April 2026

The Compath Project meeting we held on 17^th September in Zagreb, with the participation of all project partners, was completed. The meeting started with an opening speech by Renato Vuk on behalf of PESG. Vuk briefly mentioned the work done so far in the project and outlined the general flow of the meeting and the topics to be discussed. Following this, Håkon Ege from COLIN introduced the gamification-based digital “Competence Hub” platform, which will be developed within the scope of Work Package 3, aimed at sports innovation. Ege explained that this platform is designed to foster and share innovative approaches in the world of sports. Access to the platform will be provided via https://portal.sportsinnovationshub.com, and after registering, all participants had the opportunity to explore its features and usage details. During this review, Resul Erhan, the representative of MOBAD, gave a comprehensive presentation about the technical details of the platform, providing information on its infrastructure and technical operation. Additionally, Ege mentioned that the platform would be ready for testing within a week, and partners would be able to provide feedback on it.

The second session of the meeting continued with a detailed review of the tasks within Work Package 4. In this session, Håkon Ege from COLIN gave a presentation about the tasks, roles, responsibilities, and the contributions of project partners under this work package. The distribution of modules among project partners was also clarified during this presentation. Each module was distributed according to the expertise of the project partners, and the roles and responsibilities of each partner were detailed. These modules will be added to the project’s digital learning platform to create educational content focused on sports innovation.

In addition, various local and international events under Work Package 4 were outlined in the second session. Under this work package, it was planned to organize local training seminars for trainers, teachers, and experts in five countries (Norway, Poland, Croatia, the United Kingdom, and Sweden). Guidelines, checklists, and feedback forms to be used in these seminars were presented by Ege to all partners. It was also agreed that local thematic workshops would be organized for student-athletes in these five countries, with a deadline for completion set for October 20, 2024.

Another important event discussed was the international workshop to be held in Oslo. This workshop, scheduled for October 28-29, 2024, will host 12 young participants. Each project partner will be responsible for sending a designated number of participants to this international event.

The topic of testing the digital platform was also addressed. It was decided that the platform would be tested by a total of 120 young athletes from eight countries, with 15 participants from each country taking part in the digital learning activities. This testing phase was considered a critical step in terms of platform functionality and user experience. Finally, community-building activities were planned, with six hybrid (physical/digital) meetings and various webinars to be organized throughout the project. These events aim to raise awareness in the field of sports innovation and reach a wider audience.

Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

Dear friends of Dual Career,

On behalf of the EAS Executive Committee, I inform you that the 15th EAS Virtual Cafè on “From talent identification to talent support” will be held on Monday March 31, 2024 (from 13:00 CET).

13:00 Welcome – Prof. Antonio Figueiredo, University of Coimbra

13:10 Prof. Challenges and opportunities in talent recognition – Prof, Zoran Milanovic, University of Nis, Serbia

13:25 The holistic approach to talent support in Denmark – Mr. Ole Keldorf, Head of Sport at Elite Sports Academy Aarhus, Denmark

13:40 The talent journey: Guidelines for coaches, parents, teachers – Prof. Nenad Stojiljkovic, University of Nis, Serbia

13:55 General discussions and concluding remarks

Speakers:

Prof. Zoran Milanovic Associate Professor at the Sports and Physical Education Faculty of the University of Niš, Serbia, he has published more than 100 papers in international journal. He is a member of International Network of Sport and Health Science (INSHS)

Mr. Ole Keldorf, Head of Sport at Elite Sports Academy Aarhus, Member of the EAS Executive Committee, Coach educator at the Danish Football Association,  Member Advisory Board for Youth Elite in the Danish FE.  Author and Editor of several articles and books and talent development.

Prof. Nenad Stojiljkovic, Vice Dean for Science and International Cooperation at the Faculty of Sport and Physical Education of the University of Nis, expert of designing research process, with more than 40 scientific prublications. Coordinator of the “FIND ME” and Member of the “TALENT” ERASMUS+Sport projects

You can join the Zoom Meeting at

Moderator

Prof. Antonio Figueiredo, Associate Professor at the Faculty of Sport Sciences and Physical Education of the University of Coimbra, Member of the EAS Executive Committee, expert of youth training and talent identification and development with an emphasis on soccer.

On March 18, 2025, the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education (CULT) invited European sports stakeholders at the European Parliament to contribute to a consultative meeting on the role of the EU policies in shaping the European Sport Model.

Member of the European Parliament Bogdan Zdrojewski, Vice-Chair of the CULT Committee and rapporteur of the initiative, welcomed the participants, followed by presentation by Iwona Lotysz (Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union) Giorgio Guazzugli-Marini (Acting Head of Sport Unit at the European Commission), and Roberto Pella, (European Committee of the Regions, rapporteur of the opinion on “Building a values-based, bottom-up European sports model: a vehicle for encouraging inclusion and social wellbeing among young Europeans).

Overall, 40 stakeholders participated in the event, with 20 of them providing short speeches in contribution to the European sports policies. Laura Capranica, EAS President, highlighted the importance of European ERASMUS+Sport fundings for cooperative partnerships focused on the sportspersons’ rights to education in and through sports. She highlighted that whilst Europe has been considered a good model and inspiration for countries beyond Europe (recently, a dual career association has been established in Brazil following the EAS example), the tremendous outcomes of the ERASMUS+Sport projects do not always reach the target population at large. To bridge such a gap and to have a positive impact especially in the future generations of athletes, coaches, physical trainers, referees, sports managers, sports scholars, and volunteers, President Capranica suggested the adoption of European policies urging the sport academic institutions and the sport bodies to include relevant European priorities (such as dual career, sport inclusion, sport integrity, safeguarding, etc) in their educational courses.