Under the leadership of OPES, representatives of European network partners of the Give Sport a Say project gathered for a joint working meeting and individual sessions in Rome on May 5 and 6, 2026.

Present at the meetings were Sara Massini, Head of the International Department at OPES (ITA); Laura Capranica, President of the European Athlete as Student - EAS (MLT), Antonio Tessitore, President of the European Network of Sport Education - ENSE (AUT) and Andrej Pisl, Director of Projects and Policy at the European University Sports Association - EUSA and EUSA Institute (SLO).

The meeting focused on the main implementation activities, which are being organised in the next 2 years, starting with Inform in 2026; and Awareness & Knowledge and Engage series in 2027. Following the activities, the project aims to produce Policy recommendations on the future of EU sport policy in connection with health, equality and youth; Guidelines on integrating EU-related activities into sport events; and Guidelines on capacity-building in sport events.

The Give Sport a Say project is co-funded by the European Union and explores how civil society and the sport movement can contribute to more effective methods of citizens’ engagement and political participation, with a specific focus on EU sport policies and their links to equality, youth and health priorities. The project is part of the CERV (Citizens, Equality, Rights and Values) EU programme, and is running in 2026 and 2027.

For more information, please see https://www.givesportasay.eu.