational training experiences for educational staff working with adults. This way people are encouraged to gain a broader understanding of lifelong learning in Europe and to improve their practical teaching/coaching/ counselling skills.

Which kind of training activities can the applicant apply for?

The training activity proposed in the application must demonstrate that it is appropriate for the theme of adult education and that it has a clear European dimension, which means that it is offered for participants from different European countries and meets needs which cannot be adequately met by courses organized in the participants' home country. The training activity needs to be as closely related to the occupation of the applicant as possible in terms of the extent it appears likely to contribute to the improvement of the applicant's professional skills and the general performance and working environment of the organisation / institution. The training activity will not exceed the maximum duration of 4 weeks and is in the majority of the cases much shorter.
The applicant needs to identify an eligible training activity, either from his/her personal contacts or from the official Online Catalogue of Courses. This database contains information on training events submitted by training organisers to National Agencies and selected by Agencies as conforming to certain eligibility criteria. Only training organisers are responsible for the content and accuracy of the information about their event(s).

How should applicants for a Grundtvig 3 in-service training grant proceed?

1. Contact your own National Agency to obtain a grant application form and to check the deadline for submitting your application.



2. Once you have selected a training event, either from this database or from elsewhere, contact the training organiser to make a pre-registration. If the pre-registration requires paying a fee, you should be aware that you will have to cover this cost yourself if your National Agency does not award you a grant.



3. If the training organiser agrees to pre-register you for the event, s/he must send you a letter, fax or email from the institution confirming this, and mentioning the title and dates of the training event for which you have been pre-registered.



4. Send your application form to your National Agency, together with a copy of your proof of pre-registration.



5. Your National Agency will inform you if you have been awarded a grant.



6. You must then immediately contact the training provider to confirm your attendance, or - if you have not been awarded a grant - to cancel your pre-registration.



7. From the moment your National Agency confirms that you have been awarded a grant, you have responsibilities towards the training provider. If you then cancel your attendance at the event, you will be responsible for paying any cancellation fees which the training provider may claim. Only in very exceptional cases of force majeure (e.g. illness or death of the grant applicant or a family member) may the National Agency pay cancellation fees using grant money.



8. If the training organiser cancels the training at short notice, you may ask him/her for compensation if you have already incurred costs e.g. travel tickets which cannot be cancelled or changed. Neither your National Agency nor the European Commission can be liable. However, in justified cases your National Agency may decide to cover these costs using the grant awarded. If your training event is cancelled, your National Agency may give you the opportunity to select another one (contact your Agency for further details).



9. At the end of the training event, the organisers must hold an evaluation session. Your opinion on the quality of the training is important; training which is considered to be of poor quality will be further investigated by the National Agency of the training provider and may be removed from the database.

What kind of financial support is available?

The applicant can request a grant for Travel costs, Accommodation expenses if these are not included within the course fee, and the course fee up to a maximum of 750 Euro. All expenses must be supported by corresponding original receipts,and any unspent funds will be reclaimed by the National Agency. The average grant for Grundtvig 3 is usually around 1000 Euro, however this will vary from one application to another.

What happens after I submit the application?

A submission of an application is not an automatic guarantee that a grant will be awarded. The National agency will evaluate the application according to quality criteria and the availability of funds. If the application is evaluated positively the applicant will receive a contract stating the total grant awarded and the rights and responsibilities of the applicant. The grant will be paid in two installments; an advance of 80% of the total grant and a 20% balance of the grant will be paid after the applicant presents an activity report and a financial report to the National agency by the date stipulated on the contract.

Application Form

WHO WAS GRUNDTVIG?

Nikoli Frederik Severin Grundtvig (1783-1872), a Danish clergyman and writer, is regarded as the ideological father of popular and adult education. He advocated 'life enlightenment', aimed at giving each individual, regardless of age or background, the opportunity to learn throughout life. The objective of learning was twofold, to give personal fulfilment to the individual and to ensure the active participation of all citizens in public life.

As a learning method, Grundtvig advocated the use of dialogue and the spoken word. He further believed that teaching should be based on and relate to real-life experiences and not abstract matters. These ideas inspired the creation of the Nordic folk high schools. These residential colleges of non-formal adult education are now established components of the Nordic education system and exist in other countries as well.

GRUNDTVIG ACTIVITIES

GRUNDTVIG National Agencies Meeting
25^th - 27^th April, 2002

• NA Meeting Report
• Presentations
• Photo Gallery

GRUNDTVIG CONTACT SEMINAR

"European integration, Xenophobia, Active Citizenship and Adult Learning" were the themes chosen for a GRUNDTVIG 1 & 2 Contact Seminar organised by the Socrates Committee, Malta.
The seminar was held between the 10^th-13^th October 2002 at the Crowne Plaza, Sliema. Seventy-five participants from nineteen EU member and accession countries attended the seminar, together with several representatives from various Maltese entities and organisations.

Aims of the Seminar

The Seminar was organised in the light of three main and broad aims:

1. To create strong partnerships in Grundtvig 1 and 2 based on good quality and innovative ideas in the area of "European Integration, Xenophobia, Active Citizenship and Adult Learning"





2. To have a better understanding of the theme of the seminar and a European awareness of Integration, Citizenship and Xenophobia in relation to Adult Education.





3. To explore shared and distinctive elements of citizenship education and human rights education; to review strategies for implementing citizenship education and human rights; and to engage with different approaches to learning about democracy, rights, justice, equality and participation.

As a result a number of Grundtvig 1 proposals and Grundtvig 2 Learning Partnerships were developed between the participants of the seminar.



Seminar Programme

Presentation

Group Photo

This project has been carried out with the support of the European Community. The content of this project does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Community, nor does it involve any responsibility on the part of the European Community.