A Solidarity Project is a non-profit solidarity activity initiated, developed and implemented by young people themselves for a period from 2 to 12 months. A Solidarity Project gives a group of minimum five young persons the chance to express solidarity by taking responsibility and committing themselves to bring positive change in their local community. Our guide on what the European Solidarity Corps (ESC) is explains the programme, and how to register on the ESC Portal covers the first step for your group.
Last updated: October 2026.
Who can set up a Solidarity Project?
A Solidarity Project is implemented by a group of minimum 5 young people aged between 18 and 30 years who are legally residing in one and the same EU Member State or a third country associated to the Programme and have registered in the European Solidarity Corps Portal. There is no maximum number of members of the group. Participants must have reached 18 and must not be older than 30 at the start date of the project.
Young people who want to form a group to run a Solidarity Project must be registered in the European Solidarity Corps portal as a first step, in order to apply to a Solidarity Project. Individuals are not entitled to submit project proposals in the framework of the European Solidarity Corps, except for individuals applying on behalf of a group of at least five young people wishing to carry out a Solidarity Project. Our guide on which countries can apply lists every country, and how to register on the ESC Portal takes the registration step by step.
What kind of project can your group run?
The project should have a clearly identified topic which the group of young people wish to explore together, and which is to be translated into the concrete daily activities of the project and involve all the members of the group. Solidarity Projects should address key challenges within the communities, where relevant including those identified jointly in the border regions and it should also present European added value. A Solidarity Project should be directly linked to the local community the young people live in, although some of them can also tackle regional or even national issues. A Solidarity Project should reflect a common concern for topics within the European society, such as for example integrating third-country nationals, climate change or active democratic participation.
What are the four priorities of a Solidarity Project?
♿ Inclusion and diversity: The European Solidarity Corps seeks to promote equal opportunities and access, inclusion and fairness. Young people implementing Solidarity Projects should design accessible and inclusive activities, taking into account the needs of participants with fewer opportunities, and special funding for the participation of people with fewer opportunities is available both for the members of the group and the target group.
🌱 Environmental protection: Solidarity Projects should promote environmentally sustainable and responsible behaviour among participants, raising the awareness about the importance of acting to reduce or compensate for the environmental footprint of activities.
💻 Digital transformation: Groups of young people implementing Solidarity Projects are encouraged to make use of digital tools and learning methods to complement the physical activities and add to the quality of the project.
🗳️ Participation in democratic life: The European Solidarity Corps supports integrating a participatory dimension in Solidarity Projects, offering young people relevant opportunities to actively engage and participate in the conception and implementation of project activities as a pathway to discovering the benefits of active citizenship and participation in democratic life.
Our guide on inclusion support describes the extra help for young people with fewer opportunities.
Where does a Solidarity Project take place, and for how long?
The duration of a Solidarity Project is 2 to 12 months. The project should take place in the country of the applicant. In cases in which the project addresses cross-border challenges, project activities can also take place in cross-border regions of the EU Member States, third countries associated to the Programme and third countries non-associated to the Programme sharing the border with the country of the applicant. Project activities cannot take place in Belarus or on the territory of Russia as recognised by international law.
How does your group run the project?
A Solidarity Project will typically consist of the following stages: planning, preparation, implementation of the activities, and follow-up, including the evaluation of the activities as well as the sharing of project's results. The group will decide autonomously on the working methods and how the project will be managed. The group will arrange the distribution of tasks and responsibilities, ensure efficient coordination and communication between its members and define the amount of time spent in carrying out the tasks in relation to the goals of the project.
One of the group's members will assume a role of legal representative who will submit the application (unless an organisation applies on behalf of the group). For recognising and validating the learning outcomes of the project it is recommended to use Youthpass and the related learning process reflection. Our guide on what Youthpass is explains the certificate, and dissemination and impact covers the sharing of results.
Do you need an organisation, and what does a coach do?
A group of young people who plan a Solidarity Project can seek for support from an organisation (any public or private body). An organisation may apply on their behalf for a grant under the European Solidarity Corps. The role of the organisation should be administrative, to support the group in the project life-cycle administrative and financial tasks.
Young people carrying out a Solidarity Project may be supported by coaches. A coach is a resource person who could have youth work experience to accompany groups of young people and support their participation through different phases of the project. The coach will remain outside the Solidarity Project, so he or she will not be a member of the group and if needed, can come from an organisation applying on behalf of the group. The group of young people can use the support of one or several coaches depending on their needs. Our guide on how to apply for Erasmus+ or ESC takes the application steps one by one.
How much money does a Solidarity Project get?
The budget of a Solidarity Project is calculated according to the project.
🧾 Project Management costs: Costs linked to the management and implementation of the project, for example preparation, implementation of activities, evaluation, dissemination and follow-up activities. The contribution is based on the duration of the Solidarity Project.
🧭 Coaching costs: Costs linked to the involvement of a coach in the project. The contribution is based on the country of the applicant and the working days. The request for financial support to cover coach costs must be motivated in the application form, and the duration of coaching is not linked to the project duration.
♿ Exceptional costs: Costs to support the participation of young people with fewer opportunities who are members of the group implementing the project, and costs to support the participation of people with fewer opportunities who are a target group of the project. The requests for financial support to cover exceptional costs must be duly justified and motivated in the application form and approved.
Our guide on inclusion support covers the extra help, and what National Agencies do explains who approves the requests.
How do you apply, step by step?
To submit a European Solidarity Corps project application, applicants must follow four steps.
1️⃣ Each applicant must be registered. For actions managed by National Agencies, groups of young people involved in the application must register through the Organisation Registration system for Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps and receive an Organisation ID (OID). Our guide on what an OID is and how a group gets one explains the registration in detail.
2️⃣ Check the compliance with the criteria for the relevant Action. Applications must be complete containing all required parts and mandatory annexes, and only clerical errors can be corrected after the submission deadline upon request of the managing agency for duly justified cases.
3️⃣ Check the financial conditions (only applicable to requests for funding).
4️⃣ Fill in and submit the application form. Applicants are required to submit their application online to the appropriate National or Executive Agency using the correct electronic form and including all requested annexes. Applications sent by post, courier service, fax or email will not be accepted.
Applicants apply to the National Agency of the country where the applicant is legally resident. National Agencies may organise three selection rounds by setting three deadlines or only the first and the last one, and this information will be published on the site of each National Agency. A Declaration on honour signed by the legal representative must be annexed to the application form by using the available template.
To be considered for funding, proposals must score at least 60 points, and they must score at least half of the maximum points in each of the categories of award criteria. Quality of project design has a maximum of 40 points.
All applications for projects must contain original content authored by the applicant. Where a third-party content is referred to, proper attribution and acknowledgment of intellectual property rights must be given. Failing to meet these criteria through acts of plagiarism makes a proposal ineligible for consideration. The content generated by a generative artificial intelligence (AI) tool should be thoroughly reviewed and validated by the applicants to ensure its appropriateness and accuracy, as well as its compliance with intellectual property regulations. Applicants are fully responsible for the content of the proposal, even those parts produced by the AI tool, and must be transparent in disclosing which AI tools were used and how they were utilised.
When writing a Solidarity or Youth Participation project, evaluation can differ from country to country, so detailed lists of mistakes are not reliable; the biggest problem is not reading the Programme Guide and not knowing it well.
Frequently asked questions
Does a Solidarity Project have to go through an organisation?
No, the group that will implement the project applies, and one of the young people in the group assumes the role of the legal representative and takes the responsibility of submitting the application.
Who receives the grant?
The grant is paid into the account of the legal representative, one of the five young people, who is legally responsible for the project. An organisation may apply on behalf of the group for a grant under the European Solidarity Corps.
What happens if members leave the group?
In a Solidarity Project, the number of members cannot fall below 5; any change needs the approval of the National Agency. Our guide on what National Agencies do covers who runs the programme in each country.
When do you hear the result of the application?
National Agencies usually announce the results of project applications within 3 to 6 months on average; this applies across countries, not only one. Our guide on from application to departure shows the full timeline.
Can someone else write the application for you?
Applicants are strongly advised against relying on external entities or individuals for drafting of the application. No other organisations or external individuals can be paid or otherwise compensated for drafting the application or any subsequent reports, as such costs will not be reimbursed or considered as eligible under the grant's terms. Our guide on how to apply for Erasmus+ or ESC takes the steps one by one.
Where do you start?
Our guide on teams that volunteer together describes the other group format of the European Solidarity Corps. The Youth Works Hub pages below cover the next steps.
Related pages: what the European Solidarity Corps is · how to apply for Erasmus+ or ESC · how to register on the ESC Portal · what an OID is · teams that volunteer together · inclusion support
👉 ESC projects: youthworkshub.org/?tab=esc-projects
