In May 2018, the European Union released a comprehensive study detailing the economic impact of sport across its 28 Member States.
Based on the Sport Satellite Accounts of member states and using data from 2012 as the basis for the study, results show that sport-related Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was nearly 280 billion Euro, or 2.12% of total GDP within the EU. In addition, nearly 5.7 million employees could be attributed to sport. In other words, around every 47th Euro and every 37th employee in the EU are directly sport-related.
Austria, with its mountains, lakes and wealth of outdoor activities, leads the way, with over 4% of its GDP and more than 5.5% of its employment coming from sport. On the other end of the spectrum, Latvia only accrues 0.64% of its GDP via sport, while Romania only has sport-related employment to the tune of about 1.2%.
Of use for both practitioners and researchers, the full study can be found here.
Last month, the European Union published a bevy of sports-related statistics that are sure to be of use to both researchers and practitioners alike.
Most notably, after a four year gap, the new Eurobarometer on sport and physical education was released in March. Profiling various sport and physical activity trends across Europe, the report unfortunately indicates a continued decline in sport participation. In fact, the proportion of those who say they never exercise or play sport has increased from 42% to 46% Europe-wide. Given this troubling direction, it continues to be up to the sport education sector, and the sport sector writ large, to find ways to combat these trends.
The full report can be here.
And, thanks to cooperation between Eurostat and the Directorate General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC), sport statistics related to the social and economic dimension of sport have been put together and summarized in an comprehensive, easily digestible publication, which can be found here.
The European Commission and the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) will organise an "Info Day" on 30th January 2018 in Brussels to inform potential applicants about the Erasmus+: Sport programme and its funding opportunities.
Speakers will discuss the policy, give advice and tips on preparing and submitting proposals, and provide support with the financial aspects of funding, and there will also be a chance to network and meet potential partners as well as to see examples of past Sport success stories.
Full information about the event and registration can be found here.
On the 25th October, the European Commission published the Call for Proposals for 2018 and the corresponding project guide.
Part of this call includes funding related specifically to sport-based projects. These projects should focus on one of three key areas: learning mobility, cooperation for innovation, and support for policy reports. Grants for small collaborations up to 60000 EUR as well as larger collaborations of up to 400 000 EUR are available.
The deadline for applications is April 5, 2018. The formal application guide can be found here. Organizations wishing to apply for funding in this context must meet the eligibility criteria and conditions set out in the Guide. The document contains detailed information on the objectives, application and award criteria of the different project types and therefore forms the basis for all applicants.
Should you wish to approach ENSE about collaboration on such a project, you are also welcome to do so by contacting us at info (a) sporteducation.eu