Increase in Nordplus applications in 2022
The overall result of the Nordplus application round February 2022 is a total of 371 applications applying for a total grant of 16.272.104 €. This is over 9% increase from the previous year but not unexpected due to the reduction of cases of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The overall result of the Nordplus application round February 2022 is a total of 371 applications applying for a total grant of 16.272.104 €. This is over 9% increase from the previous year but not unexpected due to the reduction of cases of the Covid-19 pandemic. This is a similar outcome as other international programs like Erasmus+ have experienced. The result of the administration’s assessment is that 305, or 82% of the applications, are proposed for funding, making for a total amount of 9.925.030 € or 61% of the applied amount.
Due to the high number of mobilities within the Higher and Junior programs they suffered more due to the Covid-19 pandemic than the other sub-programs as shown in this table. These two programs are therefor bouncing back substantially in 2022 wheras the smaller programs are experiencing a small decrease in applications.
Number of applications:
The increase in applications between years is a positive sign that the Nordplus plan is getting back on track after two difficult years. The large increase in mobilities shows that the educational community in the Nordplus area is very interested in traveling and gaining knowledge and experience from neighbouring countries.
Success rate 2022 – Rejections and reductions
The success rates 2022 for each of the Nordplus programs are as follows:
The overall success rate is 82% for the number of applications, and 61% for grants, which is higher than the previous three years (2021 63-52%, 2020: 72-48%, 2019: 74-47%, 2018: 65-39%; 2017).
The overall success rate in 2022 reflects differences between the programs. The success rate in applications ranges from 56% for Nordplus Adult to 90% for Higher; while for grants the success rate extends from 47% for Nordplus Adult to 84% for Nordplus Junior. However due to the unusual circumstances in the previous two years, 2022 is not completely comparable with previous years. Because of the large unused funds from previous years, Higher Education is for example unusually high this year, both in the number of applications that can be funded and the funding of projects.
Country participation
Submitted: 2.710 organizations
For more information on the individual applications, please visit The Nordplus Project Database
Total numbers proposed 2018-2022
- 2018: 2.998
- 2019: 2.776
- 2020: 2.785
- 2021: 1.906
- 2022: 2.382
A total of 2.710 organizations are involved in the applications submitted, which is an increase of 13% compared to last year. When it comes to organizations funded, then the number 2.382 is 25% higher than the number funded in 2021.
All countries are represented in all the programs and, as has been the case previously, the overall representation of the countries reflects the relative size of the country´s population.
In this same context, the autonomous regions Åland, Greenland and the Faroe Islands appear over-represented as has also been the case in previous years. South Schleswig has the second year in a row a representation in the call.
The participation by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania is collectively on par with the relative size of the Baltic population, and of the Nordic countries Iceland is clearly above par in relation to their relatively small population size.
Newcomers
Every year the administration examines the level of newcomers in the applications submitted. Participating institutions and organizations are considered “newcomers” if they have not participated in any application within the individual program during the past three years - in this case the period 2019-2022
For the three programs Nordplus Junior, Nordplus Adult and Nordplus Horizontal, the level of newcomers varies between 40% and 65%, which is an average difference between the different sub-programs.
In 2022 the level of newcomers for the five programs is:
| Nordplus Adult | 54% |
| Nordplus Higher Education | 14% |
| Nordplus Horizontal | 64% |
| Nordplus Junior | 65% |
| Nordplus Nordic Languages | 40% |
The level of newcomers in all the sub-programs, except in Higher Education due to the special nature of the program, was high so it is positive to see that many organizations saw an opportunity to apply for Nordplus funding.
Highlight on Greener future
In 2021 and 2022, Nordplus welcomed applications for the program having the theme “Enhancing educational cooperation and preparing pupils, students and adults for a greener future.” This Nordplus highlight/emphasis relates to all Nordplus programs and to all sectors within the field of education and training.
The aim of the highlight concept in Nordplus is to draw attention to the issue of this theme in education without giving formal priority to the applications addressing this. The highlight is presented on the Nordplus homepage www.nordplusonline.org and in the Nordplus handbook.
The highlight applications are found across the themes of section B.7 “Participation by theme as presented in the Grant Proposals from all the sub-programs. Obviously, they are found under the theme green growth, climate change and sustainable future, but also under the themes of, for example, educational methods and pedagogic tools, active citizenship, and entrepreneurship.
As part of the assessment procedure, evaluators are asked to identify all applications related to this year’s highlight. The topics of the applications show that the understanding and relevance of the green highlight is very broad. Thus, the topics range from atmosphere and biosphere studies, sustainable diets to ecology through art education.
Nordplus received 118 applications under this theme in 2022 and the administration has proposed to fund 98 such projects. In the Nordplus performance targets for 2021 and 2022, the aim was to have at least 120 approved applications within the green highlight for these two years. The Program Committee decided to fund 167 such projects in 2021 and 2022 so the target was reached comfortably.
Factbox
- Nordplus offers financial support to a variety of educational co-operations between partners in the area of lifelong learning between the eight participating countries and three autonomous regions in the Baltic and Nordic region.
- The program supports networking, project collaboration and student/teacher mobility between the Baltic and Nordic countries
- The proposed program budget for 2022 is € 13.880.962 million. The budget result relates to the regular Nordplus budget and the allocation from returned and unused funding from previous years.
- Participating countries: Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, Norway, Sweden, Greenland, Faroe Islands, Aaland Islands. Beneficiaries from Syd-Schleswig can also participate in the program with a special funding from Denmark.
- All countries and territories are well represented in the program.
- The next deadline for submitting applications to the Nordplus programs is 1 February 2023.
- Preparatory visits in Nordplus Junior, Nordplus Adult and Nordplus Nordic Languages can be applied for in the supplementary application round with a deadline on 3 October 2022.