Author: duponam
On March 27, 2025, the Sports School PESG (Croatia), coordinator of the ERASMUS+Sport project Smart Start for Dual Career (101133555), organized an online Team meeting to discuss the progression of the key elements for supporting the development of dual careers of young student athletes (14 – 19) through strengthening their transversal/transferable skills. The joint effort of
PEGS, Margherita Sport e Vita – MSV, MindSpin, Champions Factory, Turkish Ministry of Education, and EAS is to finalize the development of new MOOC educational contents and the self-evaluation questionnaire for youth athletes as students.
The Smart Start for Dual Career Team will meet in person in Sofia (Bulgaria) at the end of April 2025.
The Smart Start for DC project is funded by the European Union and coordinated by PEGS. 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.
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.
In relation to the claims made by other stakeholders on the lack of accurate and reliable data to help the interpretation of the European sport phenomenon and its possible evolution in different sectors, President Capranica recommended that the European sport policies finally enforce the inclusion of sport in the in the European Research Area, To assist the European sport culture, President Capranica strongly encouraged European policies ensuring the right of citizenship of sports in the European Research Council (ERC) by finally mentioning active lifestyles, physical activity and sports in the ERC codes and by including experts of sports sciences in the European Scientific Committee.
Following this event, the European Parliament’s own-initiative report will gather the input from the stakeholders by March 31, 2025 in preparation of the next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) of the European Union (EU).
The event was also an opportunity for EAS to promote its ongoing ERASMUS+Sport projects in cooperation with other stakeholders, such as EUSA Institute.
On March 17th, 2025, Laura Capranica, President of EAS, visited the Headquarter of CISM to met CISM Secretary General Navy Captain Roberto Recchia, CISM Academic Director Lieutenant-Commander Florentia Sfakianou, and dr. Andrea Carletti from Sport4Impact.
In presenting dual career opportunities offered by military sports to actual and former athletes and the efforts of CISM in organizing large global sports events, Lieutenant-Commander Florentia Sfakianou (Olympian) and Captain Roberto Recchia have been speakers at the 11th and 14th EAS cafès, respectively.
By reinforcing the collaboration with CISM and Sport4Impact, EAS contributes to bridging the gap between elite sports performance, education, and social development. During the meeting, joint initiatives have been envisaged to foster international cooperation in academic, scientific, and educational sports initiatives for sustaining the dual career of sportspersons, the sport values, and the integrity of sports.
Coordinated by Collective Innocation AS, EAS, CISM, Sport4Impact, Mouvement Européen pour le Fair Play-EFPM, the EUSA Intitute, and the UniversitàTelematica San Raffaele Roma cooperated in the preparation of the SPORT-Voice application to the ERASMUS+Sport 2024 Call.
Further information is available at https://www.milsport.one/news/march-2025-032025/cism-strengthens-ties-with-academic-and-community-sports-initiatives
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, 2025 (from 13:00 CET). You can join the Zoom Meeting at https://uni-lj-si.zoom.us/j/97281335276
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
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.
Funded by the ERASMUS+Sport programme (101134043), the FIND ME project aims to structure an evidence-based European platform specifically tailored for dual career at university level through a joint effort of five European universities (Faculty of Sport and Physical Education University of Nis, Coordinator; University of Chieti-Pescara “Gabriele D’Annunzio”, Italy; Faculty of Sport University of Ljubljana, Slovenia; University Alexandru Ioan Cuza Din Iasi, Romania; Universidad Internacional De La Rioja, Spain), an impact-driven organisation (Collective Innovation – COLIN, Norway) and EAS.
On March 10, 2025, the Find Me Team organized an online meeting to discuss key milestones, to address challenges, and to assess the overall alignment of activities with the project’s objectives. Based on the deskwork and fieldwork at national levels in Italy, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, and Spain (https://findmeproject.net/#flipbook-df_626/1/), and the recent publication of findings of a survey on the views of 321student-athletes’ and 43 dual career university experts (https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/sports-and-active-living/articles/10.3389/fspor.2025.1507951/full?utm_source=F-NTF), the team is planning the creation of an online platform providing information about dual career opportunities at university level, discussing its technical characteristics and requirements to ensure its functionality and accessibility.
The FIND ME project is funded by the European Union. 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.
On March 4, the TALENT Project Consortium Board held online one of its final meetings, marking an important phase in the project as it nears completion on May 31, 2025.
Representatives from CI SDZ, SMOC, CSI, KMOP, FSFV, EAS, and UNIPA gathered to discuss crucial milestones, upcoming events, and remaining deliverables.
The final deliverable for Work Package 4 has been reviewed and will be soon uploaded on the SyGMA portal, and the preparations of the final event to be held at the Faculty of Sport of the University of Sarajevo next April 9-13, 2025, has been finalized. In the next weeks KMOP will compile the final video of the testimonials from athletes and a TALENT EAS cafè has been envisioned. Further information is available at https://talent-edu.eu
Talent id funded by the European Union (101090147). 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.
The EAS Executive Board held its first in-person meeting of 2025 in Frankfurt (Germany) on 20-21 February. During the meeting, President Laura Capranica and Treasurer Mojca Doupona presented the 2024 activity and financial reports, respectively, which were unanimously approved.
The contribution of EAS to the development of the ongoing ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Partnerships was illustrated and possible participations in the next call was envisaged. To facilitate exchanges of information between the dual career community, the functionality of the EAS website will be implemented in the next three months.
For the EAS cafés, several themes have been proposed, with the next events to be organized at the end of March-beginning of April, on June, and on December. Unfortunately, the Croatian Olympic Committee informed that the current financial situation does not permit to organize the 2025 EAS Conference and General Assembly in Croatia. The ExCom decided to enquiry several possible alternatives.
Antonio Sánchez Pato presented a proposal for the EAS Strategic Plan for the 2024-28 cycle, which was discussed by the members of the executive committee. Final considerations were dedicated to the possibility of implementing the EAS Stature to allow the inclusion of the Members of the Next Generation in the ExCom EAS, and individual memberships. These aspects will be presented to the General Assembly.
Funded by the Erasmus+Sport programme (101133555), the SMART START for DC is a joint effort of Sportsko učilište PESG – projekti(HR) MindSpin (CY), Aps Asd Margherita Sport e Vita (IT), Champions Factory (BG), EAS – The Dual Career Network (MT), and Millî Eğitim Bakanlığı(TR). The project aims to encourage the dual career of young athletes of high school age (from 14 to 19 years old) through timely preparation for the labor market.
On February 4 the SmartStart4DC Team met online to align the goals and methodologies for the creation of the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) on transversal skills for empowering youth athletes aged 14 to 19 years and helping them juggling training, classes, and personal life. The content of the MOOC is based on the insights gained from analyzing the findings from surveys and interviews performed during earlier stages of the project.
The Smart Start for DC project is funded by the European Union coordinated by PEGS. 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.
The #BeActive Award Ceremony 2024 and the ERASMUS+Sport InfoDay took place in Brussels on November 26 and December 16, respectively.
The #BeActive Award recognizes the individuals and organizations committed to the promotion active lifestyles and sports participation in Europe. Pia Ahrenkilde Hansen (Director-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture) welcomed the 12 finalists of the #BeActive Education, Workplace, Local Hero, and Across Generation award categories and Diana Bianchedi (Chief Strategy Planning & Legacy Officer of the Milano-Cortina 2026 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games) delivered a keynote speech. 2024 winners were SportUnion Austria (AUT) for Education, Metropolis of Lyon (FRA) for Workplace, Alessio Bernabo (ITA) for Local Hero, and Foundation of Sport Development Espanola (POL) for Across Generation Awards, respectively. More information om the finalists and the winners is available at https://sport.ec.europa.eu/news/2024-beactive-awards-and-the-winners-are
Following the publication of the ERASMUS+ Programme Guide (https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/erasmus-programme-guide), th e European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) organized in cooperation with the Sport Unit of the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) the ERASMUS+Sport Info Day 2025. This event aims to present the policies in the field of sports and to provide a tremendous platform for networking with potential partners to the funding opportunities available in this area. Sophie Beernaerts (Director of the European Education and Culture Executive Agency – EACEA) welcomed the on-site and remote audience and Glenn Micallef (European Commissioner for Intergenerational Fairness, Youth, Culture and Sport) introduced the main challenges of his mandate.
The first plenary focused on the key sports policies and development, as well as the stakeholders’ findings from the SHARE 2.0 initiative. The second plenary session was dedicated to the opportunities and challenges experienced by participants of Erasmus+ sport programme. In particular, as a good practice Andrej Pisl (EUSA Institute) mentioned the coordination of the EU-funded project Discovering university sport and supporting dual career (DiscoverU), particularly mentioning EAS as one of its partners. In the afternoon, three parallel sessions addressed opportunities for mobility of sport staff, for applying to the Sport and the Capacity Building main calls. Georg Haussler, Director of Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture closed the event. The recordings and presentations will be available at https://www.eacea.ec.europa.eu/news-events/events/info-session-erasmus-sport-2025-2024-12-16_en. Deadline for new application to the ERASMUS+projects is March 5, 2025: 17:00 CET.
Dear Dual Career Friends and Colleagues,
Wishing you a wonderful holiday season embracing the best of this year to renew our good will towards the dual career of the sportspersons.
In 2024, EAS continued the successful experience of virtual cafes to allow the dual career community to hear the experiences and visions of experts and testimonial regarding “Students-Athletes Facing the Olympic Games”, “University Sports – From Active Lifestyles to Dual Career”, and “Military Sport: Dual Career Opportunities and Challenges”.
During this year, EAS implemented fruitful partnerships with International Organizations in Sports by signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the European Network of Sport Education (ENSE) and with the Associacao Brasileira sobre Dupla Carreira Esportiva (ABDC), and by participating in the 18th Council of Europe Conference of Ministers Responsible for Sport, the celebration of the EUSA 25th Anniversary, the Erasmus+ BeActive Award, and the Erasmus+ Infoday. Furthermore, the Italian Scientific Society of Movement and Sports (SISMES) presented a Recognition Plaque to President Laura Capranica for her commitment to the advancement of dual career in Italy.
During the Annual General Assembly held in Katowice, Poland, the past and future actions of EAS were discussed and the 2025 EAS Conference to be held in Zagreb, Croatia (October 1-3) was presented.
Furthermore, EAS endorses the creation of the “University Research Network of Dual Mentoring for High Level Athletes-Students” (RUMDE) funded by the Superior Council of Sports of the Government of Spain, composed of 8 universities and 20 researchers. Its objective is to design a dual mentoring model valid for all Spanish universities adapted to the European Higher Education Area (EHEA).
The EU-funded ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Partnerships and Capacity Building
Through oral presentations and distribution of the projects’ flyers, EAS disseminated to scholars and policy makers the aims and progresses of the following ongoing projects at international conferences (ABDC, Sao Paulo, Brazil September 15-17; SISMeS, Chieti-Pescara, Italy, September 20-22; 2024 Ministerial Conference of EPAS Council of Europe, October 8-10, Porto, Portugal; ENSE Forum, Tirana, Albania, November 2-3). Furthermore, the EAS activities have been reported in the EAS website and summarized as follow:
COMPATH (101050955). On February 26, NYSA hasted in Stockholm (Sweden) the project meeting to discuss the future phases for creating new opportunities for young professionals in the sports industry (https://www.dualcareer.eu/discover-how-our-compath-project-supports-the-sports-industry-by-empowering-young-sports-professionals/), and on September 17 PESG hosted in Zagreb (Croatia) during which the gamification-based digital “Competence Hub” platform has been introduced and thematic workshops for student-athletes have been planned (https://www.dualcareer.eu/report-from-the-compath-project-meeting/). Further information is available at https://sportsinnovationshub.com
DC Mentor (101132309). On March 1, the kickoff meeting of the DCMentor project took place in Oslo (Norway) to discuss tools and solutions that will aid athletes in balancing dual careers, including life skills, future skills, and 21th century skills (https://www.dualcareer.eu/we-are-starting-the-dc-mentor-project/). The second project meeting was held in Katowice (Poland) on September 30 to summarize the completed outputs and to plan future steps, including the possibility to develop a specific module on “Mental Toughness” module (https://www.dualcareer.eu/report-from-the-dc-mentor-project/). Further information is available at https://dcmentor.eu
DiscoverU (101134052). On April 22, the 13th EAS online Cafè has been organized in cooperation with the EUSA Institute to address the role of university sports for enhancing sport participation and active lifestyles of university students, which is the focus of the ERASMUS+ Cooperative Partnership DiscoverU (https://www.dualcareer.eu/the-eas-eusa-cafe-university-sports-from-active-lifestyles-to-dual-career/). On May 30-31, the Croatian Academic Sports Federation organized in Porec (Croatia) the second project meeting as part of the 2nd International Scientific Conference 4 Healthy Academic Society, during which the undertaken and future activities have been summarized (https://www.dualcareer.eu/discoveru-project-meeting-held-in-porec/). To highlight the importance of collaboration and involvement of educated youth for the development of future leaders encouraging the active lifestyles of university students the project partners gathered at the University of Debrecen (Hungary) on July 13 as part of the “EUSA Forum 2024: Synergies in university sport development” (https://www.dualcareer.eu/third-transnational-meeting-of-the-discoveru-project-in-debrecen-miskolc-hungary/). During the 2024 EAS Conference in Katowice (Poland), Andrej Pisl (EUSA Institute) presented “DiscoverU – Discovering University Sport and Supporting Dual Career” highlighting the aims and opportunities of the project (https://eas24.awf.katowice.pl/fcp/BGBUKOQtTKlQhbx08SlkTUQFQX2o8DAoHNiwFE1wZDyEPG1gnBVcoFW8SBDRKTxMKRy0SODwBBAEIMQheCFVAORFCHzY/25/public/conference_book-2.pdf). Further information is available at https://www.eusa.eu/search?s=discoverU
Find Me (101134043). 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 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 (https://www.dualcareer.eu/the-project-find-me-university-dual-career-opportunity-has-been-launched/). The second transnational meeting was held at the University of Chieti-Pescara (Italy) on September 5-6 to discuss the content and structure of the FIND ME platform (https://www.dualcareer.eu/new-steps-for-dual-career-athletes-find-me-project-partners-gathered-in-italy/). From November 22-24, the partners gathered in Iasi (Romania) as part of the international conference Football of the Future-Between Science, Society and Sports (https://www.dualcareer.eu/awareness-raising-activity-event-find-me-erasmus-project/), during which Nenad Stojiljkovic (University of Nis) presented the project as part of his keynote speech “Dual career of football players across the Europe”. The meeting allowed to share the progression of the scientific evidence on sportspersons’ opinions on dual career measures at university level. During the 2024 EAS Conference in Katowice (Poland), Nenad Stojiljkovic (University of Nis) presented “FIND ME: University Dual Career Opportunities” highlighting the aims and outcomes of the project (https://eas24.awf.katowice.pl/fcp/BGBUKOQtTKlQhbx08SlkTUQFQX2o8DAoHNiwFE1wZDyEPG1gnBVcoFW8SBDRKTxMKRy0SODwBBAEIMQheCFVAORFCHzY/25/public/conference_book-2.pdf). Further information is available at https://findmeproject.net.
Smart Start for DC (101133555). The Sports School PESG (Croatia), coordinator of the project, organized the kick off meeting in Zagreb on March 25-26 to discuss the key elements and project phases necessary to produce quality outputs for supporting the development of dual careers of young student athletes (14 – 19) through strengthening their transversal/transferable skills. On July 5-6, MindSpin hosted the second transnational meeting in Nicosia (Cyprus), during which the educational modules developed from the outcomes of desk search, semi-structured interviews and surveys were discussed (https://www.dualcareer.eu/second-transnational-meeting-of-smart-start-for-dc-in-cyprus/). During the 2024 EAS Conference in Katowice (Poland), Renato Vuk (PESG) presented “Smart Start for DC – encouraging the dual career of young high school athletes” highlighting the aims and opportunities of the project (https://eas24.awf.katowice.pl/fcp/BGBUKOQtTKlQhbx08SlkTUQFQX2o8DAoHNiwFE1wZDyEPG1gnBVcoFW8SBDRKTxMKRy0SODwBBAEIMQheCFVAORFCHzY/25/public/conference_book-2.pdf). Further information is available at https://www.eusa.eu/search?s=discoverU
Sports as Value (101093451), on June 25 the Montenegrin Olympic Committee hosted a project meeting in Podgorica (Montenegro) in conjunction of the Olympic Day organized with UNHCR and local clubs, during which local children and children from refugee backgrounds participated together to different sports tournaments. During the 2024 EAS Conference (October 1-3) in Katowice (Poland), Faton Tishukaj and Florian Miftari (University of Prishtina, Kosovo) presented the Societal Impact and Development of Grassroots Sports in the Western Balkans: Insights from the ‘Sports as Value’ Project (November 2024 the Kosovo Olympic Committee hosted in Pristina (Kosovo) the European Sport Platform on “Values of Sport: Building Bridges in a United Europe” (https://www.engso-education.eu/european-sport-platform/), encompassing also the final conference of Sports as Value project (https://www.dualcareer.eu/final-conference-of-sports-as-value-in-pristina-kosovo/). In building the capacity of sport managers and coaches in the Balkan region for promoting the positive impact of grassroots sports and the values in and through sport, best practices collected in Albania, Bosnia&Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, Hungary, Italy, Malta, Portugal, and some other Member States have been presented. Further information is available at https://www.engso-education.eu/sports-as-value/
Talent (101090147). On June 3-4 the Center for Social Innovation hosted in Nicosia (Cyprus) the 4th project meeting https://www.dualcareer.eu/transnational-partners-meeting-iof-talent-project-n-nicosia/ to develop a cloud-based education for creative sport talents following the finalization of the Methodological Handbook with Standards for the Detection and Assessment of the Potential of Talented Children in Sport https://talent-edu.eu/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/3.2.-Methodology-Handbook.pdf. During the 2024 EAS Conference in Katowice (Poland), Antonio Scardina (University of Palermo) presented The Identification of Standards by Teachers and Coaches for Talent Recognition and Promote Dual Careers. Results from Talent Project (https://eas24.awf.katowice.pl/fcp/BGBUKOQtTKlQhbx08SlkTUQFQX2o8DAoHNiwFE1wZDyEPG1gnBVcoFW8SBDRKTxMKRy0SODwBBAEIMQheCFVAORFCHzY/25/public/conference_book-2.pdf). Further information is available at https://talent-edu.eu
Upcoming events
April 16-17: Under the Belgian Presidency of the European Union, the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture of the European Commission will organize the 2024 EU Sport Forum in Liege (Belgium) The event will bring together policy maker and representatives from sports organizations to discuss challenges and envisage opportunities for the European Sport.
April 22: 13th EAS Cafè “University Sports: From Active Lifestyles to Dual Career”
EAS Conference
May 14, 2025, 17th Plenary meeting of the EPAS Consultative Committee, Strasbourg, France.
October 1-2025, the 2025 EAS Annual Conference will be held in Zagreb (Croatia) to share the advancement and outcomes of EU-funded dual career projects, best practices of dual career at local, regional, and national levels, , and the recognition of researchers awarded the Bengt Nybelius Scholarship (https://www.dualcareer.eu/call-for-papers-bengt-nybelius-scholarship-2024/)..
Special thanks to the Executive Committee and the Members of our Network for their proactive attitude in the recruitment of new EAS members and the advancement of the European dual career culture. I strongly encourage you to keep disseminating the EAS activities for the benefit of sportspersons as students and workers.
Prof. Laura Capranica,
EAS President
REG. NUMBER: Voluntary Organisation registration VO/1270
PIC NUMBER: 913459865
Email: info@dualcareer.eu