Belgrade benefits from highly-beneficial meeting
In a first for EUSA and the organisers of the next European Universities Games, a highly-beneficial Transfer of Knowledge meeting was held on April 17-19 between members of the organising committees of both Zagreb-Rijeka 2016 and Coimbra 2018 and the organisers of Belgrade 2020 in the Serbian capital, with EUSA staff in attendance as well.
Designed to facilitate an open dialogue between organisers of previous events and those preparing for next year’s Games, this ErasmusPlus-funded Transfer of Knowledge Meeting allowed organisers of both Zagreb-Rijeka 2016 and Coimbra 2018 to share both their positive and challenging experiences from their respective events, allowing Belgrade 2020 hosts to gain valuable insight into the organisational process and ask any relevant questions.
Five members from the organising committee of Zagreb-Rijeka 2016 and two from Coimbra 2018 attended the meeting, with almost 20 members of Belgrade 2020’s organising committee from a wide range of sectors present, eager to learn as much as possible as they continue with their preparations.
Following the arrivals a day prior, the meeting began with a welcome address from both EUSA Secretary General Mr Matjaz Pecovnik and EUG2020 Director Mr Predrag Juskovic, before EUSA Sports Manager Mr Besim Aliti, who acted as the meeting’s moderator, gave a short introduction.
The presentations from the previous two organisers were divided according to different organisational aspects, with time for an in-depth question-and-answer session thereafter. Proceedings kicked off with a presentation from EUG2016 Secretary General Mr Marko Zunic covering General Coordination, Project Management and Finances, followed by EUG2018 Secretary General Mr Mario Santos’ presentation on the same topics.
Ms Filipa Godinho then presented Coimbra 2018’s Sport Operations plans in detail, following which Zagreb-Rijeka 2016’s Mr Nikola Vincetic went through the processes involved in Event Services from the Games in Croatia three years ago.
Ms Ivana Anicic from EUG2016 then covered all aspects involving volunteers at the Games, before her colleague Mr Drazen Males presented their organising committee’s Media and Communications strategy.
The day’s intensive programme concluded with a final presentation from EUG2016’s Ms Jelena Matesic who covered all aspects regarding international relations.
Mr Aliti then gave his closing remarks, as did Mr Pecovnik, who reiterated EUSA’s role not merely as supervisors, but as colleagues in Belgrade’s bid to host the biggest-ever Games next year, while highlighting the importance of all separate departments being linked in the entire organisational process.
Mr Juskovic then officially closed the meeting, thanking those in attendance for sharing their experiences which will undoubtedly benefit his organising team over the next year.
“I would like to thank Mr Pecovnik and the EUSA office as they made this Transfer of Knowledge Meeting possible, and I would like to thank our colleagues from Zagreb-Rijeka and Coimbra for your wonderful presentations,” he said. “I hope that our team picked up from your experiences and learned something from your presentations, and I hope my staff will participate in the next Transfer of Knowledge Meeting after the upcoming EUG Games to share their experiences from EUG 2020.”
The project is supported by the European Union through the preparatory actions call Exchanges and mobility in sport.