July 2021
Following the recent publication of the European study “EU Sports Policy: Assessment and Possible Ways Forward” (https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/236742/PE652-251_Study-EU-Sport-Policy.pdf), last June 29 and July 1, 2021MEP Tomasz Frankowski, Co-Chair of the European Parliament Sports Group, organized online consultations with several stakeholders.
The meeting was opened by Luka Živić, Slovenian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Floor Van Houdt, Head of Unit for Sport, European Commission, and Stanislas Frossard, Executive Secretary EPAS, Council of Europe, followed by short presentations by Ronan O’Laoire, Head of the UNODC Programme on Safeguarding Sport from Corruption and Crime, and Rafał Piechota, Director, Office of the President, World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).
Then, the representatives of the sports organisations shared their views on priorities and provided recommendations for European policies. In particular, EAS deemed relevant to consider:
- Continuous support of the role of education in and through sport, especially in promoting social values and economic benefits for the Member States.
- A new edition of the European Year of Education through Sport (EYES) to encourage a full recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, which strongly affected the sport and education sectors.
- A continuous defence of the fundamental rights of sportspersons to combine sport and education by extending the EU dual careers recommendations to all the actors engaged in structured sport (e.g., athletes of all levels, coaches, sport managers, and sports media).
- Inter-sectoral cooperation for the inclusion of education in and through sport in the corporate social responsibility policies and strategies of for-profit companies.
- Support of research and monitoring of different aspects of the European sports phenomenon, including the education and career paths of the athletes, coaches, managers and media, also in light of an implementation of the qualification frameworks in sport at national and European levels.
- A full rights of citizenship for sports in the European research area by appointing a sport scientist in the European Research Council (ERC) and by including sport in the keywords of the ERC evaluation panels.
On June 24, 2021, the Catholic University of San Antonio Murcia UCAM – Spain, coordinator of the ERASMUS+ Collaborative Partnership “Dual Career of Student-Athletes with Disabilities as a Tool for Social Inclusion – PARA-LIMITS” (622213-EPP-1-2020-1-ES-SPO-SCP), organized online the second project meeting with the partner’s University of Rome Foro Italico – Italy, the Polytechnic Institute of Viseu – Portugal, the National Physical Education University of Bucharest – Romania, the University of Limerick – Ireland, the Collective Innovation – Norway, the European Paralympic Committee and the European Athlete as Student Network – Malta).
First, the findings on the state of the art of dual career of student-athletes with disabilities were analysed. Then, a 
further collection of information on the obstacles, needs and barriers of this special population in relation to their sports and academic career was planned. In particular, a multi-lingual online survey and national focus groups will be organized during the fall. The collected evidence- and eminence-based information will be used to develop a guide to boost the dual career among athletes with disabilities, and to create an innovative course for the training of university staff as sports mentors specialized in student-athletes with disabilities. (more…)
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Email: info@dualcareer.eu