On Thursday 9th Feb, CHF participated in an event hosted and organized by the Catalan Sports Council and moderated by BLINK, about the ERASMUS+ programs, with the aim to encourage sports organizations and other Catalan institutions to promote and/or participate in those programs.
The event served to detail all the steps to be followed by those entities that want to carry out transnational sports projects in various areas. To complement this, they have invited four entities that were able to carry out initiatives thanks to the program. The four successful cases have been: “ALL-IN&WIN: Alliance for improving LGBTI+ inclusion sports to win together” (2022-2024), sponsored by the Catalan Hockey Federation, explained by Martí Lloveras; SONAR: Stop children and youth injuries with a particular focus on female athletes” (2022-2024), led by the University of Vic – UCC, in charge of Javier Peña; “GAPWOMAN: Gender actions to increase women’s participation in sports” (2022-2025), led by the UFEC, shared by Milena de Murga; and finally “SCOUT:
During the day, the general secretary highlighted the “great success” that the program has had in Catalonia. “More than 120 are being led, or have participated, by Catalan entities. This demonstrates the quality and recognition of the projects that have emerged from Catalonia”, he remarked.
The session was followed by professionals from different areas of sport, from City Council, federations, sports councils, universities, clubs, sports associations, sports management companies and foundations, among others. The objective of the day was to offer the different opportunities offered by the Erasmus+ program, an initiative that allows Catalan sport to be projected internationally.
In order to provide a practical overview of the access procedure and the type of actions that can receive Erasmus+ grants, the session had the intervention of Jordi Escribà, expert advisor in financing European projects, from the B-Link consultancy. Jordi Escribà recalled the three key actions of the European program in the sports field (mobility, cooperation and support for the development of cooperation policies). It has also provided organizations with practical advice for the presentation of projects (how to draft them, look for partners, etc.) and the deadlines for submitting calls for proposals.
The session ended with an open round of questions, where the attendees were able to transfer their queries to the experts’ table. Then, Conxita Font, responsible for European funds at the Government’s Foreign Action Secretariat, spoke, and the director of the Catalan Sports Council (CCE), Aleix Villatoro, closed the day. The director of the CCE has expressed the Government’s will to “facilitate all possible tools to the sports system to strengthen it” and has encouraged the entities to “be ambitious”.
The day has been broadcast live on Esportcat’s YouTube channel and will be available to all those entities that are interested. All the information can also be consulted in the specific section of the Esportcat website .