On 30 January 2023, the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) organised the annual Erasmus+ Sport Info Day in Brussels, to inform potential applicants about the political context, future programme and funding opportunities in 2023. For the first time post COVID-19, the event took place in-person, gathering a broad audience and offering the opportunity to network and make contact with potential partners.
The event was opened by Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, who highlighted the range of new possibilities offered by the 2023 call, made possible by the increased funding – nearly doubled compared to last year. In their interventions, MEP Tiziana Beghin and Tomas Johansson of the Swedish Ministry of Health and Social Affairs, also stressed the importance of sport and health for the agenda of both the Parliament and the Council.
The first session of the Sport Info Days was dedicated to outlining the objectives and the overall structure of the Erasmus+ Sport Call, presented by Ms Gaël Broze, Head of the Sport Sector at EACEA. Florencia Van Houdt, Head of the Sport Unit, chaired the second session which was dedicated to the Erasmus+ Sport Policy priorities. The policy panel also served to provide successful examples of how innovative practices and projects can be funded through Erasmus+. The speakers of the panel presented their own experiences and provided insights to the Sport Info Day attendees on how to develop projects on innovation in sport.
In the afternoon the participants had the possibility to choose among three workshop sessions, primarily aimed at new applicants and setting out the administrative procedures for submitting an application for funding, presenting a proposal and drafting a Capacity Building proposal.
Finally, the last session was dedicated to presenting other funding opportunities in the field of sport such as mobility, pilot projects, preparatory actions and EU prizes. The event was closed by Yves Le Lostecque, Head of the Erasmus Mundus & Sport Unit of EACEA and chair of the event, who invited organisations to start thinking about and drafting project applications.
More information, including the recording of the event, can be found here: https://www.eacea.ec.europa.eu/news-events/events/info-session-erasmus-sport-2023-2023-01-30_en