Continuing the journey towards a skilled workforce for the sport and physical activity sector in Europe

SKILLS: “Continuing the journey towards a skilled workforce for the sport and physical activity sector in Europe”EU Priority: Promote education in and through sport with special focus on skills developmentBackground: SKILLS is a follow-up from the EU funded project “European Sector Skills Alliance for Sport (ESSA-Sport)” to ensure continuity and maintain momentum in researching, networking, implementing actions and improving skills in the sport sector in Europe.Aim: The overall aim of SKILLS is to ensure a skilled workforce (paid/unpaid) in the sport sector to allow the sector to meet its recognised potential at the heart of European society.Partnership: Complementary mix of partners from education, employment and government sector. The project team is highly relevant to the topic. A wider network is in place to support the project actions.Main expected outcomes: SKILLS will maintain a focus on understanding and presenting the labour market and skills needs in the sector, through: >A yearly summary fact sheet on the sport labour market in EU >Summary paper with visuals on skills needs and challenges >Compendium of good practice examples towards a skilled workforce for the sector >Annual workshop gathering European Sport organisations to discuss skill and workforce issuesProject design: A logical structure of work packages and partner meetings has been developed to achieve the project aims.Impact: Modernisation of vocational education and training in sport to equip the workforce with competences required by the labour market and for the sector to reach its potential, in line with EU policies and tools.EU Added Value: Cost effective way of cascading messages across EU which could not be achieved by working at the national level alone.Dissemination: A communication strategy with various dissemination and valorisation activities including events and web platform. A sustainability plan will ensure actions continue after the lifetime of the project.