Equal Opportunities Commission of the European University Sports Association (EUSA) met on a working meeting on November 22-23 in Madrid, Spain. The meeting was hosted by Equal Opportunities Commission Chair and EUSA Executive Committee Member, Mr Aitor Canibe and took place at the premises of the Camilo Jose Cela University.

Present at the meeting were all Commission Members, Ms Biscomb Kay, Director of the Institute of Sport at the University of Wolverhampton, Ms Krisztina Szentkiralyi-Szasz, CEO of Hungarian University Sports Federation and Ms Sara Rozman, EUSA Education and Development Manager, who serves as the Commission’s Secretary.



After welcome address by Mr Aitor Canibe, Commission continued with the meeting that because of loose agenda lasted through the whole day. Members of the Commission discussed the ongoing and future project and activities for the upcoming year.

The main focus was given to three different topics: EUSA's Development Strategy, Guidelines for safeguarding in sport and EUSA projects. Regarding EUSA's Development Strategy, the Commission worked on the overall formulation of measures within the strategic goals assigned to the Commission. When discussing EUSA projects, the focus was given to projects in the area of gender equality, GETZ being one of them.



In between the Commission’s meetings, Mr Aitor Canibe and Ms Sara Rozman took part in a meeting with the Sport directors of 14 Madrid Universities and the representatives of Madrid Government in charge of sport. Ms Rozman presented EUSA and its main activities with a special emphasise on the next year’s European Universities Championships and the next editions of the European Universities Games.

The second day of the meeting was dedicated to visits of various sports institutions. The first meeting took place at High Council for Sport, where Committee members, joined also by EUSA Secretary General Mr Matjaz Pecovnik, were greeted by Ms Nuria Garatachea Vallejo, Head of Women and Sport Department.



At the meeting both organizations exchanged the views on participation of women in higher positions in sport organizations. Ms Garatachea Vallejo presented the history and evolution of quota system for women in sports organizations in Spain which was recognized by Commission members as an example of good practice and something that EUSA could take into consideration when implementing its development strategy.

Commission continued its meeting at the Spanish Paralympic Committee where they were greeted by Mr Ricardo Martin Acevedo, SPC Sports Manager. At the meeting Mr Pecovnik presented the hosts EUSA activities with a special emphasize on the inclusion of para sports to the European Universities Games programme. The Commission concluded the meetings at the High Council for Sports with the visit to High Performance Centre which was presented to the EUSA guests by Mr Juan Pablo Cerezo Mata, representative of the Spanish University Sport Committee (CEDU).



The afternoon programme continued with a visit to MSI Motor & Sport Institute, dedicated to the promotion of academic and sporting talents and technology. The main pillars of the Institute consist of Motorsport, eSports, Bioengineering Center, Technology and Innovation, Experiences and Spaces and Road safety.



The two day meeting concluded with at farewell diner, hosted by the representatives of University Camilo Jose Cela. The Commission will meet again next year.