EOSE and the partners in the SKILLS project are delighted to announce the publication of the “Compendium of selected good practice examples towards a skills and workforce for the sport and physical activity sector”.

The SKILLS project (2020-2021 www.projects.eose.org/skills) was designed as an important next step on the journey to reform and modernise training and qualifications and re-skill the workforce of paid staff and volunteers in the sport and physical activity sector. SKILLS is a continuation of a previous project “European Sector Skills Alliance for the sport and physical activity sector”, known as ESSA-Sport. The Compendium is a key output of the SKILLS project.

The main objective of this Compendium of Selected Good Practice Examples is to showcase and promote case studies which illustrate real activities leading towards the implementation of ESSA-Sport national action plans.

In each selected good practice example, there is an explicit link to the national action plan of the country in question. It is hoped that by giving visibility to these examples through the Compendium it will encourage further implementation of National Action Plans which, if taken forward, will result in a skilled workforce and support the sector to meet its objectives and potential for a fitter, healthier and more productive society.

During 2021, EOSE contacted the national coordinators from the ESSA-Sport project and EOSE members familiar with their country’s National Strategic Action Plan and discussed with them if there was a national good practice example or case study which could be highlighted in this Compendium.

The criteria for inclusion included the case study being a successful example of implementation of the National Strategic Action Plan, and something that could be interesting in the European context and potentially replicated in other countries.

Eventually, 13 good practice examples were selected for the Compendium and the national coordinators completed a template to supply key facts and information about the national example. The template used the following main headings:

• Title of the initiative
• Overall theme of the initiative
• Background / rationale / need for the initiative
• Targeted objectives / expectations of the initiative
• Link with the content of the ESSA-Sport National Strategic Action Plan
• Stakeholders involved and their role
• Main challenges and difficulties (if any)
• Impact of the initiative
• Dissemination and replicability of the initiative
• Summary of the success story

The 13 good practice examples in this Compendium cover a range of themes crucial to the development of the sport sector, from gender equality, disability inclusion and dual career; to researching the labour market, legislation supporting the sector, and initiatives for coach education and sport management employability.

One thing that links them together is that they are about developing people – the large workforce of paid staff and volunteers in sport who are the sector’s greatest asset. New training, education programmes, employment standards and employability initiatives also feature strongly in this Compendium.

Each national good practice example has a section for summary of success, and it is clear the overall impact of the examples is substantial in developing the sport and physical activity and its workforce. Examples of successful impact include:

• Stronger collaboration between the sport sector and academic institutions
• Concrete actions on gender equality
• Enhanced contribution of sport and physical activity to regional development
• Professionalisation of the sport labour market
• Improved values such as respect, fellowship and empathy in both teachers and students
• Enabled the sports industry to agree on the skills and attitudes, knowledge and competences required for a key employment role

When the sector works together at the national or European level on skills and employment issues, excellent outcomes can be achieved for the advancement of the sport sector, its workforce and everybody who uses and benefits from its services.

The partners of the SKILLS project hope that the following national case studies will be of interest to stakeholders in the sports sector with an interest in skills, education and workforce development. Some of these examples could be replicated in other countries and in all cases it can inspire the further implementation of actions towards a skilled and competent workforce.

Click here to access the full compendium