VOLUGRAM Won the European Grundtvig Award 2026
Tartu Vocational College’s international project, VOLUGRAM, has won the EAEA Grundtvig Award 2026 in the transnational category. The award ceremony took place on June 9th, 2026, at the Museum of Warsaw as part of the European Association for the Education of Adults (EAEA) Annual Conference.
Every year, the Grundtvig Awards celebrate excellence and innovation in adult education across Europe. This year’s 23rd annual awards focused on a very important theme: Resilience and Community-Building. In today’s fast-changing world, adult learning is about much more than just learning new work skills. It is about building people’s confidence, creating a sense of belonging, and helping communities face big changes together through dialogue and shared values.
The VOLUGRAM project connected volunteering as a part of individual learning path. Led by Tartu Vocational College, the project is built on a powerful idea: volunteering is a fantastic way to learn. It acts as a bridge between formal school education and real-world community engagement.
By connecting three major European Capitals of Culture 2024 regions—Tartu (Estonia), Bad Ischl-Salzkammergut (Austria), and Bodø (Norway)—the project strengthened local communities. empowered volunteer leaders and developed a special recognition tool to officially validate volunteering within formal education.
The success of VOLUGRAM does not stop here. Tartu Vocational College now offers voluntary work as an optional course, runs an international course for volunteer leaders, and continues to use the validation tool to help adults get credit for their volunteer work.
“At Tartu Vocational College, we firmly believe in the endless possibilities of adult learning. Being nominated for the Grundtvig Award confirms the vital links between formal education, personal development, active volunteering, and strong, connected communities. We are incredibly proud to see that our innovative approach… is celebrated on a European stage,” — Kaire Mets, representative of Tartu Vocational College.
The Grundtvig Award is given in two categories. While Tartu Vocational College won the transnational category, the national initiative award went to the “Izmir Citizens’ Assembly for Climate” project from Türkiye (led by the YUVA Association). Their project brought randomly selected citizens together to learn about climate change and help shape local environmental policies.
Read more about the Grundtvig Award 2026