EU Projects
The second transnational meeting of the FIND ME project, a significant initiative financed by the European Union for dual career athletes at the university level, was held on September 5-6 in Chieti, Italy, hosted by Universita Degli Studi Gabriele D’annunzio Di Chieti.
This meeting marks a crucial stage of the project, bringing participants together to advance the project’s development. Important steps were taken regarding the content and structure of the FIND ME platform, and all work packages within the project were evaluated in detail.
The opening of the meeting was conducted by Pascal Izzicupo from the host institution, Chieti-Pescara Gabriele D’Annunzio University. In his opening speech, Izzicupo discussed the importance of the project and the contributions of the participants.
Nenad Stojiljković from the University of Niš Faculty of Sports and Physical Education provided a general presentation of the project. Stojiljković gave detailed information about the project’s overall goals, the progress made so far, and future plans.
Another significant part of the meeting was the presentation by Pascal Izzicupo on the opinions of Experts and Sport-Academics (S-As) regarding Dual Career support services under WP2. Izzicupo provided valuable insights into the current services for dual career support across Europe and the improvements needed in this field.
One of the key moments of the meeting was the detailed presentation of the FIND ME platform by Matteo Perissinotto from OKKAM s.r.l. Perissinotto provided comprehensive information about the platform’s functionality, user experience, and operations, explaining the platform’s processes in detail to the partners. Project partners engaged in productive discussions on how the platform could assist athletes in balancing their academic and athletic careers.
The Collective Innovation team, responsible for dissemination activities, shared the results of social media engagement achieved so far. The project’s social media strategies and plans for reaching wider audiences were discussed in this section. Burak Caliskan shared plans for upcoming dissemination activities with the participants, presenting strategies to enhance the project’s impact.
After the meeting, participants had the opportunity to explore the historical beauty of Chieti. The meeting concluded with a pleasant dinner featuring pizza and pasta, after a museum visit showcasing the university’s rich cultural heritage.
We are excited to open a new door to the future of dual career athletes with the FIND ME project.
At the “EUSA Forum 2024: Synergies in university sport development” held on July 13, 2024 at the University of Debrecen, Hungary, EAS presented the outcomes of the Erasmus+ Sport projects useful for helping higher educational institutions (HEIs) implementing their dual career policies and provisions for university student-athletes. After urging the participants to navigate the friendly-user platform of completed or ongoing EU-funded projects (https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/projects), the main outcomes of the AMID (Actual situation on DC migrating athletes at HEIs), ESTPORT (the European “Sport Tutorship” model for HEIs), PARA-LIMITS (The guidelines for university career of athletes with disability), and More Than Gold (the Guidelines and Manual to Strengthen Dual Career policies at HEIs) were presented also in light of the Erasmus+Sport project DiscoverU project, which aims to encourage the participation in sport and physical activity by promoting and supporting sport and education of university students.
In targeting organisations that directly or indirectly deal with sport in tertiary education, DiscoverU represents a tremendous opportunity to progress both the European dual career and university sports. The presence of EAS and the other DiscoverU partners at the EUSA Games 2024 highlights the importance of collaboration and involvement of educated youth in sports for the development of future leaders who will contribute to the advancement of a European sport culture.
On July 14, 2024, the hird transnational meeting of the DiscoverU was held at the University of Miskolc, Hungary. This meeting was intended to discuss the progression of the research and the educational phases of the project, as well as the implementation of the communication and dissemination of the project findings.
Further information on the DiscoverU project will be provided at the EAS Conference in Katowice next October 1-3, 2023.
The DiscoverU 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.
On July 5 and 6, 2024, MindSpin hosted the second transnational meeting of the Erasmus+ Sport project ”Smart Start for DC” in Nicosia, Cyprus.
Funded by the Erasmus+Sport programme, the SMART START for DC (SS4DC) 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.
The second transnational meeting was intended to discuss the educational content focused on communication style and assertiveness, social interactions, emotional intelligence, listening skills, leadership skills, setting goals, organizational skills and responsibility, teamwork and collaboration, desire for continuous learning and application of knowledge, critical thinking, and respect for diversity. Based on the outcomes of national desk analyses, interviews with experts, and responses to a survey administered to youth student-athletes in Croatia, Cyprus, Bulgaria, Italy, Malta and Turkey, the educational modules were presented and evaluated, and the next steps for platform and MOOC development were discussed, along with Management and Dissemination subjects.
Further information on the project will be provided at the EAS Conference in Katowice next October 1-3, 2023.
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.
On June 25, 2024 the Partners of the Collaborative Partnership Sports as Value have met in Podgorica, Montenegro. Coordinated by ENGSO, the Olympic Committees of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, the Confederacao do desporto de Portugal (PSC), the University of Pristina, the Organizzazione per l’Educazione allo Sport (OPES), and EAS contributed to promote the EU sports values in the Balkan area by integrating the sport practice at the grassroots level in a structured, dynamic and systematic way to create sustainable, long-lasting partnerships in this historically fragmented region.
During the first part of the day the Partners discussed the previous activities and planned the next steps of the project, including the dissemination of the results and the final conference.
To promote sport values for peaceful and more connected societies through interactive activities, the Montenegrin Olympic Committee organized a joint action on Olympic Day with UNHCR and local clubs, during which local children and children from refugee backgrounds participated together to different sports tournaments.
On 21 November 2024, the final conference of Sports as Value will be organised in Prostina, Kosovo, as part of the European Sport Platform, 2024.
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.
As part of the 2nd International Scientific Conference 4 Healthy Academic Society, organized by the Croatian Academic Sports Federation in the city of Porec from May 30th to June 1st, the second in-person partners’ meeting of the project Discovering university sport and supporting dual career (DiscoverU) took place.
Representatives of all project partners met in Porec on May 30th – 31st of May.
Mr Simone De Luca, representing EUSA and its Institute, provided a general overview of the project, recalling its purpose and methodology and the role assigned to each partner, summarizing all the phases and activities undertaken so far and those still to be addressed.
Following the project overview, the representative of the European Athlete as Student network (EAS), Prof. Mojca Doupona, took the stage to inform all partners about the communication and dissemination activities related to the project. A practical demonstration on how to manage the uploading and updating of activities records through the use of the Sigma platform in the Funding & Tenders Portal Submission System of the European Commission was given. As a result, a common need was identified to thoroughly track all communication and dissemination activities carried out by all partners, including milestones and final deliverables, according to project deadlines.
Regarding the Action Plan and coming up activities, important information were also shared.
The partners agreed to meet again in person in Hungary in July during the European University Games 2024, where they will have the opportunity to participate in a wide range of side activities scheduled from 11 to 14 July.
The 3-year project, co-funded by the European Union, aim to improve sport and physical activity opportunities for students in higher education on one hand, addressing larger student population; and at the same time promote and support dual career in higher education in partnering countries. This will be achieved by gathering information, sharing good practice examples and implementing sports and educational activities.
More details about the DiscoverU project can be found on https://discoveru.eusa.eu
Co-Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily re ect 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 4th Transnational Partners’ Meeting took place on the 3rd and 4th of June 2024, in Nicosia, Cyprus. It was hosted by the Center for Social Innovation and presented by Laura Capranica as president of EAS.
The meeting focused on the the development of the E-STOP platform and the finalisation of the training material and the planning of the piloting phase.
The E-STOP platform will soon be ready and will host the training material in English and all partner languages (Serbian, Croatian, Italian and Greek). It will also host information on national sports committees to create a European network through a map which will be developed through the platform.
During the meeting, the partners agreed on the changes that need to be made to the training material in order to finalise it and begin its translation.
Effective communication and planning followed, to set the context and structure of the piloting phase. During the piloting, the partnership will involve 72 teachers and 72 coaches, and will provide training sessions using the educational material of TALENT. An essential part of the piloting is the evaluation which teachers and coaches will provide after the end of the piloting. The partnership will use the valuable feedback and adjust the material to better suit the needs of teachers and coaches.
Overall, the meeting in Cyprus was super-efficient and all partners are eager to reach out to teachers and coaches and share the project’s educational material.
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.
The sixth Consortium Board meeting of the Erasmus+ Sport project TALENT (Cloud-based education for creative sport talents) convened online on May 15th, 2024.
Attended by representatives from each partnering organization in Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Serbia, Greece, Cyprus, and Malta, the meeting focused on reviewing progress within Work Package 4 (Recognition of talented children – development of training materials). Discussions centered on refining and enhancing the existing training materials. Furthermore, the coordinator CI SDZ provided updates on advancing the E-STOP platform and User Guidelines, underscoring the submission of Guidelines to the Agency and their forthcoming translation into national languages across partner countries. Planning for the upcoming project meeting on June 3-4 in Nicosia, Cyprus was also addressed during this session, with the Board collaborating to develop the agenda. All partners are actively engaged in dissemination efforts, with plans underway for creating project-related videos and Reels to amplify outreach and engagement.
The Talent 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.
Co-funded by the European Union through its Erasmus+ programme, from January 1, 2024 the 24-month Collaborative Partnership “Smart Start for DC” will focus on supporting the development of dual careers of young student athletes (14 – 19) through strengthening their transversal/transferable skills.
Coordinated by the Sports School PESG (Croatia), the project consortium encompasses experts in various fields of dual careers across Europe – MindSpin (Cyprus), Champions Factory (Bulgaria), MSV (Italy), EAS (Malta), Edirne Kirkpinar Sport Lisesi (Turkey).
During an online and a first transnational project meeting in Croatia, the key elements and project phases were envisaged to organize the work and produce quality outputs.
Then, the project activities progressed in the Partners’ countries through a desk search on dual career and education of transversal/transferable skills, and interviews to gather the’ opinion of dual career experts, educators, and coaches. The outcomes have been summarized to direct the development of a 10-module educational programme to be administered through a Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) education. Furthermore, the project’s digital platform will offer a psychological assessment for the young participants and various networking opportunities.
To be informed on the progress of the project’s activities are available on social media:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61556732943039
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smartstartdualcareer/
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.
On April 22, 2024, around 90 participants attended the 13th EAS online Cafè organized in cooperation with the EUSA Institute (https://www.eusa.eu) 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://discoveru.eusa.eu/).
The Cafè was moderated by Mr Andrej Pisl, EUSA Project and Policy Manager, who illustrated how DiscoverU aims to gather information on sport and physical activity opportunities for students in higher education in the partner countries and will share good practice examples for university sport and dual career support.
Ms Filipa Godinho, Pro-Rector of University of Coimbra, Portugal, explained how the European Universities Games held in Coimbra in 2018 had a positive impact on the development of dual career at the local university level, and also inspired the national Decree-Law n.55/2019, which urges all national academic institutions to reinforce their dual career supportive mechanisms and to extend them to athletes who participate in university sport competitions or are enrolled as athletes in the sports service of their university. In particular, she explained that students-athletes can benefit of different dual career support in relation to their sport involvement, spanning from elite to sub-elite and amateur levels.
Ms Marianna Pikul, representative of the International Affairs department of University Sports Association of Poland – AZS, reported the increased participation in the 2022 European Games held in Lodz and the high number of students contributing every year in the organization of a variety of sports events for different age groups (e.g., children, students, families). Furthermore, AZS supports the dual career of elite athletes in higher education, substantiated by the extraordinary representation of student-athletes in the Polish Team participating in the European Games, Universiade, and Olympics. Elite athletes having a success in both their sports and academic paths are good examples and inspirations for youth students in engaging in active lifestyles.
Mr Maté Nagyistok and Mr Lszlo Végh, Project Managers of the European Games 2024 to be held next Juy in Debrece and Miskolc, Hungary, presented the dual career approach of the Hungarian University Sports Federation (MEFS). In particular, Mr Nagyistok illustrated the programme for university students based on a cooperation between the education, sport and work sectors, through a coordinated action between families, educational institutions, and companies. Thus, youth athletes at the beginning of their sport career and elite athletes can benefit from mentoring, tutoring, career guidance, sports scholarships and free housing. In addition, Mr Végh presented how the 2024 European Universities Games to be held in Miskolc and Debrecen intend to go beyond the sport event itself. In fact, the slogan “More than Games” communicates that dual career can be a tremendous tool to engage of university students-athletes as ambassadors to inspire youth in combining active lifestyles, sports, and education for achieving a holistic development and full engagement in society.
In moderating the discussion on the involvement in dual career of different stakeholders and actors, Mr. Pisl highlighted the outcomes of two ERASMUS+ Collaborative Partnerships involving EAS and EUSA: EMPATIA, which developed a multi-lingual educational programme for parents of dual career athletes (https://edu.empatiasport.eu/eng/), and BRAVA-DC, which addressed the relevance of involving the companies in support of the dual career of sportspersons through their corporate social responsibility (https://edu.bravadualcareer.eu/report/).
Finally, Prof. Rajmund Tomik reminded that the call for papers of the 2024 Bengt Nybelius Scholarship is open (https://www.dualcareer.eu/call-for-papers-bengt-nybelius-scholarship-2024/) and invited the participants to send an abstract on their dual career activities and to attend the 2024 EAS Annual Conference “Dual career at school and university – innovative bridges between sport and education” to be held in Katowice, Poland, next 1-3 of October, 2024 (https://eas24.awf.katowice.pl). In organizing the EAS conference in the 2024European City of Science, it will be a special opportunity to highlight the contribution of dual career of sportspersons for the advancement of a European culture in and through sports on all aspects of life.
The DiscoverU project is funded by the European Union coordinated by EUSA. 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.
To create sustainable, long-lasting partnerships between European Member states and countries of the Balkan region for the promotion of positive impacts of sports values and grassroots sports for peaceful and interconnected societies, EAS participates to the SPORTS AS VALUE consortium, which published two documents, which aim to:
- help organizations implementing their local, national or international activities and events despite limited human and financial resources, by offering “Sustainable guidelines for the organisation, implementation and evaluation of a joint program to promote value in sport” (available at https://www.engso-education.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Sustainable-guidelines-for-the-organisation-implementation-and-evaluation-of-a-joint-program-to-promote-value-in-sport.pdf), and
- highlight the crucial social role of sports in shaping values, fostering unity, and contributing to the collective spirit beyond mere competitions, by presenting a “Collection of good practices on value promotion across regions” encompassing diverse examples of the Western Balkan countries and some EU member States (available at https://www.engso-education.eu/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Final-good-pratices-Sport-as-value-22.03.24-AZ-Sort.pdf).
The Sport as Value Capacity Building project is funded by the European Union coordinated by ENGSO. 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.
REG. NUMBER: Voluntary Organisation registration VO/1270
PIC NUMBER: 913459865
Email: info@dualcareer.eu