Report on the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps programmes from the perspective of regional equality

The purpose of this report is to provide an up-to-date regional overview of the impacts and regional participation equality of the EU programmes in the fields of education and training, youth and sport (Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps).

The report examines how people from different regions in Finland have participated in the EU programmes. In addition to this, the report describes the programmes’ outcomes as regards the promotion of internationalisation, identifies factors that promote and hinder participation and presents ideas for developing the monitoring, guidance and stakeholder work of the Finnish National Agency for Education (EDUFI). The report also includes a proposal for an indicator mechanism that will enable the consistent monitoring of regional participation, application rates, the continuity of activities and their impacts.

The report focuses on five of the sectors covered by the programmes (adult education, vocational education and training, school education, youth and sport). It examines the latest statistical data from 2021–2025, as well as qualitative data concerning municipalities, regions and organisations whose participation in international activities is either low or exceptionally high. The report does not cover projects in the higher education sector. 

The report examines regional equality at two levels: equality of opportunities and equality of implementation. In relation to this, the need to improve the accuracy of regional monitoring of application rates and participation has already been previously identified. 

The report was produced for EDUFI by Owal Group Oy.