Partners of the transnational project Athletes Friendly Education (AFE) once again met virtually for a productive meeting on Thursday, May 28, with the EUSA Institute present.

Funded by the ErasmusPlus programme of the EU, the two-year project looks to promote the dual careers of athletes and focuses on the support of innovative educational approaches and good governance in sport, in relation to the objectives of the EU policies in the field of sport and in pursuit of the objectives from the EU Commission Guidelines on Dual Career of Athletes.

The aim of the project is to spread awareness and good practices among educational institutions that support athletes in their dual careers by determining the minimum quality standards of educational and training institutions at the EU level, and then establishing a certification system to recognise the efforts made by dual career-friendly institutions.

Led by project coordinators the Olympic Committee of Slovenia, partners in the project include the National Olympic Committee of Portugal, the Belgian Olympic and Interfederal Committee, the German Olympic Academy, the Croatian Olympic Academy, the University of Maribor’s Faculty of Organisational Sciences, the University of Rijeka’s Faculty of Maritime Studies, the Volleyball Federation of Macedonia and the European University Sports Association Institute.



With project partners still unable to meet in person due to travel restrictions across Europe, the project’s third meeting was held online, with all partners present. In attendance on behalf of the EUSA Institute was Communications and Project Manager Mr Andrej Pisl and Communications Officer Mr Fabio De Dominicis.

Following a brief catch up and consultation with all partners regarding the project’s timeline in light of work being affected by the COVID-19 lockdown, aspects regarding the project’s management and implementation were discussed, before a presentation regarding Work Package 4 – the nomination of national expert groups and work of the expert groups for the certification process.

The development of the certificate and process of certifying educational programmes was then discussed, followed by discussions regarding the project’s promotion and dissemination ahead of the meeting’s concluding remarks.



Project partners will continue with their various tasks in line with the project’s timeline and will remain in close contact, doing their best despite the current pandemic’s restrictions on various activities across the continent.

For more information about the Athletes Friendly Education project, please visit http://athletes.friendly.edu.olympic.si.