EU Projects

Between 19-22 November, the second workshop was organized, this time by the Olympic Committee of Bosnia and Herzegovina. OPES Italia was in charge of creating valuable and useful workshop content which they had planned based on the feedback of the participants. The partners have expressed their need that they would like to enable their participants with more project management skills which help them in the future to run similar projects like Sports As Value.

Besides focusing on technical skills such as project design, implementation, budget monitoring, coordination and evaluation systems, the objective of the workshop was to draft a base of a sustainable grassroots sports event management guideline, as well as to start to form the joint actions. The partners have been paired up to organize cooperatively events in their countries about value promotion and sports. The common work will also enhance their relationship for future cooperation. They are also encouraged to help each other as they own diverse useful competencies.

In the upcoming period, the project team will finalise the guidelines and the plan for the joint activities in the Western Balkan region. The next in-person meeting will happen in Montenegro in June when the Olympic Committee will show us how to deliver a sustainable grassroots sports event locally about values in sport.

The TALENT Project aims to promote equal education, prevent exclusion, support Dual Careers, create a new pattern of behaviour to benefit young, talented children, and prepare for lifelong learning and professional sports from childhood.

3^rd Meeting of the Partners in Athens, Greece

The 3^rd Transnational Partners’ Meeting took place on the 23rd and 24th of November, 2023, in Athens, Greece, and was hosted by KMOP Education and Innovation Hub. During the meeting, the partners discussed finalising the document for the Standards for Identification of Talented Children and the Methodological Handbook with Standards for the Detection and Assessment of the Potential of Talented Children in Sports. The partnership discussed the quality of the results and how they can be used by the target groups – educators and coaches wishing to support the dual career of students and how to recognise talented children in sports.

During the meeting, the partners developed the structure and content of the modules for the E-Stop Platform, in which children, teachers, coaches and parents interested in the topic can register and create a profile. The platform will contain practical information about recognising talent, supporting children, preventing their drop-out, and helping them maintain this dual status in the future by starting a dual-career program. The partners will develop the content, which will be piloted in the participating countries beginning in September 2024.

The contents of the platform will be:

1. Positive Youth Development
2. Fostering/Moniting Inclusive Environments
3. Implementing Teamwork and Shared Insights in Recognising Talent
4. Practical Talent Recognition and Support Strategies

The meeting was fruitful, and the partners ensured the development of qualitative results to enhance and support the target groups (coaches, educators and talented children). We are pleased with the outcome of the meeting and the positive atmosphere held throughout this two-day meeting. All representatives showed interactivity and were highly motivated to reach the goals of our project.

We thank you for your visit and for attending this meeting. It was an excellent opportunity to listen to each partner’s views on the project, evaluate its progress, and inspire the next steps of its implementation.

Stay tuned to learn more about the next steps of the project!
You can contact your local organisation implementing the project in your country to learn more and participate in the upcoming activities!

Edited by María José Maciá-Andreu María T. Morales-Belando Lourdes Meroño Antonio Sánchez-Pato, and Juan Alfonso García-Roca, the ebook A Holistic Approach to the Dual Career of the Student-Athlete includes the scientific contributions of the 2022 EAS Conference in Cartagena, Spain, and is available at https://www.dykinson.com/libros/a-holistic-approach-to-the-dual-career-of-the-student-athlete/9788411704861/

Hosted by the Portuguese Sport Confederation and coordinated by ENGSO, on October 12-14, 2023, the Sports as Value Team gathered in Lisbon, Portugal to develop the first workshop planned in the project.

In the first day all the participants were invited to merge to the EQUIP Conference to learn about inclusion and diversity witnessing good practices in these areas and getting to know policies, EU documents about gender equality and identities in sports. Moreover, it was possible to participate actively in parallel sessions such as Human Library, Walk of Privilege and Call to Action.

In the morning of the second day, Sports as Value partners, from Region 1, presented their good practices:

1. Albania NOC: about digitalisation and partnerships;
2. BiH NOC: about the meaning of sports in post-conflict zone;
3. Kosovo NOC: about internationalization.

The following periods were dedicated to the participation of all the Sports as Value partners in the European Sport Platform, organized by Engso and Portuguese Sport Confederation, where an active involvement in the following topics was fully recommended:

• Value and policy in sport
• Sustainability dimension in sport
• Sustainability dimension in sport – parallel workshops
  • Economical dimension of sustainability
  • Social dimension of sustainability
  • Environmental dimension of sustainability
• Good governance in sport
• Good governance in sport – parallel workshops
  • Youth and integrity
  • Safeguarding in sport
  • Fair play in grassroots sport
• HealthyLifestyle4All initiative – Legacy of Youth Ideas Labs

The EAS was represented by António Figueiredo.

Further information will be shared by EAS ExCom in future contact moments, with a especial in the Annual Conference to be held in Katowice, Poland, next September 24-26, 2024.

Sports as Value 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 Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

Hosted by the Foundacion ONCE, on June 27, 2023 Laura Capranica (President), Mojca Doupona (Treasurer) and Antonio Sanchez-Pato (Board Member) attended the event on dual career of Paralympic athletes, during which issues on their challenges and opportunities of a Dual Career and the experiences in combining high competition and university paths have been addressed.

Moderated by Fernando Riaño (World Paralympic triathlete and Director of Sustainability/ESG and Institutional Relations at Grupo Social ONCE), during the first session Laura Capranica (EAS), Juan Alfonso García Roca (UCAM) and Luis Leardy and María Delgado (Members of the International Paralympic Committee and Spanish representatives) addressed the challenges and opportunities of a Dual Career of para-athletes.

With her personal experience, María Delgado moderate the second session dedicated to High Competition Athletes and the University.    With her personal experience, María Delgado (Paralympic Committee) moderate the second session dedicated to High Competition Athletes and the University with the University Paralympic Carla Casals (Paralympic trainer program FONCE)  and Ignacio Arribas  (Paralympic Committee)-

During the final remarks, Mrs. Dª Isabel Martínez Lozano, Director of Programmes with Universities and Promotion of Young Talent (FONCE), reminded the audience that since 1938 ONCE has laid the foundation for a system of specialized social services for individuals with disabilities to overcome the obstacles to develop socially, professionally and personally. With the Para-Limits project, ONCE included dual career of athletes with disability, ensuring the sustainab  ility of this project.

Following the event, the Para-Limits Team discussed the final steps of the project including the final report and envisioned future collaboration in this area. The Para-Limits – Dual Career of Student-Athletes with Disabilities as a Tool for Social Inclusion project (EPLUS 400622213) will be present at the 2023 EAS Conference in Gaeta, Italy next October 2-4, 2023.

Para-Limits 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 Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

Hosted by the Instituto Politécnico de Viseu and coordinated by Fundacion Universitaria San Antonio – UCAM, on May 30, 2023, the Para-Limits Team gathered in Viseu, Portugal to examine the status of reports after completion of the IO4 pilot course, with a focus on the presentation of the Executive Report. As well, was presented the pilot course feedback and respective areas for improvement.

Para-Limits – Dual Career of Student-Athletes with Disabilities as a Tool for Social Inclusion project (EPLUS 400622213) is aimed at enabling high-level sportsmen and women with some kind of disability to successfully complete their sports and university careers without undermining one over the other. The name Para-Limits refers to those high-level athletes, Paralympics included, who seek to break down barriers and display their talent without limits.

During the meeting was discuss the format of the publication of the outputs of the project getting the idea that the most viable option is to publish the course modules in Handbook format in order to fulfil the IO5 of the project.

Financial aspects were mentioned by the coordinator institution and considering the project is coming to an end, final announcements were presented to keep all the procedures suitable with the agency requirements.

Finally, it was informed that the final transnational meeting of the project will take place on June 27th, 2023, at the headquarters of the ONCE Foundation in Madrid, Spain.

The EAS was represented by Antonio Figueiredo and Antonio Pato (physically) and Laura Capranica (remotely).

Para-Limits 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 Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.

Hosted by the Fundacion Universitaria San Antonio – UCAM and coordinated by Collective Innovation AS, on May 29-30, 2023, the COMPATH Team gathered in Murcia, Spain to examine the preliminary findings of a desk analysis of academic curricula encompassing sports-oriented technology and 21st century skills, business world, entrepreneurship and different thinking and literacy methods, and to envisage further progression of the project.

The COMPATH project (101050955) supports the educational, professional, and personal development of young athletes-students (18-25 yrs) through a ‘‘Competence Hub on Sport Innovation’’, thereby contributing to promote quality and new jobs and to driving innovation. Using the potential of sport, COMPATH will contribute to smart growth and employment through the re-usable, transferable and up-scalable results (the content – educational resources and tools; and space – platform) offered to young athletes-students and facilitators responsible for their education and guidance.

In the next months, two surveys will be administered to European academic experts and student-sportspersons aged between 18 to 25 years, respectively. Furthermore, national semi-structured interviews with experts in dual career, sports technology, and/or pedagogy will be envisaged.

Further information will be shared during the next EAS Annual Conference to be held in Gaeta, Italy, next October 2-4, 2023

COMPATH 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 Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. 

On May 4-5, 2023, the University of Ljubljana and EUSA organized the second face-to-face transnational project meeting of the European project BRAnd Values Alignment through Dual Career (BRAVA-DC, 622824-EPP-1-2020-1-IE-SPO-SCP). The BRAVA-DC project focuses on the Dual Career opportunities of employee sportspersons, which could be valuable for the sustainability and corporate social responsibility strategies and policies of for-profit companies. In raising the awareness of employment challenges and opportunities for dual career sportspersons could be considered also a beakthrough for other atypical employee, such as artists and performers.

During the 2-day hosted by the Faculty of Sport of the University of Ljubljana the partners discussed the findings regarding the views of relevant dual career factors collected from the views of the employee sportspersons and their employers. In particular, the concept mapping was deemed relevant for the development of a dual career framework at the workplace, and the identification of the most relevant factors possessing theoretical and reasonable agreements should inform the new European DC workplace guidelines.

Two graphic students participated to the meeting offering their visual representation of the BRAVA-DC project and the interaction between the members of the project. This unique contribution allowed the participants to further reflections on how visual illustration could summarize effectively the project aims and its development.

During the EAS Annual Conference to be held in Gaeta on 2-4 October 2023, dual career experts will have the opportunity to validate the content and structure of the new European dual career guidelines at the workplace.