Exchange programmes

Students account for more than one-seventh of the population, giving Ljubljana a youthful and lively character. Photo: Uroš Hočevar


Mobility in the field of education, training and youth in the EU has been gaining in importance from the mid 1980s. At that time, the EU created special programmes to support the exchange of good practice from various fields in education, training and youth, promoting innovativeness, providing for creation of networks, and above all supporting mobility of individuals participating in these activities. The duration of all mobility projects ranges from 1 week to 12 months. Various groups of final beneficiaries can participate: upper secondary students, students, young graduates, apprentices, unemployed, volunteers, young workers, educators, teachers, businesspeople etc.

International co-operation in education and higher education is conducted under the umbrella of multilateral co-operation with the European Union, Council of Europe, OECD, UNESCO as well as regional and bilateral co-operation. The priorities of co-operation include the Bologna process, and international exchange of students and teachers in higher education.

The European Commission has integrated its various educational and training initiatives under a single umbrella, the Lifelong Learning Programme.

The programme enables individuals at all stages of their lives to pursue stimulating learning opportunities across Europe. There are four sub-programmes focusing on different stages of education and training and continuing previous programmes:

• Comenius for schools 

• Erasmus  for higher education

• Leonardo da Vinci  for vocational education and training

• Grundtvig  for adult education