 All strategic partnership projects are based on innovative ideas and the willingness to make changes in educational approaches and practices. Project proposals have to be relevant for Erasmus Plus as well as for partners. A strategic partnership project must have clear relevance to local realities and include one or more of the priorities of Erasmus Plus. The need could have several layers. For example, the need of young people, the local community, the organisation and its educators, or the educational youth field in general. Applicants must state clearly what the overall need for this project is and why the existing practices do not meet this need. To clarify the need, a genuine and adequate needs analysis has to be made by all partners. This requires a proper research on regional, national or even European policies and practices. Needs analysis means that you map out what is missing in the current practices by doing a research on young people, professionals and organisations related to the innovative idea that is the base of your project. It also means that you have to check if your idea is unique and truly innovative. Partners can do searches in their networks and on European websites or contact their national agencies. The relevance of the project is an important quality criterion and will be assessed on different levels. Assessors will look if the project is relevant to the final beneficiaries, professionals and organisations, but also to the youth field in general. The objectives should be clearly defined and address issues that are relevant to the partners and the target groups. The proposal should be innovative and complementary to other previous initiatives. If the project creates synergies between different educational fields, it is considered as having an added value. Finally, the project needs to have a European dimension, meaning that the activities would not have the same results if realised only in the single country. As mentioned before, the project must have a link to one of the Erasmus Plus priorities. These priorities can be horizontal, which means they apply to all fields or field specific. Some priorities are considered highly relevant, like social inclusion and EU priorities in the national context. Horizontal priorities of Erasmus Plus are the following. Development of relevant and high quality skills and competences, recognition and tools for the assessment of these skills and competences. Social inclusion, adding diversity, addressing diversity, equality and non-discrimination, critical thinking and the development of social, civic and intercultural competences. Open education and innovative practices in digital era. The development of open source education, media literacy and the development of digital tools and materials. Critical development of educators, especially on working with disadvantaged learners and diversity. Recognition of and support to the validation of learning outcomes and employability. Sustainable investment, performance and efficiency. Quality, innovation and relevance in educational policies. Besides the general horizontal priorities, there can be specific yearly priorities. For 2018, that is, European cultural heritage, awareness, youth engagement and educational initiatives towards intercultural dialogue. Field specific priorities for the youth field are the following. Promoting the quality of youth work, capacity building, cross-sectoral cooperation, working with challenging target groups, link between the youth policy and the recognition of youth work. Promoting empowerment, cross-sectoral cooperation for the inclusion, autonomy, participation and active citizenship of young people. Promoting entrepreneurship education, developing entrepreneurial skills of young people and promoting social enterprises and non-profit activities for young people. The priorities of other educational fields can be found in the program guide. Check with your national agency if they have a specific priority they give more consideration to. It is possible that by linking your project to a certain priority, your project is more likely to get funded. If your idea seems to be innovative and has a link to at least one of the Erasmus Plus priorities, the idea can be developed further into a project. The relevance of the project is your starting point and it should relate to your objectives and the project design as a whole.