Over the last decade, the Grundtvig Programme has helped European adults to boost their skills and employability by providing financial support for training courses and learning mobility. In these ten years, the programme has invested 370 million Euro in the adult education sector and provided 17,000 grants for organisations involving an estimated 500,000 participants.

Now, ten years after its launch, the Commission believes that the support granted through Grundtvig Programme is needed more than ever to overcome the crisis and to free up all of Europe's growth potential, by ensuring that those who missed opportunities in the past are able to flourish in the future.

Through the many actions funded, the Grundtvig programme helps adults who left school with basic or no qualifications, as well as providing support for teachers, trainers and other staff in adult education centres and associations, counselling organisations, information services, NGOs, enterprises, voluntary groups and research centres.

Since 2000, almost  14,000 grants have been paid to organisations participating in more than 3,000 learning partnerships; for many, Grundtvig has given them their first experience of working with similar organisations elsewhere in Europe.

In the past ten years  almost 15,000 teachers and other staff have received in-service training or carried out a teaching assignment with the support of Grundtvig. This figure is expected to reach over 20,000 by the end of 2013.

Since the launch of new opportunities for mobility in 2009 under Grundtvig Programme, some 5,000 adult learners from 30 countries have received a grant to participate in learning experiences and volunteering activities abroad to increase their personal development skills.

The  programme emphasises on support for co-operation projects and networks to develop and disseminate innovative approaches to adult learning. Some 700 such initiatives have been carried out since the programme began, involving around 4,000 partners Euro-wide.

Grundtvig  and Lifelong Learning Programme

Grundtvig is one of the four arms of the European Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP), which enables people at all stages of their lives to take part in learning experiences, as well as helping to develop the education and training sector in Europe. The other three funding arms of the LLP are: Erasmus, which focuses on higher education, Leonardo da Vinci for vocational education and training, and Comenius for schools.

In order to evaluate results and take next steps, a public consultation on the future of the Commission's Lifelong Learning Programme, which includes Grundtvig was opened on 15 September.