EOSE is pleased to announce that we are a partner in the Shaping Talents and Achieving Vocational Excellence in Sports (STARS) project.
STARS is an initiative to transform sport education and training across Europe and has been funded through the Partnership for Excellence – Centres of Vocational Excellence Projects selected for funding under the ERASMUS+ 2023 call. It is being coordinated by the French organisation 135 BPM Le Campus du Sport and will run for four years until 2028.
STARS will enhance vocational training in the sport industry and a main objective of the project is the continuous upskilling and reskilling of sport professionals and athletes by identifying specific skill gaps and providing high-quality trainings aligned with the job-related key competences and current needs.
STARS has a focus on four countries; France, Germany, Greece and Spain and a range of partners including Ministries, education providers, sport federations and sports schools from these countries are part of the overall dynamic consortium of 17 partners. Skills Partnerships formulated at the EU level and at the regional level in the target countries will support an inclusive and sustainable economy of the sport sector.
A large part of the work programme will be delivered through inter-connected Building Blocks where the consortium will develop a range of products to be pilot tested in the target countries and promoted throughout the industry.
STARS Building Blocks
- Open Sports Schools – Community Engagement
- Dual Careers for Athletes
- Anti- GBV and Radicalisation in Sports
- Applied Research in Sports
- Learning pills for upskilling of Sports Professionals and Educators
- Validation of prior and informal learning
- Financial Models for Sports Education
- Mega Sports Event Management
EOSE is the leader of the second Work Package of the project which includes the establishment Skills Partnerships in line with the European Commission’s Pact for Skills methodology. As part of this Work Package, skills research will take place to identify and anticipate sport sector skills needs.
The Kick-Off meeting for the STARS project took place in France from the 1st to the 3rd of July 2024, EOSE was represented by Ben Gittus, Director of Standards and Aurélien Favre, Executive Director. The event which brought all partners together for the first time began in Lille on the 1st and 2nd of July before moving to Paris for the final day on the 3rd.
Day 1 featured opening remarks from the Ministries supporting the project from France and Greece, before an overview of the project and several high-level panels on the topics of VET, sports, and the EU’s Pact for Skills. Ben Gittus from EOSE also presented the concept of Skills Partnerships to the group.
Day 2 Focussed on the plans for the eight building blocks of the project, with country clusters of partners discussing implementation of the project at the national level. This day also included a study visit to Btwin Village: Innovation at the heart of Hauts-de-France.
Day 3 moved to Paris for sessions at the French Ministry of Sport related to communication and dissemination as well as further study visit activities and meetings with national experts. The STARS project received the support from the French Minister for Sports and the Olympic and Paralympic Games, Mrs Amélie Oudéa-Castéra, who met the partners and reinforced the importance of focusing on the development of the skills of those involved in the sport sector and the provision of relevant and fit-for-purpose training offer in the sport sector.
Overall, the Kick-Off meeting was a productive event, where the partners had both the time to get to know each other (essential as they will be working together over four years) and sufficient time to discuss and further understand the key elements of the project and role of partners.
In addition to EOSE, two EOSE members are also part of the consortium; General Secretariat of Sports, Ministry of Education, Religious Affairs and Sports from Greece, and Technical University of Madrid (UPM) from Spain.
EOSE looks forward to collaborating with the partners in the coming years to achieve this ambitious project to positively influence and impact on vocational education and training in the sport sector.
