Within the ESOM (Enhancing Sport Organisations and Management) project, co-founded by the European Union, a webinar on the topic of Good Governance and Policy Making was hosted on 11th of April 2024.

The meeting was hosted in cooperation of the Student Sports Association the Netherlands / Studentensport Nederland (SSN), the European University Sports Association (EUSA) and the EUSA Institute, and was attended by over 30 participants, representatives of the partners, national university sport bodies and universities.

The ESOM project mainly aims to strengthen management and event organisation in university sport, through blended learning, sharing experiences, gaining new information and skills on the key topics of sports management, funding, communication, and other key topics.

The webinar was opened by the welcome words of Kevin Van Loon, representative of one of the project partners, the Student Sports Association the Netherlands, sharing a bit the background of the project as well as the topics that were covered by the webinar. Welcome address was also given on behalf of EUSA as the coordinator of the project by Mr Andrej Pisl, EUSA Project and Policy Manager.

Content of the webinar was kicked off with a presentation of the keynote speaker, Ms Marjolijn Van Oordt, covering in detail the concept of Good Governance. The presentation of Ms Van Oordt covered key elements of as the introduction to the topic of Good Governance, starting with the definition, the theory of change, as well as stakeholder mapping and management.

Risk assessment, its probability and impact, prevention and reduction of the risk strategies were also emphasized. Ms Van Oortd contributed with valuable presentation regarding decision making, the steps and definition of the process itself. In relation to this, she focused on the negotiation part, elaboration on the definition, the elements: process, agreement, individual interests and the negotiation domains.

The keynote presentation was then wrapped up with the last part which focused on psychological positioning, the importance of this step, the effects, the do’s, the elements, and the negotiation domains: contents, process, and relationship.

Next, the webinar continued with the presentation of Ms Aleksandra Snopek from University Sports Association of Poland – AZS. Ms Snopek focused on the structure of AZS, the fundamental documents, financial background, sporting events and philosophy, as well as the overview of activities and media coverage of the work of the Association.

Ms Marija Panijan, representing the Croatian Academic Sports Federation, gave a detailed presentation of the Federation, its structure, organizational structure, and the importance of certain working documents and policies, highlighting the equality policies with the inclusion of disabled people and the risk group, increase the participation of the women.

In the presentation, Ms Panijan presented the implantation and importance of Good Governance in the federation, through explaining in detail how the decision-making process and policy making works. She emphasises the Development strategy 2024-2028 and the involvement on an international level in FISU and EUSA.

The fourth presentation was given on behalf of Mr Andrej Pisl, EUSA Projects and Policy Manager, covering the good governance implementation in EUSA. Mr Pisl presented the different events that are organized by EUSA for students aged 17 to 30, as well as different meetings, educational events such as: conventions, conferences, seminars, forums, online events, and webinars, with the goal to encourage strategic dialogue.

The presentation also covered different ways of having cooperation with different partners mainly made possible through diverse projects that EUSA foster. Mr Pisl also covered different structural documents that hold important role in regulating and implementing the steps of Good Governance. Finally, he finished with the communication and ways to increase the collaboration and flow of information between partners, member federations and other stakeholders, done mainly through newsletters, annual publications, and official social media channels.

The last speaker of the webinar was Ms Sara Rozman, EUSA Education and Development Manager, who mainly focused on presenting in more detail the EUSA Incidents Policy, which addresses the topic of safeguarding and ethics, explaining the purpose and key importance in the vision, the policies and the creation of a safer and inclusive environment.

After the contribution of the presenters, a discussion followed in form of a round table of speakers, also inviting the participants to ask questions and take part in the debate.

The presentations and other resources will soon be available also on the website of the project: https://esom.eusa.eu.