← Back to Blog
If KA1 is Erasmus+'s mobility strand — funding people to travel and learn — then KA2 is its innovation strand. Cooperation Projects bring together organisations from multiple countries to develop something new: a curriculum, a methodology, a tool, a policy recommendation. They are more complex to manage and harder to win, but for organisations ready to engage with them, they are transformative.
What KA2 Funds
Under the Youth strand, KA2 funds "Cooperation Partnerships" and "Small-Scale Partnerships." Cooperation Partnerships are the larger format — typically three to four years, multiple partners from at least three countries, substantial budgets (€60,000–€500,000 or more). Small-Scale Partnerships are designed to be more accessible: shorter (12–24 months), fewer partners (at least two countries), smaller budgets (€10,000–€60,000).
Both formats fund the development of outputs — things that exist after the project ends and can be used by others. These might be training curricula, educational games, policy toolkits, online learning platforms, or research publications.
The Logic of Cooperation Projects
KA2 is built around the idea that the best solutions to shared challenges are developed through genuine collaboration across different national contexts. A digital skills curriculum developed only by German experts will miss things that Turkish or Polish youth workers would catch — and vice versa. The European dimension is not just a funding requirement; it is meant to be a genuine design feature.
The most powerful KA2 projects are not those where one organisation does the work and others provide a logo. They are the ones where each partner's context genuinely shapes the outputs — where the final product could not have existed without everyone in the room.
What Makes a Strong KA2 Application
Beyond the requirements that apply to all Erasmus+ applications (clear needs assessment, SMART objectives, evaluation plan), KA2 applications need to demonstrate something additional: that the consortium brings genuinely complementary expertise and that the project design uses that expertise strategically.
- Complementarity: each partner contributes something the others cannot — a specific methodology, a target community, a national policy context
- Exploitation and dissemination plan: KA2 applications are judged partly on whether outputs will actually be used after the project — show your plan for reaching other organisations, policymakers, and communities
- Impact beyond the consortium: how will this project change practice or policy in your field, not just in your organisation?
- Open Educational Resources: outputs should ideally be published under Creative Commons licences so others can build on them
Is KA2 Right for Your Organisation?
KA2 requires significant management capacity. The reporting, financial administration, and coordination load is substantial — especially for larger Cooperation Partnerships. For organisations without experience managing European grants, the Small-Scale Partnership format is a more appropriate starting point. It allows you to build the financial management systems and consortium relationships that larger projects require.
At YouthTICK, we are exploring future KA2 possibilities. If your organisation is interested in co-developing a project in the youth space, we would welcome the conversation.