During the event were presented the Erasmus + and LIFE programs as well as two project ideas
The webinar was organized by EPSI and ACES Europe. In the beginning, the floor was given to Hugo Alonso from ACES Europe that thanked EPSI for the collaboration, the panelists, and the members of the event. Participants of the meeting were mostly public authorities (cities, that are members of ACES Europe). The agenda of the webinar combined funding opportunities with project ideas that were presented to the members of ACES Europe – Erasmus+ (by Maria Redondo) and LIFE (by Massimo Rinaldi) and two project pitches.
EPSI was represented by Sebastiano Lommi (junior director) and Alberto Bichi (executive director). They shared the added value they want to provide to the members of the network by supporting them in obtaining funding from the EU but also exploring the possibility to find private funds from investors.
The webinar started with a presentation by Sebastiano Lommi that presented the EPSI network and all the benefits it brings to its members (132 members from 24 countries) and how it creates synergies between them. He talked about the main pillars of EPSI – lobbying, funding, and business creation. He focused on the funding pillar by explaining how it works to bring the project ideas of EPSI members to reality by helping them to form partnerships and find funding. Sebastiano invited all participants to join the EPSI Annual Conference in Bergamo (17-19 October 2022) and explore the option to learn more about the network and become members.
Next, Maria Redondo talked about the funding opportunities under the Erasmus+ program. She mentioned the objectives of Erasmus+ and the scope of funds for the period 2021-2027 and the key actions. Details were provided about each Key Action in the scope of Erasmus+ and she mentioned specifically upcoming mobility for sports for coaches and staff under Key Action 1 and the cooperation partnerships under Key Action 2.
After that Massimo Rinaldi presented opportunities under the LIFE program. He referred to the importance of applying innovation in the project ideas. Massimo gave details about forming a partnership, project ideas, beneficiaries, eligible costs, and the future call that will open in March 2023.
After that two project ideas were presented. The first one was shared by Carlos Anton – “Soccer for education and values”. The project idea is to make street soccer attractive again for children and young people by creating urban spaces for football and using training competitions to share important values through sport. The pitch was discussed among participants that provided valuable feedback.
The second pitch was by the Catalan Foundation for sport. Members of their team shared their project idea about co-existence and social cohesion through sports. It is a socio-educational project around a program of sports activities and formation that uses sport as a tool for transmitting values and transforming complex social contexts like migration.
At the end of the webinar, there was a Q&A session and both participants and panelists shared how they enjoyed the event and find added value from it.