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The illustrations in the provided Wiki pages are for consultation purpose only and may not always reflect the latest implementation. 

This page explains how to manage Blended Intensive Programmes in KA131 Mobility of higher education students and staff supported by internal policy funds projects in Beneficiary module, using a KA131 project from call year 2024.

Blended intensive programmes 

... are short, intensive programmes that use innovative ways of learning and teaching, including the use of online cooperation. The programmes may include challenge based learning where transnational and transdisciplinary teams work together to tackle challenges for example those linked to the United Nations’ sustainable development goals or other societal challenges identified by regions, cities or companies. The intensive programme should have added value compared to existing courses or trainings offered by the participating HEIs and can be multiannual. By enabling new and more flexible mobility formats that combine physical mobility with a virtual part, blended intensive programmes aim at reaching all types of students from all backgrounds, study fields and cycles. 

Groups of higher education institutions will have the opportunity to organise short blended intensive programmes of learning, teaching and training for students and staff. During these blended intensive programmes, groups of students or staff as learners will undertake a short-term physical mobility abroad combined with a compulsory virtual component facilitating collaborative online learning exchange and teamwork. The virtual component must bring the learners together online to work collectively and simultaneously on specific assignments that are integrated in the blended intensive programme and count towards the overall learning outcomes. ... 

Source: Erasmus+ Programme Guide 2024 (Version 1, 28.11.23); page 52

Blended intensive programmes are developed and implemented by at least three higher education institutions (HEIs) coming from at least three EU Member States and third countries associated to the Programme (called a blended intensive programme partnership).


The duration of the physical component in a Blended Intensive Programme is between 5 and 30 days, but there is no limitation on the duration of the virtual component. For full eligibility criteria please refer to the Erasmus+ Programme Guide.

Within each blended intensive programme partnership there must be one coordinating HEI and receiving HEI (typically the same HEI combining the coordinating and receiving role) and minimum two partner HEIs. A coordinating HEI can be a sending or receiving organisation in a mobility activity. Blended intensive programmes can be open to students and staff from sending higher education institutions outside the partnership, but the receiving HEI must be one of the partnership organisations. The participating HEIs must hold a valid ECHE.

The following mobility activity types can be organised to take part in a blended intensive programme:

  • Student mobility for studies
  • Staff mobility for training
  • Staff mobility for teaching

In a KA131 project, in the Blended intensive programmes section, you will see all the blended intensive programmes defined in the grant agreement and transferred automatically from the National Agency's project management system. It is not possible to manually add more blended intensive programmes directly in your project. Initially, each Blended intensive programme, available in the project, is in status Draft and must be completed before mobility activities can be linked to it. 

Information

If your organisation/consortium has not been awarded organisational support for carrying out blended intensive programmes, this section will not be available in your project. You can still send participants to blended intensive programmes implemented by other HEIs, regardless of whether your organisation is a partner in the blended intensive programme partnership, provided that both projects are ongoing (final beneficiary report has not been submitted for any of them) and the physical period of the programme is within the physical period of the participant's mobility activity.

To link a mobility activity to a blended intensive programme, you must take the following steps in the mobility activity screen, accessible from the Mobility Activities section of the project, for the selected participant:

  1. Check the Mobility to a Blended Intensive Programme flag (KA131)/Blended intensive programme flag (KA171) in the Mobility Activity section of the mobility screen. See  Mobility activities in KA131 Higher Education projects and Mobility activities in KA171-HED projects for details. 
  2. Select the relevant Blended intensive programme ID in the From-To section of the mobility screen. Make sure the mobility activity Start Date and End Date are correctly filled in before you attempt to link it to a specific blended intensive programme. Clicking on the Select button for the  Blended intensive programme ID opens a pop-up window containing a list of  blended intensive programmes:
    • Blended intensive programmes in status Complete from the current project, for which the start date and end date of the physical period overlap with the dates of the participant's mobility activity physical period, and/or
    • Blended intensive programmes in status Complete from other ongoing HED projects, where the beneficiary organisation of the current project is added as a partner organisation, and for which the start date and end date of the physical period overlap with the dates of the participant's mobility activity physical period.

Mobility activities can only be linked to a Blended Intensive Programme in status Complete. Once the status of the linked mobility activity is also Complete, the mobility activity will be displayed in the participant lists for the selected blended intensive programme in the project. See Link a mobility activity in a KA131 or KA171 project to a Blended intensive programme for details. Complete learner mobility activities are taken into account in the reported number of participants and the reported organisational support for the selected blended intensive programme in the beneficiary project. These amounts can be viewed both in the blended intensive programme details and in a dedicated section in the budget overview.

Take note

Learners from the country of the receiving HEI may enrol in the blended intensive programme, but do not count towards the number of reported participants, nor is any organisational support granted for these participants.

Sending organisations can have an overview of their participants enrolled in blended intensive programmes by exporting the mobility activity list. Those participants are counted in the reported number of mobility activities in the budget overview of the sending organisation project. As a result, in the Blended intensive programmes section of the project, the mobility activity will be taken into account in the number of reported participants for the selected blended intensive programme and will be listed in the programme details, at the bottom of the screen.

In the Blended Intensive Programmes section of a KA131 project, the beneficiary will need to provide the details for each of the awarded blended intensive programmes before mobility activities can be linked, as explained below. 

Information

Before you start providing information about the Blended intensive programme in your project, check that all participating organisations are available in the Participating organisations section of your project. You can add additional organisations from this section, if required.

For general instructions on how to create and manage mobility activities in beneficiary projects via the Erasmus+ and European Solidarity Corps platform, please see the page Add mobility activities to projectsFor a quick overview of Activities in Beneficiary module, please view the eLearning video

 

Steps

1. Click on "Blended Intensive Programme(s)" in the "Content menu"

When you click on Blended Intensive Programme(s) in the Content menu of your project, the list of Blended Intensive Programmes displays all the blended intensive programmes defined in the grant agreement, as automatically transferred from the National Agency project management system when the project becomes available in Beneficiary module. 

Initially, all available Blended Intensive Programmes displayed are in status Draft. The status will change to Complete after you fill in all the required information in the Blended intensive programme details and the Blended Intensive Programme Partnership sections of the programme. 

You have the options to View (1) or Edit (2) the available Blended Intensive Programmes; the Delete option (red bin icon) is inactive.

See the page List functionality in projects for additional information on the list functionalities, such as Search, Filters and the Bulk Actions.

It is not possible to manually add more blended intensive programmes directly in your project. It is also not possible to delete a Blended Intensive Programme from the list. If such changes are required, please contact your National Agency for an amendment to your project. 

Click on 'Blended intensive programme(s)' in the Content menu


2. List of "Blended intensive programmes" opens

For blended intensive programmes displayed in the list, the following information is available: 

  • Blended Intensive Programme ID - assigned automatically, it cannot be changed; indicate this ID in the mobility activity screen, for a selected participant to retrieve and display the participant's details in the Blended intensive programme
  • Title of the Blended intensive programme - initially empty.
  • Number of KA131 learner participants (contracted) - granted number of KA131 learner participants (learners) as per signed grant agreement.
  • Number of KA131 learner participants (reported) - calculated automatically, based on the number of participants linked to the Blended intensive programme, at the level of mobility.
  • Number of Teachers/Trainers delivering the Programme - calculated based on the type of participant linked to the blended intensive programme, at the level of mobility.
  • Number of HEIs in the Partnership - the number of higher education institutions delivering the blended intensive programme.
  • Coordinating HEI - the higher education institution coordinating the blended intensive programme.
  • Receiving HEI - the higher education institution receiving the participants in the blended intensive programme.
  • Status - initially, the status of the blended intensive programme is Draft, and it will change to Complete after you fill in all the required information in the Blended intensive programme details and the Blended Intensive Programme Partnership sections of the programme.

Information is only displayed or updated in the list view after you fill in all the details of the blended intensive programme and after you link mobility activities to it. You can View (blue eye icon) or Edit (green pencil icon) the specific programme, while the Delete option (red bin icon) is inactive. 

See the page List functionality in projects for additional information on the list functionalities, such as Search, Filters and the Bulk Actions.

The list of blended intensive programmes

 

3. Complete the Blended intensive programme details

3.1. Click on the "Edit" icon to access the details of the Blended intensive programme

Click on the Edit (pencil) icon in line with the desired programme, to open its details.

Click on the 'Edit' icon to open the full details of the blended intensive programme

The Blended Intensive Programmes screen consists of three sections:

  1. The details about the Blended Intensive Programme
  2. The list of Blended Intensive Programmes Partnerships
  3. The two lists of Blended Intensive Programmes Participants

Use the scrollbar in your browser to access all the information on screen. 

You must fill in all the required information in the Details and Partnership sections. The information in the Participants section can only be viewed. Participants are only available if they have already been linked to the Blended intensive programme, which is done in the individual mobility activity screen for a participant.

The fields available may vary, depending on the call year of the project.

 The Blended intensive programme screen in a KA131, call 2024 project

 

3.2. Fill in the details of the Blended intensive programme

Fill in the fields for the Blended Intensive Programme, as required. The fields available depend on the call year of the project. 

Mandatory fields are marked with a red asterisk (*) and the text Value missing is displayed below the relevant fields, if no information is provided. Some fields display specific information in red below the field, providing an indication on the required values, for example Value cannot be smaller than 3, received value is 0

Note the following:

  1. Certain fields are updated automatically, based on the linked mobility activities involved in the blended intensive programme, and based on the organisations you add in the Partnerships section.
    • These fields are greyed out and the information cannot be changed manually.
    • If corrections are required, you must make the necessary changes, either in the affected mobility activities that are linked to the selected programme, using as reference the Blended intensive programme ID, or in the Partnerships section. 
  2. The Physical start date and Physical end date fields refer to the activities performed on-site.
  3. The Blended intensive programme organisational support (contracted) is the amount awarded by the National Agency, and is read-only. It is calculated based on the number of contracted participants.
  4. The Number of KA131 learner participants (contracted) displays the awarded number by the National Agency, and is read-only. 
  5. The Blended intensive programme organisational support (reported) is calculated automatically, based on the number of participants linked to the blended intensive programme and have the status Complete in Beneficiary module - only from KA131 projects, with activity types Student mobility for studies and Staff mobility for training.

    • To be eligible for organisational support, a blended intensive programme needs to involve a minimum of 10 learners (not including teaching/training staff involved in the delivery of the programme) from KA131 projects. Therefore, if the Reported organisational support grant falls below 6000 EUR due to less than 10 eligible participants, the Blended intensive programme organisational support (reported) will display 0 EUR.

    • Learners from the country of the receiving HEI may participate in the Blended Intensive Programme, but do not count towards the number of reported participants, nor is any organisational support granted for these participants.

      There is an additional capping for the organisational support amount as per following rules:

      • If the calculated organisational support is greater than or equal to the contracted organisational support, then the reported organisational support is equal to the contracted organisational support; in short, calculated OS ≥ contracted OS reported OS = contracted OS

      • If the number of contracted participants is greater than 20, then the organisational support will be granted (capped) only for 20 participants; in short, contracted participants > 20 calculated OS = contracted OS
      • If the number of participants is less than 20, but between 18 and 20, the organisational support is granted for the contracted 20; in short, participants ≥ 18 calculated OS = contracted OS
      • Nevertheless, if the number of participants falls under 18, then the organisational support will be the calculated amount, based on the real number of reported participants; in short, participants < 18 reported OS = awarded OS


  6. Number of KA131 learner participants (reported) - the field will only show the participants (learners) from Student mobility for studies and Staff mobility for training linked from KA131 projects, and not the ones from linked KA171 projects.

The field Virtual component duration is only displayed and mandatory for KA131, call 2021 projects. 

Provide the details for the blended intensive programme

Here is an example of the organisational support fields in the Blended intensive programme details, after mobility activities have been linked. Note that the organisational support (reported) is calculated based on the reported number of participants, which is less than 18, as explained above.

See the page Link a mobility activity in a KA131 or KA171 project to a Blended intensive programme for step-by-step instructions on how to link a mobility activity to a blended intensive programme.

Blended intensive programme organisational support, after mobilities have been linked

 

3.3. Add the "Blended Intensive Programme Partnerships"

Access the Blended Intensive Programme Partnerships section. Note the warning messages displayed above the section. These warning messages provide an overview of the rules which must be observed regarding the roles of the organisations added to the partnership. 

As you add and/or edit partnership organisations, the warning messages will disappear if a specific rule is fulfilled. When all conditions are fulfilled, the warning messages are no longer displayed.

Warning messages regarding the role of the organisations in the partnership

3.3.1. Click on the "Create" button

Click on the Create button in the Blended Intensive Programmes Partnerships section, to add the organisations.

Important aspects to consider:

  • The partnership must include at least three higher education institutions from three different countries, of which one must have the role of Coordinator (HEI with a valid ECHE), and one must have the role of Receiving HEI (with a valid ECHE).
  • At least one organisation in the partnership must be a Sending HEI/Organisation.
  • The Coordinating HEI can be a Receiving HEI or Sending HEI.

As a prerequisite, you must first add those organisations to your project as described on the page Participating organisations in projects.

Click on the 'Create' button, to add a new partnership in the blended intensive programme

3.3.2. Provide the required information and click "Save"

In the displayed pop-up window:

  1. Select the Organisation ID from the drop-down list. Some of the organisation details will be filled in automatically.
  2. Select the applicable Partnership Role.
  3. Select the Mobility Activity Role. The options available depend on the partnership role. 
  4. Click Save to update the partnership details. The organisation is added to the list of partnerships.

Provide the required information and Save

Once items are added to the list, the following icons become available:

  1. Delete - click on this icon in line with the item you wish to delete, and follow the onscreen instructions.
  2. View - click on this icon to open the details of the selected item in read-only mode. All fields are greyed out and you will not be able to change any details.
  3. Edit - open the details of the selected item in edit mode. Make the desired changes, then click on the Save button at the bottom of the screen to save the updated information. 

Take note

Please note that removing an organisation from the list does not remove it from the project, nor does it affect any of the related mobility activities.

The warning messages on top of the list are also updated. In our example, after we added one partner organisation as Receiving HEI, the message concerning the Receiving HEI is no longer displayed, meaning that this rule is now fulfilled. 

Add all the other partnership organisations, as previously explained.The organisation is added to the list of partnerships

Take note of the following:

  1. Partnership rules - Every blended intensive programme partnership must have:
    1. at least three HEIs - the ones implementing the programme
    2. only one Coordinator (Partnership Role)
    3. at least two Partner HEIs (Partnership Role): the partnership can include additional organisations (HEIs or other types)
    4. only one Receiving HEI (Mobility Activity Role); typically, this is the Coordinating HEI, but this role can be assigned to another HEI in the partnership
    5. at least one Sending Organisation (Mobility Activity Role)
  2. For the following organisations that are added to the partnership, you can choose the Partnership Role and the Mobility Activity Role as applicable, keeping in mind the partnership rules explained above.
    1. Whenever the Coordinator and Receiving HEI roles are assigned to a new organisation, previous organisations must also be updated. Check the displayed warning message and adapt the organisation roles accordingly.

Here is an example of the Blended Intensive Programmes Partnerships list, with four organisations added. No warning message is displayed at the top of the list, meaning that all requirements for Blended Intensive Programmes Partnerships are fulfilled. 

Add all required organisations to the partnership

3.4. Save the updated Blended Intensive Programme

Click on the Save button to keep all the changes made to the Blended Intensive Programme. 

Click on the 'Save' button to keep all the changes made to the Blended Intensive Programme

3.5. Blended Intensive Programme in status "Complete"

You are returned to the List of Blended Intensive Programmes.

If all mandatory information for the Blended Intensive Programme is provided and the partnership organisations are correctly added, then the Status of the Blended Intensive Programme is updated to Complete.

You can now to link mobility activities to the Blended intensive programme, as explained on the page Link a mobility activity in a KA131 or KA171 project to a Blended intensive programme.

The status of the Blended Intensive Programme is updated to 'Complete'

 

4. View the Blended Intensive Programme "Participants"

After mobility activities are linked to a Blended intensive programme, you can view their information from the Blended Intensive Programme details screen. See the page Link a mobility activity in a KA131 or KA171 project to a Blended intensive programme for step-by-step instructions. 

4.1. Click on "View" or "Edit" to open the details of the Blended Intensive Programme 

Click on the View or Edit icon to open the details of the Blended Intensive Programme.

Click on the 'View' or 'Edit' icon to open the details of the Blended Intensive Programme

4.2. Scroll to the lists of Participants at the bottom of the screen

At the bottom of the Blended Intensive Programme(s) screen, you can view two lists of Participants enrolled in the selected blended intensive programme, with key details about each participant, such as Mobility Activity ID, Type of participant, Participant name, and more:

  1. Learner participants counting towards the Organisational Support for the Blended Intensive Programme - this list contains the mobility activities linked to the programme from KA131 projects (current and other projects) with activity types:
    • Student mobility for studies, and
    • Staff mobility for training
  2. Other participants in the Blended Intensive Programme - this list contains the mobility activities linked to the programme from other KA131 and KA171 projects with activity type:
    • Staff mobility for teaching

4.3. View participant details

For each participant displayed in the lists, you can open the participant details in view mode, by clicking on the View icon.

Participants in the Blended intensive programme

A pop-up window will open, containing the basic information about the mobility activity. All information is read-only. Any changes in the participant information must be done from the Mobility activity details. Click on the Back button at the bottom of the pop-up to close it. 

Take note

Participants are only available in one of the lists if their individual mobility activity has been linked to the Blended Intensive Programme you are viewing, and if the mobility activity is in status Complete. Linking an individual mobility activity to a Blended Intensive Programme is done from the Mobility activity details, in the relevant project (either KA131, or KA171). See Link a mobility activity in a KA131 or KA171 project to a Blended intensive programme

Participant details open in a pop up

Here is an example screen of a linked Blended Intensive Programme viewed in the Mobility Activities details in a KA131 project, available in the From-To section. See Mobility activities in KA131 Higher Education projects for additional information. 

Example screen of a linked Blended Intensive Programme viewed in the mobility activities From-To section


5. Deleted Blended Intensive Programmes

Blended intensive programmes in a project cannot be removed manually in the Beneficiary module. If required, an amendment must be raised to your National Agency to have a Blended Intensive Programme removed from your project. For general information regarding amendments, please see Updates to project data in Beneficiary module

If the amendment has been confirmed by the National Agency and completed in their project management system, the changes will become available in your project. 

Blended Intensive Programmes that have been removed will still display in the list of Blended Intensive Programmes of your project, but they will no longer display the Blended Intensive Programme ID, and they will be in status Draft.

Deleted Blended Intensive Programmes still display in the list but will no longer display the Blended Intensive Programme ID

When you open the details, a notification displays on top of the screen, informing you of the fact that the Blended Intensive Programme has been deleted

As a result, any mobility activities that were already linked to the Blended Intensive Programme are removed and are no longer visible in the two lists of Blended Intensive Programmes Participants.

In the mobility activity details for these previously linked participants, the Mobility to a Blended Intensive Programme flag (KA131)/Blended intensive programme flag (KA171), available in the Mobility Activity section, is unchecked and no Blended Intensive Programme is displayed in the From-To section. 

The Blended Intensive Programme is also no longer available in the Budget screen

In Blended Intensive Programme details, notification displays on top of the screen regarding the deletion


Expected Outcome

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