At the occasion of the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the European Union, Sofia hosted the EU Sport Forum 2018 on March 22 and 23. Over 350 participants attended the event which brought together policy makers and key stakeholders active in European sport. European University Sports Association (EUSA) was also represented in Sofia.

Organised yearly, the EU Sport Forum is 'the place to be' for European sport and the main platform for dialogue between the European Commission and other key sport stakeholders.



Under the banner 'Sport in Europe, investing for future generations,' this year's edition had a special focus on the role of sport in international relations and covered several current topics, including sustainable sport and the Olympic Games, role of sport in promoting international cooperation, EU Work plan for sport 2017-2020, healthy lifestyle and follow-up to the Tartu Call for Action, breaking the glass ceiling and promotion of gender equality in sport, sport and climate change, transfer of players, role of sport in development of cities and regions, promotion of European Values through sport, opportunities of innovation and digital technologies in sport, etc.



Apart from big interest to attend the event in person, live webstreaming enabled the interested audience to follow the EU Sport Forum online as well. The event was opened by Mr Tibor Navracsics, EU Commissioner for Education, Culture, Youth and Sport together with Mr Krasen Kralev, Bulgarian Minister of Youth and Sports and Ms Yordanka Fandakova, the Mayor of Sofia.



Several topics were organised as plenary sessions, and some as parallel ones, enabling more in-depth discussions on the selected topics. The Forum supported the No Women No Panel Campaign, ensuring female representation in all panels.



EUSA was represented at the event by its Secretary General Mr Matjaz Pecovnik and Communications and Projects Manager Mr Andrej Pisl. Besides attending the event, EUSA representatives also took the opportunity to meet with the representatives of the Commission, several EUSA partner organisations and explore new opportunities of cooperation.



European University Sports Association and the EUSA Institute have also become recognisable and reliable partners of Erasmus+ projects. Meetings with representatives of two projects took place in Sofia as well.



The first one was with Ms Laura Capranica, Chair of the European Athlete as Student (EAS) - dual career network together with European Commission's Policy Officer Ms Agata Dziarnowska on the projects of dual career. EUSA Institute is a partner in project EMPATIA - Education model for parents of athletes in academics, and associated partner in AMID - Athletic migration: Dual Career and qualification in sports.



The second meeting was with Ms Kristiana Kazandzhieva, delegate of the Bulgarian Olympic Committee (BOC), leading the project Smart Sport, project on dual career, working on introducing new technologies and creating networks for supporting dual career good practices.



EU Sport Forum also offered #beactive opportunities for physical activities, as well as an official dinner with dynamic sports entertainment programme, featuring rhythmic gymnastics, street workout and taekwondo. The Forum was closed on Friday by conclusion of Head of Sport Unit Mr Yves Le Lostecque and closing remarks by Mr Jens Nymand Christensen, Deputy Director General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture.



For more information, please see https://ec.europa.eu/sport/eu-sport-forum-2018_en