The conference was organised by the Agency for Mobility and EU Programmes (AMPEU), and the aim was to complete the first seven-year period of Erasmus+ in Croatia, as well as two years of the European Solidarity Corps programmes.
Ninety-nine percent of the funding has been contracted, and more than 57,000 Croatian citizens of all generations have taken part in the projects, said AMPEU director Antonija Gladovic, noting that the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps projects have had a positive influence on numerous institutions, individuals and organisations, even the society as a whole.
The Erasmus+ programme provided its participants with new knowledge, skills and experience, it broadened their horizons and enriched their lives, and institutions exchanged examples of good practice and found new ways of teaching, she said.
The European Solidarity Corps programme has been running since 2018 in order to help young people with volunteering, internship and employement projects. In two years, 183 projects have been approved, they have been granted over HRK 28 million, and more than 2,500 Croatian participants have been involved in them, Gladovic said, adding that the interest of young people in participating in volunteer programmes is not decreasing despite the pandemic.
During the conference, the Agency presented users with projects especially successful in the area of involving groups with fewer possibilities with recognition awards. Those were the Faculty of Electrical Engineering and Computing in Zagreb, the Slava Raskaj Educational Centre Zagreb and the Museum of Contemporary Art Zagreb.
Ivana Puljiz of the AMPEU said that Erasmus had a modest €1.6 million at its disposal in its first year, and it ended 2020 with more than €9 million.
Numerous innovative results have been achieved and many curricula have been modernised, while institutions have strengthened their capacities for project management and increased their visibility, it was said.