Help us bring Erasmus+ beneficiary voices into the “Solidarity as a Bridge Across Sectors” research
SALTO European Solidarity Corps, hosted by the Austrian National Agency, is inviting National Agencies across Europe to support the “Solidarity as a Bridge Across Sectors” research by helping us reach Erasmus+ beneficiary organisations from different programme sectors.
AT011. What does solidarity mean across Erasmus+?
Solidarity is at the heart of the European Solidarity Corps – but how is solidarity understood and practised in other parts of Erasmus+? The “Solidarity as a Bridge Across Sectors” research project is exploring how solidarity is understood, expressed and put into practice across Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps.
We want to better understand how organisations working in different programme sectors bring values such as inclusion, participation, cooperation, empathy, active citizenship and community impact into their projects – whether or not they explicitly describe these practices as “solidarity”. An important part of the research is therefore to hear directly from Erasmus+ beneficiary organisations and practitioners.
2. We need the support of National Agencies
In September 2026, we are organising a series of online focus groups with Erasmus+ beneficiary organisations from five sectors Youth, School Education, Higher Education, Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Adult Education.
We would be very grateful for the support of NA colleagues responsible for these sectors in disseminating the focus group invitation among relevant beneficiary organisations in your country and encouraging them to register their interest in joining one of the Focus Groups. The focus groups provide beneficiaries with an opportunity to share their practical experiences, examples and reflections, while also exchanging with organisations from other European countries.
3. Focus group dates
• Youth: 2 September, 10:30 CEST, Bridge Across Sectors Solidarity Research: YOUTH Focus Group Sign Up 2nd Sept 10:30 CEST
• School Education: 2 September, 14:30 CEST, Bridge Across Sectors Solidarity Research: SCHOOLS Focus Group Sign Up 2 Sept 14:30 CEST
• Higher Education: 3 September, 10:30 CEST, Bridge Across Sectors Solidarity Research: HE Focus Group Sign Up 3 Sept 10:30 CEST
• VET: 8 September, 10:30 CEST, Bridge Across Sectors Solidarity Research: VET Focus Group Sign Up 8 Sept 10:30 CEST
• Adult Education: 9 September, 10:30 CEST, Bridge Across Sectors Solidarity Research: Adult Education Focus Group 9 Sept 10:30 CEST
Registration deadline for all focus groups: 20 August 2026. All focus groups will take place online, in English, and will last approximately 90 minutes.
4. What do we need NAs to do?
Quite simply: please help us spread the word!
If you are responsible for one of the sectors above, we kindly ask you to share the relevant focus group invitation and registration link with beneficiary organisations in your sector. If you are not directly responsible for these sectors but are connected with the relevant colleagues – for example through TCA cooperation or other cross-sectoral work – we would be grateful if you could forward this information to them.
Hearing directly from beneficiary organisations across different Erasmus+ sectors and countries is essential to this research. Your support as National Agency colleagues can help us bring those different voices and experiences together and explore what solidarity means across the wider Erasmus+ community. Thank you for helping us build the bridge!