February 2024
On January 26-27, 2024, the University of Ljubljana (Slovenia) hosted the EAS Executive Board. During a two-day meeting, Ole Keldorf, Antonio Figueiredo, and Laura Capranica proposed activity plans of New Generation Committee (Next GEN EAS), the Scientific Committee, and the Communication Committee, respectively.
Updates on the participation of EAS in the ERASMUS+ Capacity Building Sports as Value (101093451 to build the capacity of sport managers and coaches in Balkan region to promote values in and through sport) and in the Collaborative Partnerships (COMPATH, 101050955 – Promoting Employability of Young Student-Athletes through ‘‘Competence Hub on Sport Innovation’’; Talent, 101090147 – Cloud-based education for creative sport talents; DC MENTOR, 101132309 – Enhancing Athlete Employability through Career Mentorship and Education; DiscoverU, 101134052 – Sport and physical activity opportunities for students in higher education; SMART START for DC, 101133555 – To encourage the dual career of young high school athletes aged 14 and 19; FIND ME, 101134043 – to structure an evidence-based European platform specifically tailored for dual career at university level) were shared.
The Board approved unanimously the 2024 activity and financial reports and envisaged the organization of three online cafès (March, June, and November 2024), the first one dedicated to “Students-Athletes facing the Olympic Games Students. Furthermore, the visit of the EAS ExCom Members Ole Keldorf and Risto Keskitalo to the Academy of Physical Education Katowice (Poland) was planned to prepare the 2024 Annual Conference.
On February 27, 2024, the Academy of Physical Education Katowice (Poland) Vice Rector Rajmund Tomik and the Director of international Relations Piotr Rodak welcomed Ole Keldorf and Risto Keskitalo and showed the venue of the 2024 EAS Annual Conference to be held on October 1-3, 2024. The co-operation between EAS and the host was sealed with Rector Grzegorz Juras.
During the well-prepared meeting, the Conference programme and the practical arrangements have been defined to provide the best opportunities for a EAS members to have a great time in Katowice.
The celebration of the 20th anniversary of the EAS Conference in Katowice, the European City of Science in 2024, is a special opportunity to highlight the contribution of dual career of sportspersons to the advancement of a European culture in and through sports on all aspects of life. In fact, the Conference is dedicated to “Dual career at school and university – innovative bridges between sport and education”
Further information of the 2024 Conference is available at https://eas24.awf.katowice.pl
On February 15, 2024, the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education of the University of Nis (Serbia) organized the kick-off meeting of the FIND ME project. The project leader is the University of Nis faculty of Sport and Physical education (Serbia) and partners are the University “G. D’Annunzio” of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti (Italy), University of Ljublana (Slovenia), University “Alexandru Ioan Cuza,” Iaši (Romania), International University of La Rioja SA (Spain), OKKAM SRL (Italy), The European Athlete as Students – EAS (Malta) and Collective Innovation AS NO (Norway).The project will be implemented until 2027 with the primary aim to structure an evidence-based European platform specifically tailored for sportspersons looking for the best option dual career to enroll at university level in Europe, in line with the recommendations of the EU Guidelines on Dual Careers of Athletes. The partners of the FIND ME consortium will bring together a solid experience in dual career networks at national, European, and International networks, the experience of the Italian dual career university platform (https://www.unisport-italia.it/en/dual-career/), the European Minimum Study on the minimum quality requirements for dual career services, the Research for cult committee qualifications/dual careers in sports, the participation in the More Then Gold guidelines as well as in several European dual career projects. Universities and organizations from various European countries will be invited to participate in the FIND ME project, whch could provide them a high visibility of their educational offer and dual career policies.
In the FIND ME project, EAS is represented by Laura Capranica, Ilvis Abelkalns and Antonio Figueiredo.
On January 30, 2024, the EAS President Laura Capranica and Treasurer Mojca Doupona attended with more than 500 participants the Erasmus+ Sport InfoDay organized in Brussels, with others following the event in an streaming modality. Recordings of the main sessions are available at https://www.eacea.ec.europa.eu/news-events/events/info-session-erasmus-sport-2024-2024-01-30_en, whereas further information on the Erasmus+ Programme is available in the Guide provided in 24 languages at https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-programme-guide.
European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) Acting Director opened the event with Mrs. Iliana Ivanova (European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth) and Mr. Pierre-Yves Jeholet (representative of the Belgian Presidency of the EU Council).
Two plenary sessions were scheduled in the morning, whereas in the afternoon three parallel session and a final plenary session were organized. In the first plenary session, Yves Le Lostecque (Head of Erasmus+ Mundus & Sport Unit, EACEA), Gael Broze (Head of Erasmus+ Sport Sector, EACEA) and Mr. Luciano Di Fonzo, (Deputy Head of Erasmus+ Mundus & Sport Unit, EACEA) introduced the ERASMUS+ Sport Programme, whereas Pawel Jesien (Polish Athletic Association) and Hebe Schaillee (Free University of Brussels) reported their experiences. In the second plenary session, Florencia Van Houdt, (Head of Sport Unit, DG EAC, European Commission), Milena de Murga, (Union of Sport Federations of Catalunya), Carlotta Giussani (European Olympic Committee EU Office), Vassos Koutsidoundas (Cyprus Sports Organisation) and Anna Merlini (Italian Canoe Kajak Federation) addressed the Erasmus+ Sport Policy priorities.
In the afternoon, the three parallel sessions focused on how to apply for Erasmus+ KA2 sport actions, on how to present project proposals, and on how to present a Capacity Building proposals. Among the EU funding opportunities in sports presented in the last plenary session, the Share 2.0 initiative was explained by Luciano Di Fonzo (Deputy Head of Erasmus+ Mundus & Sport Unit at EACEA) and Olivier Smith (Deputy Head of Unit Sport Policy at DG EAC of the European Commission); the Erasmus+ KA1 mobility of sport staff was illustrated by Violeta Birzniece (Sport Unit at DG EAC of the European Commission), and the Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions in the field of sport were described by Izabela Pelczynska (Erasmus+ Sport Sector at EACEA presented Pilot Projects and Preparatory Actions in the field of sport).
Iban Garcia del Blanco (Member of the European Parliament) and Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen (Director General of DG EAC of the European Commission) highlighted the increased budget allocated to sport-specific EU policies in practices, and the growing interest and variety of applications to the funding opportunities in sports.
A special recognition was attributed to Yves Le Lostecque (Head of Erasmus+ Mundus & Sport Unit at EACEA and former Head of Sport Unit at DG EAC of the European Commission), who announced his retirement after having greatly contributed to the development of key European sport initiatives.
The deadline for ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Parnerships and Capacity Building project applications is March 5, 2024.
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Email: info@dualcareer.eu