Bengt Nybelius, together with Risto Keskitalo, the founder of the European Athlete as Student Network (EAS), was a brilliant mind, who settled the objectives and the structure of the organisation in 2004. He passed away in 2011, and EAS decided to establish a scholarship to carry on the legacy of his work. Therefore, we are happy to announce the Call for Paper of the “2021 Bengt Nybelius Scholarship”
Thanks to the Team of the University of Hamburg and the efforts of the EAS Executive Committee the dual career community met also in 2020 despite the restrictions COVID-19 pandemic.
The one-day virtual event included three sections: lectures on the European dual career discourse, the reports of eight Collaborative Partnerships in dual career, and two dual career workshops.
On behalf of the Organizing Committee, Joerg Foerster (University of Hamburg Sport Service and EAS Board Member) welcomed more than 100 participants from different Continents despite the relevant difference in time zones.
Then, President Laura Capranica updated on the involvement of the Network in several exciting applications on dual career aspects still in need to be considered, and on its election as a Member of the Consultative Committee Bureau of the EPAS-Council of Europe, and on a future dissemination activity for its members.
Yves Le Lostecque, Head of the Sport Unit of the European Commission, informed on the European strategies, policies, programmes, opportunities, and activities also in light of the actual pandemic crisis.
Agata Dziarnowska, who recently joined the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions of the European Commission, contributed to a vision of the future European dual career.
The career counsellors Pamela Wittfothand and Leif Böhnert informed the participants on the German dual career approach and work at the Olympic Training Center in Hamburg.
Finally, two interesting workshops allowed deep insights in the ED MEDIA and STARTING 11 projects. In particular, for ED MEDIA Inga Staškevičiūtė-Butienė presented the outcomes of the gaps in the implementation of the EU Dual Career Guidelines for Athletes, Ferran Calabuig-Moreno the videos on the opinions of a manager, a policy maker, and a Rector, Ole Keldorf led the discussion on potential activities to raise the awareness on dual career, and Irena Valentine collected the participants’ opinion on how to advance dual career trough media.
During the STARTING 11 workshop moderated by Dennis van Vlaanderen and Wolfgang Stockinger, two tools of the European dual career toolkit were presented, and the participants’ feedback on their content and format were gathered.
Finally, Cristina Cortis presented the venue of the 2022 EAS Annual Conference to be hosted by the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio in the Angevin-Aragonese Castle of Gaeta, Italy.
The 15th Annual Conference including the General Assembly of the EAS network was hosted in the historical lecture hall within the Museum of Natural Science at the University of Coimbra, Portugal, between September 12 and 14, 2018.
Welcome speech was given by the by the Rector of the University of Coimbra his Magnifizienz Prof. dr. Joao Gabriel Silva and the EAS President Prof. Laura Capranica.
The conference consisted of several main topics on Globalisation, Dialectic Relationship between Sports and School Systems, and University Sport. The last day was dedicated to the General Assembly, and also included the fourth session on Sport and Governance.
Among the keynote speakers were also Professor at the University of Central Florida Mr Carlton Keith Harrison (USA), International Relations Officer of the University of Coimbra Ms Liliana Moreira, Representative of the Portuguese General Direction of Education Mr Victor Pardal, Representative of the Portuguese Union of Professional Football Players Mr Bruno Avelar Rosa (POR) and Policy Officer at the Sport Unit of the European Commission Ms Agata Dziarnowska.
Secretary General of the European Universities Games Coimbra 2018, Mr Mario Santos presented the New trends for the University Sport, including good practice example of the European Universities Games 2018 (EUG2018), also supporting the EAS Conference and Assembly as one of the educational events during the event year in Coimbra.
At the elective EAS General Assembly, the members confirmed the report of the board and the financial report. Executive committee, lead by the President Ms Laura Capranica, was re-elected for another 4-year mandate. Minutes of the General Assembly can be seen here.
At the Assembly, also the Bengt Nybelius Award was presented to young researchers Ms Kinga Varga (University of Ljubljana) and Giancarlo Condello (University of Taipei).
The Conference ended up with a presentation of the representatives of the Dalarna University and the City of Falun (Sweden). Lead by Mrs. Marit Nybelius, the daughter of one of the two EAS founders, Mr. Bengt Nybelius, who passed by much to early, gave an overview on the beautiful city of Falun and the research and facilities at Dalarna University, who will host the 16th Annual EAS Conference from 18th-20th September 2019.
For more information about EAS, please see:
On June 12-13, 2018, EAS has been invited to the European Conference “Sport for All as a means of integration and a bridge between traditions and innovation” held in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Conference has been organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and co-funded under the Erasmus+ programme.
The event encompassed three main topics: “How to promote physical activity through tradition and innovation”; “Traditional sports – opportunities for improving health through the practice of physical activity”; “Innovation in sport”. More information, the presentations, and photos can be found at the website of the Bulgarian Ministry of Youth and Sports:
http://mpes.government.bg/Pages/Announcements/Default.aspx?evntid=RgKAN9JJviY%3d
If you want to learn more about what is going on in the field of Dual Career and what EAS is involved in actually, join the 15th EAS Conference, which will take place in Coimbra/Portugal from 12th to 14 September.
Dear EAS Members and Friends, the EAS Executive Committee wishes you an Easter full of joy and peace! Easter is also an occasion to update you on the most recent EAS activities.
January 2018
President Laura Capranica and Secretary General Joerg Foerster represented EAS in the kick off meeting of the EU-funded EMPATIA project (January 25-27; Rome, Italy). Coordinated by the University of Ljubljana and involving EAS, the University of Rome Foro Italico, the University of Limerick, the University of Coimbra, INSEP, EUSA, CONI, Sport Ireland Institute, and Ginasio Clube Figueirense, EMPATIA aims to structure an evidence-based e-learning multi-lingual educational programme specifically tailored for dual career parenting.
EAS was present at the EU SPORTinfoday (January 30, Brussels, Belgium), represented by President Laura Capranica, Secretary General Joerg Foerster, and Treasurer Mojca Doupona-Topic. The event provided useful information on funding opportunities in 2018 (more information is available at: http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/home/erasmus-plus/actions/sport_en) and allowed to envision projects. Therefore, at present EAS and several EAS members are finalizing Cooperative Partnerships applications on dual career to be submitted on April 5, 2018.
February 2018
President Laura Capranica represented EAS at the kick off meeting of the EU-funded AMID project (February 6-10, 2018; Salzburg, Austria), which aims to facilitate the athletic and academic careers (e.g., dual career) of migrating athletes by envisioning DC mobility measures. The project is coordinated by the University of Salzburg, and involves EAS, the University Sport Service of Hamburg (represented by EAS Secretary General Joerg Foerster), the Lapland University of Applied Science, the University of Cassino and Southern Lazio, and the University of Ljubljana.
Honorary President Tibor Kozsla attended the first meeting of the Expert Group Skills and Human Resources Development in Sport (XG HR) in the City of Bath, United Kingdom, on February 20 to 22, 2018. The main goal of the XG HR is to promote the development the European dimension of sport, including the implementation of dual career of athletes.
On February 26, President Laura Capranica illustrated the aims and activities of EAS at the Institute of Sports Sciences of the University of Taipei, which is the top research-based graduate program of Taiwan.
March 2018
EAS has been invited to attend the 2018 EU Sport Forum “Sport in Europe, Investing for Future Generations” in Sofia, which welcomed around 350 relevant policy makers and stakeholders in the European sport. This event represents the main European platform for international relations and promotion of cooperation. Further information is available at:
On March 29-30 EAS has been invited at the University of Trento to present dual career issues and EAS activities at the Italian Forum ‘Sports and University in Italy and in Europe’.
Upcoming events: Invitations to relevant University Sports events include the Rectors’ Conference ‘Organization and Management Model of University Sport’ organized during the 2018 EUSA Games (Coimbra, Portugal; July 14-15, 2018) and the 2018 FISU Forum ‘Student Sport: Springboard for Innovative Leadership’ (Krasnoyarsk, Russian Federation; August 6-11, 2018), which represent relevant opportunities to highlight the relevance of combining academic and sport careers.
As Member of the Consultative Committee of the Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) EAS will participate in the Joint Meeting of the Governing Board and Consultative Committee of the Council of Europe to be held in Strasburg on May 14-15, 2018.
Finally, the 14th EAS Annual Conference will take place from 12th -14th of September 2018 in Coimbra, Portugal. The Conference will allow EAS members to share best practices, information on the recently EU-funded projects on Dual Career, and to attend the scientific presentation awarded the Bengt Nybelius Scholarship. Furthermore, the 2018 General Assembly will elect the EAS President and Executive Committee.
Surely, these achievements and recognitions of the EAS role in the development of the European dual career could not have been possible without the contribution of the Executive Committee and the Members of our Network.
I strongly encourage you to disseminate on the EAS website (www.dualcareer.eu) the activities carried out at local, regional and national levels and to be proactive in the recruitment of new EAS members, who could further contribute to the enhancement of European dual career.
Prof. Laura CAPRANICA,
EAS President