EU Projects
The Partners of the Erasmus+ funded project ELCAMP (A Self-employment Career Option for Elite Athletes: Innovative Sport-focused Entrepreneurship Bootcamp) met virtually for a kick-off meeting in March. EAS was represented by dr. Mojca Doupona and dr. Tibor Kozsla.
The ELCAMP project focus to strengthen the skills and competencies of elite and Paralympic athletes on sport-focused entrepreneurship with innovative methods and connecting athletes among themselves and with other people interested in entrepreneurship. The project objectives directly address the target group of EAS. EAS will be actively involved in the pilot implementation phase of the project. EAS will also lead to the dissemination of project outputs both at the athlete’s level and at the level of sports organizations in Europe.
EL CAMP partners are Collective Innovation AS (Norway) in cooperation with European Paralympic Committee (Austria), Fundacion Universitaria San Antonio (Spain), Hogskolen I Molde (Norway), Lietuvos Sporto Universitetas (Lithuania), Olimpijski Komite Slovenije Zdruzenje Sportnih Zvez (Slovenia).
On April 6 the International Day of Sport for Development and Peace is celebrated having a white card as a symbol to emphasize the positive values of sport, which unify individuals regardless of gender, ethnic, social or religious differences.
Despite the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown, the SOS project celebrates the Sports Schools for Development and Peace event (@peaceandsport, @SportOpensSchool, #WhiteCard, #April6, #OnlyTogether) with a video involving students from the Hungarian (Kolcsey Ferenc Gimnazium, Budapest), Italian (IIS Newton Pertini, Camposampietro), Portuguese (Externato Cooperativo da Benedita), and Romanian (Liceum cum Program Sportiv, Bacau) Partner high schools.
Through its involvement in the European ERASMUS+Sport Collaborative Partnership More Than Gold (603346-EPP-1-2018-1-LV-SPO-SCP), EAS contributed to raising awareness on the dual career of athletes during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Thus, a study aimed to investigate the student-athlete’s capability to face the academic, sport, and social challenges during the 2019 lockdown and to disclose novel aspects of dual careers has been published on the prestigious peer-review journal Frontiers in Psychology. Four hundred sixty-seven student-athletes from 11 countries completed an ad-hoc survey. The findings substantiate the relevant role of a dual career in coping with the emergency of the COVID-19 pandemic through home training and e-learning valuable resources. The full text is available here.
- Recent activities
- Create skill enhancement opportunities for people who are working in the field of dual career.
- Build up academic research work in the field of dual career.
- Save the date
Successful Validation of the English and Italian EMPATIA Educational Platform/Website for Parents/Guardians of Elite Athletes as Students
Based on the evidence- (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7581327/) and eminence- (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0243354) knowledge gathered from Parents/Guardians of Elite Athletes as Students and European Dual Career experts, the EMPATIA platform/website presents in one place crucial information, hints & tips and important documents to empower Parents/Guardians of Dual Career athlete. The content is organized into 4 parts named: WHY, WHAT, HOW & WHERE and is available in English, French, Italian, Portuguese and Slovenian.
At present, 33 Irish and 30 Italian Parents participated in online evaluation workshops and provided their positive feedbacks useful for its implementation. A Parent commented “If this website were available when I was an athlete, I probably wouldn’t have had to choose between continuing my studies and continuing my sport career!! I’m happy for my son!”
In the next weeks, the French, Portuguese, and Slovenian workshops will be organized to finalize the validation and implementation of the website.
Dear Dual Career Friends and Colleagues,
Indeed, 2020 has been a challenging year affecting our life in many serious ways and obliging all of us to find adjustments to this unexpected crisis. Sport and education have been tremendously pressured, with closed schools and many sports events postponed to the next year. If every crisis brings also an opportunity, EAS decided to focus on the second part of the equation by continuing cooperating with European institutions and experts working in the field of Dual Career.
Whilst the COVID-19 stopped many activities, EAS discovered new ways to grow, connect, and engage its members in the development of a European Dual Career culture. Thanks to the Team of the University of Hamburg, the dual career community participated in the 17th Annual Conference in a virtual modality. Furthermore, since its re-election as a Member of the 2020-2022 Bureau of the Consultative Committee of EPAS – Council of Europe, EAS started cooperating with the International School Sport Federation-ISF (Chair), the European Olympic Committees-EOC (Vice-Chair), the European Network of Sport Education-ENSE, and The Association for International Sport for All-TAFISA.
Our Network participated in several applications to the ERASMUS+ Sport 2020 Call for Collaborative Partnerships on dual career. Three of them have been funded, specifically focusing on brand alignment strategies and corporate social responsibilities policies in Dual Career (BRAVA-DC); self-employment career option for innovative sport-focused entrepreneurship bootcamp (EL-CAMP); and on Dual Career of athletes with disabilities (PARA-LIMITS). Meantime, EAS contributed to the activities of the ongoing projects (AMID, DONA, EdMedia, EMPATIA, More than Gold, SOS, and STARTING 11), mainly through online meetings as a new way to connect. Despite EdMedia, EMPATIA, More than Gold, and SOS were expected to be finalized by December 31, 2020, due to the pandemic their final activities have been postponed to 2021.
As the European Dual Career knowledge-hub, EAS also contributed to the dissemination of knowledge through scientific publications in peer-review journals. Specifically, the activities of the Network have been published on the special issue on Dual Career of the Cultura, Ciencia y Deporte journal, whereas the outcomes of a systematic literature review and focus groups on parenting Dual Career athletes have been published in the Psychology of Sport and Exercise and PlosOne journals, respectively.
To provide further opportunities for continuing the discussion on Dual Career issues, the Network started the new adventure of virtual cafes with experts sharing their stories and visions. This novel experience dedicated to the EAS members was successfully held at the end of November. Surely, it will be consolidated in 2021 with a bimonthly cadence. I would like to invite you to reach out with any topic, thoughts, ideas, or news that help us promote Dual Career.
Whilst the COVID-19 continues to bring sickness and many of us are still isolated, we foresee a new recovered life in 2021 and look forward to meeting you in person next September during the 18th EAS Annual Conference to be organized in Lisbon during the Lisboa 2021-Capital of Sport by ICSTE-Istituto Universitario de Lisboa.
We take this opportunity to remind you to renew your 2021 EAS membership through the linkhttp://www.dualcareer.eu/membership/. We also encourage you to continue being proactive in the dissemination of EAS at local, national and international levels. Together, we will make the European Dual Career culture progress!
The Executive Board of EAS wishes you and your family a return to a life full of peace and happiness in 2021.
REG. NUMBER: Voluntary Organisation registration VO/1270
PIC NUMBER: 913459865
Email: info@dualcareer.eu