After the launch of the SHARE 2.0 initiative by the European Commission earlier in the year, the last of the thematic Community of Practice (CoP) online events was held on September 4 as a capacity building event on the topic of EU funding opportunities, focusing on sustainable sport infrastructure.

Welcome and opening were done on behalf of the European Commission by Peter Fischer, Sport Unit of DG EAC, and Simona Guagliardo on behalf of ICF, introducing the main objectives of the event - introducing the CoP members to the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and discussing relevant examples of co-funded projects on sustainable sport infrastructure under the programme.

The main concept of ERDF and the projects which can be potentially funded through this programme was introduced by Boryana Spasova, DG REGIO. She shared how to fund sustainable sport infrastructure through ERDF, as well as sharing background and wider policy objective of the funding instrument and pointing out some links to sustainable sport infrastructure.

Dirk Van de Wiele from Vrije Universiteit Brussel shared their project of building a new swimming pool at VUB. Through giving an overview of the initiative, the participants also learned why the initiative is considered a good practice, and what were the main challenges of the preparation and implementation - including funding.

Joao Zamith from Surfing Viana High Performance Centre shared their project of the Holistic Surfing Center, presenting their experiences of receiving financial support through ERDF funding mechanism, and their experiences of the project, the application process and implementation.

Agnieszka Malec from the City of Tomaszow Lubelski shared their experiences of the modernisation of the Osit Tomasovia sports complex, including the modernization and renovation of the sports parts, as well as administrative and social facilities. Apart sharing the funding support, including ERDF, the renovation details, new programmes offered and lessons learnt from the initiative and its implementation were shared.

The event concluded with closing remarks by Stefano Pinto, Sport Unit of DG EAC, including information about the next steps of the CoP on EU Funding and the SHARE 2.0 initiative. An in-person SHARE 2.0 conference will be held in Brussels on September 11, in which EUSA will also be represented. For more information, please visit https://sport.ec.europa.eu/initiatives/share-20