What Is an Erasmus+ Seminar? (2026)

An Erasmus+ seminar is one of the forms that Professional Development Activities can take under Mobility projects for youth workers. Professional development activities are transnational or international learning mobility activities supporting the professional development of youth workers. Seminars and workshops support in particular knowledge-building and best practices sharing linked to the objectives, values and priorities of the EU Youth Strategy and of the EU programmes contributing to its implementation. Under this Action, organisations can receive support to carry out projects comprising of one or more learning activities for the professional development and capacity building of youth workers and their organisations. Our guide on what Erasmus+ is introduces the programme, mobility projects for youth workers covers the whole Action, and what non-formal education is explains the learning approach the format is built on.

Last updated: October 2026.

What happens at an Erasmus+ seminar?

At an Erasmus+ seminar the work is knowledge-building and best practices sharing linked to the objectives, values and priorities of the EU Youth Strategy and of the EU programmes contributing to its implementation. Mobility projects for youth workers support the professional development of youth workers and thereby the development of quality youth work at local, regional, national, European and international level, through non-formal and informal learning experiences in mobility activities. Professional Development Activities also take the form of study visits and different types of assignments, such as job shadowing, youth worker exchanges and peer learning, in youth work organisations and organisations active in the youth field abroad. Networking and community building among youth workers taking part in the action and supporting its objectives, and training courses supporting the development of competences, are the other two forms. Our guide on what a training course is compares the two formats, what an Erasmus+ study visit is describes the visit format, and the role of youth workers explains who these activities are for.

Who can take part in an Erasmus+ seminar?

Participants in an Erasmus+ seminar must be minimum 16 years old and must be resident in the country of their sending or receiving organisation. Participants must have reached the minimum age at the start date of the activity. Under the minimum requirements for Professional Development Activities, the number of participants is up to 50 participants in each activity planned by the project. Under the minimum requirements for Professional Development Activities, trainers, accompanying persons and facilitators are not to be considered as participants of the activity and are not to be counted in the number of participants, but are eligible for support under certain budget categories. Under the minimum requirements for Professional Development Activities, participants from the country of the receiving organisation must be involved in each activity. Before joining a seminar, our guide on who can apply to Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps helps you check whether your profile fits, the age limits by activity compares the seminar age rule with other formats, and the list of eligible countries shows which countries sending and receiving organisations can be based in.

How long is an Erasmus+ seminar and where does it take place?

An Erasmus+ seminar is a Professional Development Activity, and the duration of activities is from 2 to 60 days, excluding travel days, of which the minimum 2 days must be consecutive. Under the minimum requirements for Professional Development Activities, the activities must take place in the country of one (or several, in case of itinerant activities) of the organisations participating in the activity. As an exception under the minimum requirements for Professional Development Activities, activities cannot take place in Belarus or Russia. Our guide on how to find Erasmus+ and ESC projects shows where activities are published, and the application to departure timeline sets out what happens between the two.

What does Erasmus+ pay for at an Erasmus+ seminar?

✈️ Travel: contribution to the travel costs of participants, including trainers, accompanying persons and facilitators, from their place of origin to the venue of the activity and return. The applicant must indicate the distance between the place of origin and the venue of the activity by using the distance calculator supported by the European Commission. For a seminar, our guide on how travel distance bands workshows which band your calculated distance falls into, and green travel in Erasmus+ and ESC explains what changes when you travel to the venue by low-emission transport.

🍽️ Individual Support: costs linked to subsistence. The maximum is 1 100 EUR per participant, trainers, facilitators and accompanying persons.

♿ Inclusion support for participants: additional costs directly linked to participants with fewer opportunities and their accompanying persons, trainers and facilitators, including justified costs related to travel and subsistence if a grant for these participants is not requested through budget categories "Travel" and "Individual support". Our guide on inclusion support explains who counts as a young person with fewer opportunities.

🛂 Visa and related costs: visa and visa-related costs, residence permits, vaccinations and medical certifications are covered at 100% of eligible costs. The financing mechanism is real costs, and the request must be justified and approved. Our guide on visas and residence permits walks through the paperwork.

Our guide on what Erasmus+ covers lists the categories across the youth Actions, and how much money you actually need sets out what is left to you.

Do you pay anything to join an Erasmus+ seminar?

If deemed necessary, the beneficiary organisation may ask participants in a mobility project for youth workers for a contribution paid by the participants prior to the activity. The amount of the participants' contribution must be very low, remain proportional to the grant awarded for the implementation of the project, must be clearly justified by a direct benefit to the participant, its purpose well explained and justified to the participants, collected on a non-profit basis, and may not create unfair barriers to participation. Contributions cannot be collected from participants with fewer opportunities. Our guide on inclusion supportexplains who counts as a young person with fewer opportunities.

How is what you learn at an Erasmus+ seminar recognised?

A Mobility project for Youth Workers needs to envisage support for the reflection process, identification and documentation of learning outcomes, in particular through Youthpass, to support the recognition and impact of the project outcomes, the resulting youth work practices, methodologies and materials in the youth field. Our guide on what Youthpass is explains the certificate itself, getting your learning recognised covers recognition more widely, and how to put Youthpass on your CV shows what to do with it afterwards.

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between an Erasmus+ seminar and a training course?

Both an Erasmus+ seminar and a training course are Professional Development Activities. Seminars and workshops support in particular knowledge-building and best practices sharing linked to the objectives, values and priorities of the EU Youth Strategy and of the EU programmes contributing to its implementation. Training courses support the development of competences, to implement quality youth work practices or address and test innovative methods. Our guide on what a training course is describes that format in full.

How many participants can an Erasmus+ seminar have?

The number of participants is up to 50 participants in each activity planned by the project. Trainers, accompanying persons and facilitators are not to be counted in the number of participants. Our guide on who can apply to Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps goes through the conditions case by case.

Which activities are not funded under this Action?

The following activities are not eligible for grants under Mobility projects for Youth Workers: academic study trips, activities that aim to make financial profit, activities that can be considered as tourism, festivals, holiday travel, performance tours, statutory meetings. Our guide on mobility projects for youth workers covers what the Action does fund.

When does a preparatory visit take place?

Preparatory visits take place in the country of one of the receiving organisations before the start of the Professional Development Activity. Preparatory visits aim to ensure high quality activities by facilitating and preparing administrative arrangements, building trust and understanding and setting up a solid partnership between the organisations and people involved. Persons taking part in preparatory visits are expected to also participate in the main activity. Our guide on the application to departure timeline sets out what happens before an activity starts.

Where does an Erasmus+ seminar fit in Erasmus+?

Our guide on what a training course is explains how that format differs from a seminar, mobility projects for youth workers sets out the Action a seminar sits inside, and what Erasmus+ covers explains which costs are paid. The related pages below from Youth Works Hub cover each part of this guide in more detail.

👉 Erasmus+ projects: youthworkshub.org/category/erasmus-projects