On Thursday, November 27, the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) organised an online kickoff meeting for coordinators of the Erasmus+ projects in the field of sport, accepted for funding in the 2025 call.

350 proposals in the field of sport from the 2025 Erasmus+ call for funding have received financial support from centralised actions:  124 Cooperation Partnerships, 185 Small-scale Cooperation Partnership, 28 Not-for-profit European Sport Events (including large-scale events) and 13 Capacity-building in the field of Sport.

Among these, European University Sports Association (EUSA) with the EUSA Institute, was granted funding for a cooperation partnership "ESSEPA - European Sport Safeguarding Education and Promotion Action". The project will address safeguarding education and trainings for athletes and other participants of sports events, and will be co-funded by the European Union.

EUSA Institute will also partner in the projects "YouthSportCV - Empowering young people to assess their soft skills gained in sports for improving employment opportunities", addressing promotion of employability through sport; and a not-for-profit sport event "CYCLE2CONNECT - European student cycling challenge: Connecting for sustainable mobility 2027", encouraging a healthy lifestyle for all and promoting sustainable sport. Also, these projects will be co-funded by the European Union.

The online Erasmus+ Sport Kick Off meeting was opened by Theo Duivenvoorde, Head of Erasmus+ Mundus & Sport Unit at the EACEA who stressed that with more than 2400 applications in the 2025 call, the funding opportunities within Erasmus+ programme for sport-related actions are getting more visibility and interest. Projects selected for EU (co-)funding clearly demonstrate their alignment with EU priorities, the Erasmus+ Programme for Education, Training, Youth and Sport, and the EU Work Plan for Sport. The speaker also underlined that successful outcomes rely on strong collaboration, shared objectives, and a commitment to core EU values.

The event was held in two sessions, and it was moderated by Gael Broze, Head of Erasmus+ Sport Sector, EACEA.

The first session, under the name of "The starting whistle" was led by Zanete Tifentale, and Izabela Pelczynska from the Erasmus+ Sport Sector at EACEA. Participants learned practical guidance on how to successfully launch their projects, including effective communication with project officers, coordinating and collaborating with partners, and understanding reporting requirements throughout the project implementation.

The second session, called "The rules of the game" was led by Sophie Lemel, Ariadni Chorti, and Chiara Funari from the Erasmus+ Sport Sector at EACEA. Participants explored how to manage changes or challenges that may arise during the project lifecycle and received guidance on ensuring that their final reports accurately reflect the project’s results and activities.

Both sessions included a Q&A segment addressing participants’ questions and providing clarifications on topics covered in the session, including project startup, partner collaboration, and reporting requirements.

EUSA Institute is proud to be an active partner in several projects, supported by the Erasmus+ programme and co-funded by the European Union. Together with our members (national university sport bodies), associate members (universities and higher education institutions), strategic and project partners, we remain committed to the development of sport and its values, with a special focus on university sport.

For more information about sport and funding opportunities within the European Union, please see https://sport.ec.europa.eu; and for information about EUSA projects, please see https://www.eusa.eu/projects/.