This Programme provides young people, including young people with fewer opportunities, with easily accessible opportunities for engagement in solidarity activities that induce positive societal changes in the Union and beyond, while improving, recognising and offering validation of competences, as well as facilitating their continuous engagement as active citizens.
The European Solidarity Corps has an overall indicative financial envelope of EUR 1.009 billion of the EU Budget for the period 2021-2027.
For the civil protection and disaster management community, European Solidarity Corps provides a unique opportunity to exchange knowledge and to raise awareness for the whole of society on the importance of a culture of preparedness through youth mobility and cooperation projects.
In order to achieve its objectives, the European Solidarity Corps implements four Actions structured into two strands:
Examples of areas of support relevant for disaster risk management and preparedness include the following:
Volunteering Teams in High Priority Areas
Volunteering Teams in High Priority Areas are large scale, high impact projects supporting voluntary activities carried out by young people from at least two different countries coming together to express solidarity by implementing short-term interventions that address common European challenges in policy areas defined each year at EU level. For the 2026 call, Activities by Volunteering Teams in High-Priority Areas will aim to: address clearly defined unmet societal challenges in the areas of “enhancing a culture of preparedness across the whole of society and providing relief for persons fleeing armed conflicts and other victims of natural hazards or human-induced risk” and/ or “fostering positive learning experiences and outcomes for young people with fewer opportunities” and/or “enhancing intergenerational fairness and solidarity”; promote solidarity across the participating countries; enable the young people to gain skills and competences which are useful for their personal, educational, social and professional development. The budget for the 2026 call is 5 million euros.
The following activities are supported:
Volunteering Teams
Volunteering Teams are full-time non-remunerated solidarity activities that should bring together groups of minimum 5 participants to volunteer together for a period between 2 weeks and 2 months (up to 59 days, excluding travel days). The composition of the team should be international (including participants from at least two different countries). At least quarter of team members should come from eligible countries that are different from the country where the activity takes place. Young people can only be involved in one activity at a time.
In volunteering teams, European Solidarity Corps’ volunteers carry out tasks for a project over a short period of time (usually, but not exclusively, during holidays, breaks between study periods, transition from education to work, etc.). One project should in principle aim to organise volunteering teams for at least 40 participants or more. Volunteering activities should aim to cover one or more high priority areas.
Complementary activities
Complementary activities are relevant side activities designed to add value and augment the results of the project, as well as to strengthen its impact on the local, regional, and/or European level. These complementary activities aim at raising awareness of the value of volunteering for young people and for communities as well as at strengthening the recognition of the skills and competences gained by the volunteers. These activities could also enhance the capacity of the solidarity sector organisations to tackle common European challenges and their abilities to develop volunteering projects. Complementary activities could include workshops, conferences, seminars, training courses, job shadowing, coaching, exchange of good practices etc.
Preparatory Visits
Preparatory visits are visits to the venue of the volunteering activities before they start. They should ensure high quality of activities involving young people with fewer opportunities or when the visit is necessary for the implementation of an activity with a strong inclusion dimension. The visit can focus on facilitating and preparing administrative arrangements, building trust and understanding and setting-up a solid partnership between the organisations and the people involved.
Young people with fewer opportunities that will take part in the planned activities can be involved in the visit, in order to help with their preparation and involve them in activity design so that their needs are taken into account from the start.
At the European level, the European Commission’s Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA or the Executive Agency) is responsible for the implementation of a number of actions of the Corps in direct management.
The European Solidarity Corps is mainly implemented through indirect management, meaning that the European Commission entrusts budget implementation tasks to National Agencies. The rationale of this approach is to bring the European Solidarity Corps as close as possible to its beneficiaries and to adapt to the diversity of each country. For this purpose, one or more National Agencies is appointed in each EU Member State and third country associated to the Programme. These National Agencies promote and implement the European Solidarity Corps at the national level and are the link between the European Commission and participating organisations at local, regional and national levels.
SALTO Resource Centres are structures mainly supported through the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps Programmes aiming to improve the quality of projects in the field of youth and education. Through their thematic (participation & information, inclusion & diversity, training & cooperation, digital transformation and green transition) or geographical (Eastern Europe and Caucasus, Southern Mediterranean, Western Balkans) focus, they provide resources, information and training in specific areas for National Agencies and other actors and foster the recognition of non-formal and informal learning.
European Solidarity Corps projects are mainly submitted and implemented by participating organisations. Organisations participating in European Solidarity Corps projects must be established in an EU Member State or third country associated to the Programme, or a third country not associated to the Programme.
Young people constitute the target population of the European Solidarity Corps. Except for Solidarity Projects where young people can apply directly, the Corps involves young people through organisations, institutions, public or private bodies that organise solidarity activities. The conditions of access to the Corps therefore relate to these two actors: the "participants"(young people participating in the Corps) and the "organisations". For both participants and participating organisations, the conditions for participation depend on the country in which they are legally based, and on the action concerned.
For organisations, obtaining a Quality Label is a precondition for participation in volunteering activities.
The Quality Label is awarded following a fair and transparent selection process carried out by the National Agencies, involving three main stages: submission of Quality Label application, assessment and award. The applications for the Quality Label can be submitted on a continuous basis (i.e. at any time). The organisations will submit application forms by filling in parts which are relevant for the Quality Label roles they wish to play. Applications are assessed by the National Agency against eligibility criteria, selection exclusion and award criteria.
You can ask them if they are applying for a project grant, or explore the Erasmus+ app for advice and inspiration.
For information on how to apply, please check the call specific page:
Application Portal: https://webgate.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-esc/index/
European Solidarity Corps guide: https://youth.europa.eu/sites/default/files/inline-files/European_solidarity_corps_guide_2025.pdf
An example of a recent project is “SAFE TOWN”, which aimed to change the face of Komotini in Greece with 45 volunteers. The whole city was involved and the locals were activated in order to response to environmental challenges, including disaster prevention, preparedness and recovery. That summer in Greece, there were more than 500 forest fires.
The project, in cooperation with Komotini municipality and Rhodope prefecture, aimed to create the first total plan of prevention, action and recovery in case of fire. SAFE TOWN meant changing - improving the prevention mechanism of the town while the locals were educated in environmentally friendly activities. Through non-formal learning activities and methods, the project redefined the habits and needs of citizens (especially young people) in Komotini, with a focus on the need to respect the environment. Concepts included the meaning of the “town” that comprises both geographically (place-oriented) and social (human-centered) components.