Sport Diplomacy Academy

In the period 13–16 of December 2021, in Sofia, Bulgaria was held the final partners meeting of Sport Diplomacy Academy that gathered the organizations, implementing since 2019 the pilot initiative that is aiming to empower sport leaders from Bulgaria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Italy and it delivered by Bulgarian Sports Development Association, Bosnian Representative Association for Valuable Opportunities (BRAVO), Rijeka’s Sports Association and L'Orma SSD. An online event was also held during the final meeting, bringing together "diplomats in sport suits" for a moment of evaluation and reflection on the past three years of joint training.

In the period 15th of September - 21th of November, 2021, the online module of the Sports Diplomacy Academy took place. The online lectures were delivered with various speakers and experts in the field of media, sport for development, social entrepreneurship in sport, policy development and more. The module was originally planned to be implemented in Milan, Italy.

On 21th of November 2021 a lecture of the online module of Sport Diplomacy Academy was delivered and it was focused on Working with specific target groups. The lecture of Diego Capuzzi & Bice Saccò Technician and Athlete of ASD No Limits, included multiple practical aspects of working with persons with disabilities. No Limits is an organization affiliated with Special Olympics, who have actively participated for some time in competitions, tournaments and matches organized by the Federation and who in recent years have achieved important sporting results led by their motto: Young people with sport running through their veins. The main message of Diego Capuzzi & Bice Saccò to the diplomats in sport suits was: “Use sport as a tool for growth!” The online module of #SportDiplomacyAcademy is devoted on working with media and sport for development, originally planned to be implemented in Milan, Italy.

On 12th of November 2021 a lecture of the online module of Sport Diplomacy Academy was delivered and it was focused on Working with media in Sport. The lecture of the sport journalist Ivan Boyanov included multiple practical tips&tricks on how to be prepared for different kind of media participation, how to behave during a interview, what to consider when transmitting your message to the audience with main advice by the speaker to the diplomats in sport suits to “have their Strategy, Simplicity, Personality when working with media in Sport". Ivan Boyanov is a sports journalist with more than a decade of experience in the field of broadcast media industry. He has covered many major international events such as Champions League matches, including three finals and conducted interviews with some of the biggest sport stars like Arsen Wenger, Jose Mourihno, Hristo Stoichkov, Lothar Mattheus, etc. Since 2018 Boyanov is also part of the teams of mentors of the IOC Young Reporters Programme." The online module of #SportDiplomacyAcademy is devoted on working with media and sport for development, originally planned to be implemented in Milan, Italy.

On 07th of November 2021 a lecture of the online module of Sport Diplomacy Academy was delivered and it was focused on European Sport Diplomacy policy development with the valuable insights on the topic of Prof. Thierry Zinz, Faculty of Sports Sciences of the Université catholique de Louvain, Belgium. Prof. Zinz highlighted that "Sport Diplomacy promote a sense of identity, belonging and unity beyond citizens" and inspired the participants to become even better ambassadors of their sport and country.

On 15th of October 2021 has been conducted an online lecture of the forth module of Sport Diplomacy Academy, focused on Didactic Communication in the School and Sport Sector, delivered by Maurizio Mondoni - Professor and researcher at the Catholic University of Milan, Meritorious National Federation Coach, Meritorious National Instructor Minibasket. Prof. Mondoni shared its extensive practical experience in communication methods and approaches in sport and highlighted the importance of proper message and the way that the message can reach the audience. The online module of #SportDiplomacyAcademy is devoted on working with media and sport for development, originally planned to be implemented in Milan, Italy.

On 10th of October 2021 the fourth lecture of the online module of Sport Diplomacy Academy was delivered and it was focused on how to make #SportDiplomacy more concrete and tangible.

On 30th of September 2021 the third lecture of the online module of Sport Diplomacy Academy was delivered and it was focused on social entrepreneurship in sport in action through the sustainable model of Play More – social enterprise, based in Milan. Luigi de Micco, co-founder of the organization, has presented the long path to create meaning through sport, ensuring that participation of everyone is granted, aiming to reach sport, wellbeing and integration in local community. The sport centre in the heart of Milan is offering hundreds of sport activities and courses and 1 in 6 kids in the facility is #BeActive for free (with dream to reach 50% of the participating kids enjoying physical activity with the support of Play More). Multiple sport activities are proposed for mixture of participants with or without disabilities, with migrant background, various ages and social status (including company employees) empowering that sport is for everyone and everyone is the same on the sport ground. The online module of #SportDiplomacyAcademy is devoted on working with media and sport for development, originally planned to be implemented in Milan, Italy.

On 26th of September 2021 the second lecture of the online module of Sport Diplomacy Academy was delivered and it was focused on inclusive design of sport with the concrete example of Baskin. Baskin is a new sport invented in Cremona in 2003 whose objective is to create an activity literally everyone – girls, boys, the able and those with physical or mental challenges to overcome – can participate in and enjoy to the fullest extent of their abilities. "Good design enables, bad design disables - in sport, in life, in all our environment. Baskin is an representation of Sport Design for All" was one of the main highlights during the "From an inclusion spectrum of options to a model of sport designed for all: The innovative example of Baskin” lecture of Alexy Valet – Consultant in Training Processes and Project Design (Sport, education, inclusion & innovation). The online module of #SportDiplomacyAcademy is devoted on working with media and sport for development, originally planned to be implemented in Milan, Italy.

On September 25, 2021, in the “Madara” pool of the National Sports Academy "Vasil Levski" #Train4Inclusive event in adapted swimming was held, which was attended by athletes with intellectual disabilities. #Train4Inclusive is implemented by an international consortium including representatives of Bulgaria, Croatia, Italy, Slovenia and Spain and aims to develop a methodology and tools that sports coaches and managers of sports activities for people with disabilities will be able to use to monitor the progress of their physical, cognitive and social skills. The swimming event included 50m adapted swimming with a partner, as well as water fun for the participants, who were divided into two age groups - under and over 17 years.

On September 21, 2021, during the training-seminar activity of the students in the Master's Degree, "Sports Management" in the National Sports Academy "Vassil Levski", Joanna Dochevska – Chairperson of the Bulgarian Sports Deveopment Association (BSDA) and Ivaylo Zdravkov - Member of the Board of BSDA, presented the goals, activities and tasks of the project "Sport Diplomacy Academy". One of the main goals of the project team is to inspire and train at least 20 sports diplomats in sports suits, with practical skills and knowledge in the field of sports diplomacy (political dialogue and international relations, campaign creation, successful verbal and nonverbal communication , public speaking, media relations, protocol and etiquette, EU foreign policy and values).

On 15th of September 2021 the first lecture of the online module of Sport Diplomacy Academy was delivered and it was focused on access to public funds for sports stakeholders, EU Regulatory matters that have an impact on sports and institutional relations based on the huge experience in the field of Valerio Giovannini - Public Affairs Specialist, Executive Office / National Governance & Global Institutions of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). Valerio Giovannini is a qualified lawyer from Italy with over 10 years of experience in EU regulatory matters, institutional relations, and public funding. He is a lecturer in the Master Programme organized by the LUISS Business school on EU financial mechanisms and participated as a speaker in a number of high-level conferences on this topic. The online module of #SportDiplomacyAcademy is devoted on working with media and sport for development, originally planned to be implemented in Milan, Italy.

In the period 10-16 of July 2021 in Rijeka, Croatia was held the third module under the Sport Diplomacy Academy project, which aims to bring together 80 sports administrators, coaches and volunteers from 4 countries. The first encountering of the sport diplomats after COVID-19 pandemic was emotional and desired event that was able to gather more than 50 participants from the original project group that are passionate to continue their diplomacy journey and to learn more about the module topics of successful verbal and non-verbal communication, as well the one with public authorities, public speaking and campaign creation, marketing in sports and as well – aspects of sport diplomacy, related to the forthcoming Olympic Games in Tokyo.

#SportDiplomacyAcademy platform is open for registration of sport organizations and more that 200 sport entities are already registered. The platform aims to facilitate the international relations and cooperation in the field of sport and is with free access for sport clubs, federations and organizations. Considering the forthcoming programme period 2020-2027 and the planned on behalf of the European Union funding in the field of sport, it is a great opportunity for sport entities to be easy reachable as potential partners in international projects.

On 15th of December part of the #SportDiplomacyAcademy met in online environment to discuss on how the diplomats are going, how is the sport in our country overcoming this unexpected situation with the COVID-19 pandemic and possible resume of the project activities.

The European Week of Sport #BeActive was held for the sixth consecutive year and between 23 and 30 September 2020 all residents and guests of Sofia had the opportunity to become part of the largest sports event in Europe. European Week of Sport is an initiative of the European Commission, which is held each September throughout Europe since 2015. The week, which takes the form of an awareness raising campaign, promotes the multiple benefits of sports and physical activity and everyone can participate, regardless of age, background or physical condition.

In the period 04-05 of July 2020, #BeActive weekend was held at the Monastery "St. Kozma and Damyan”, organized in partnership with the Sunday School at the “Nativity of Christ" Temple, Sofia, Mladost 3, the Association of Bulgarians suffering from asthma (ABBA), Class4YourBack and the Bulgarian sports development association.

On July 3, 2020, the Bulgarian Sports Development Association joined Familatlon 2020 with an online session Corrective Gymnastics for Children and Parents, conducted by Class 4 Your Back - Gymnastics for proper posture with Iva (https://www.facebook.com/ Class4YourBack /), within Familatlon Online. During the session was presented Sport Diplomacy Academy project - a legacy of recent First Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2018 and will focus on Western Balkans lot as a logical follow up of all implemented #EU2018BG. Main activities: prioritizing the EU perspective and connectivity of the WB, referring to the SofiaDeclaration and Sofia Priority Agenda. Both #EU and WB partners should continue to invest efforts in strengthening the cooperation and good practices exchange, focused on democracy, security and fundamental rights. Project will ensure the educational mobility of coaches and other staff of sport organisations (incl. volunteers) linked to professional and grassroots sport. The 4 modules of mobility, held in each one of the partners countries with the same group of participants from the project target group will improve their competences as well as their qualifications and acquire new skills through learning mobility and spending a period of time in a foreign country (in and outside of the EU). Learning mobility will be an investment in human capital and a contribution to the capacity building of sport organisations with clear focus on building a network of well-trained sport diplomats.

Sport is ambition, emotion and inspiration, initiated by people for people and is based on personal beliefs about integrity, dedication and fairness, as well as the principles of "fair play", teamwork, discipline, equal start and non-discrimination. Sport is a great way to prevent many of the problems in our society such as social exclusion, violence, crime and addiction. This is the belief of the Bulgarian Sports Development Association, which has been operating for 10 years, organizing many events that inspire citizens to #BeActive, creating and implementing a large number of international trainings and events.

On 22nd of May 2020, the #SportDiplomacyAcademy participants gathered on online meeting to update each other about the situation in their countries and to receive an update from the project team about the project lifetime that has been affected by COVID-19 pandemic. During the meeting was presented the project platform www.eusportdiplomacy.info that have an opportunity for registration of sport organizations from the European Union and Western Balkans in order to create a sustainable network of active sport organizations in international cooperation. Half of the 80 project participants was able to join the gathering and they have launched a positive message to the sport community that is living a challenging times in the present moment (the message is available as picture in the present announcement).

In the period December 2019 – January 2020, various dissemination events were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina that aimed to promote Sport Diplomacy Academy project. The Sport Diplomacy Academy project is a legacy of the first Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council, which took place in the first half of 2018 and is focused on cooperation with the Western Balkans as a logical continuation of all activities carried out under the #EU2018BG Priority: Perspective of the EU and the Western Balkans connectivity, citing the Sofia Declaration and the Sofia and EU Priority Agenda for the EU and the Western Balkans. The European Union and the Western Balkans must continue to invest in efforts to strengthen cooperation and the exchange of good practices focused on democracy, security and fundamental human rights. Project ensures the educational mobility of coaches and other staff of sport organisations (incl. volunteers) linked to professional and grassroots sport. The four mobility modules, which will be implemented in each partner country, will improve the skills and competencies of a total of 80 sports professionals, as well as their qualifications, through learning mobility. Learning mobility is planned as an investment in human capital and a contribution to the capacity building of various sport organisations with clear focus on building a network of well-trained sport diplomats, with activities co-funded by a European Union pilot program.

On January 28 and 29, 2020 a Co-creating Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps event took place in Brussels, Belgium. Over one and a half days, more than 600 participants had the opportunity to experience a mix of plenary and thematic breakout sessions focused on the main activities of Erasmus+ and the European Solidarity Corps programmes, taking stock of the achievements so far and looking ahead with proposals for improvement and best practices. There were ample opportunities to provide input and fine-tuning of the support mechanisms and technical aspects of the implementation. The discussions were built upon the work done during the intensive co-creation process of the last years. In addition to the working sessions, networking opportunities and cultural activities were offered to complement the agenda and to facilitate exchanges among stakeholders.

On December 21, 2019, as part of the fifth consecutive Christmas Holidays in Bankya, organized by the Bankya District Municipality of Sofia, participants in the Sport Diplomacy Academy Project organized a charity bazaar to raise funds for the needs of the Home for adults with mental disabilities in the town of Banya, Karlovo.

On 17 December 2019, a seminar on Specificity of sport within the EU was held in Brussels, Belgium within the framework of the EU approved work plan for sport (2017-2020), whose common goals are: * Integrity of sport, in particular promoting good governance including the safeguarding of minors, the specificity of sport, combatting corruption and match fixing, as well as fighting doping; * The economic dimension of sport, in particular innovation in sport, and sport and the digital single market; * Sport and society, in particular social inclusion, the role of coaches, education in and through sport, sport and health, sport and environment and sport and media, as well as sport diplomacy; * Adopting conclusions on sport as a platform for social inclusion; * Develop a media policy to support social goals in the field of sport.

In the period 03-09 of December 2019 in Sarajevo was held the second module under the Sport Diplomacy Academy project, which brings together 80 sports administrators, coaches and volunteers from 4 countries. Within the framework of a pilot program for mobility in the field of sport, 7 initiatives have been funded in 2018, with the diplomacy academy being the contribution of our country to the purposeful development of human capacity in sport, which the European Commission is starting to support. The total budget of this call for proposals was € 1.2 million. The call was intended to contribute to the development of sports organizations by supporting the learning mobility of their staff. The exchange of people, ideas and good practices can benefit people, their organizations and sport and society as a whole and will be one of the main priorities of Erasmus + in its Sport chapter after 2020, when it expects a doubling of the budget. Full information on the selection is available on the European Commission's website: https://ec.europa.eu/sport/news/2018/results-published-call-proposals-exchanges-and-mobility-sport_en.

In the period 13-14 of November 2019 in Sofia, Bulgaria was held Peer Learning Event ‘Good governance in the context of major sport event’s lifecycle: from bidding procedure to legacy’, organised by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union and under the EU Work Plan for Sport 2017-2020.

In the period November 4-7, 2019, in Samokov, Bulgaria, a seminar of the Association of Balkan Athletics Federations was held, which aims to empower and motivate more and more women to take leadership positions in sports. The event was opened by Dobromir Karamarinov, President of Bulgarian Athletic Federation and Balkan athletics Federation, First Vice President of European Athletics and World Athletics council member.

On October 28, 2019, in Kiev, Ukraine, the Second Seminar on the European Week of Sport Beyond Borders was held. Last year, European Sport Week went beyond the EU for the first time, with countries and regions from the Western Balkans and the Eastern Partnership joining the initiative. In September 2018 a dedicated seminar was organised in Belgrade, Serbia to discuss different funding possibilities as well as share experience regarding EWoS. The event began with an expert seminar aimed at presenting the results of the European Week of Sport Beyond Borders 2019 and sharing good practices between the European Union countries, the Eastern Partnership countries and the Western Balkans. In addition, this seminar will be an opportunity to discuss EU funding opportunities, including the financial instrument for sport under the Erasmus + program of the European Union.

In the period October 11-17, 2019 in Sofia was held the first module under the Sport Diplomacy Academy project, which brings together 80 sports administrators, coaches and volunteers from 4 countries. Within the framework of a pilot program for mobility in the field of sport, 7 initiatives have been funded in 2018, with the diplomacy academy being the contribution of our country to the purposeful development of human capacity in sport, which the European Commission is starting to support. The total budget of this call for proposals was € 1.2 million. The call was intended to contribute to the development of sports organizations by supporting the learning mobility of their staff. The exchange of people, ideas and good practices can benefit people, their organizations and sport and society as a whole and will be one of the main priorities of Erasmus + in its Sport chapter after 2020, when it expects a doubling of the budget. Full information on the selection is available on the European Commission's website: https://ec.europa.eu/sport/news/2018/results-published-call-proposals-exchanges-and-mobility-sport_en.

On 09/10/2019, Bulgarian sports development association chairwoman Joanna Dochevska, had a meeting in #Sofia with representatives of the Council of Europe during their Consultative Visit on compliance with the European Sport Charter.

In September, 2019 (22.09) SC Lighthouse was invited to participate in a series of events as part of the “Burgas Run” Festival (Fb: Burgas Run) and we took the chance to increase popularity of “Sports diplomacy academy” (SDA) project organized by Bulgarian sports development association (BSDA). The festival was organized as a one-day event with a series of workshops, physical activity sessions, discussion and presentations of over 25 NGO’s and national agencies active in the field of sport and youth. During the event there was a forum panel “Otkrito” organized by the team behind “Hamalogika” – a youth hub in Burgas.

Eurasia Bulgarian Open Badminton Championships 2019 is the biggest international badminton competition held in Bulgaria. The competition is an Olympic qualification for Tokyo 2020 and has a prize pool of $ 10,000. Top competitors from Europe and the world, as well as Bulgarian stars such as Maria Delcheva, Maria Mitsova, Ivan Panev, Ivan Rusev, Stilian Makarski, Daniel Nikolov, took part in this competition. Peyo Boychinov, Alex Vlaar and others. The international sporting event, which is being held at the Badminton Hall Europe, was attended by 340 competitors from 43 countries, taking place until 15 August 2019 and the event is open to citizens free of charge.

The Sport Diplomacy Academy project is a legacy of the first Bulgarian Presidency of the EU Council, which took place in the first half of 2018 and is focused on cooperation with the Western Balkans as a logical continuation of all activities carried out under the #EU2018BG Priority: Perspective of the EU and the Western Balkans connectivity, citing the Sofia Declaration and the Sofia and EU Priority Agenda for the EU and the Western Balkans. The European Union and the Western Balkans must continue to invest in efforts to strengthen cooperation and the exchange of good practices focused on democracy, security and fundamental human rights. Project ensures the educational mobility of coaches and other staff of sport organisations (incl. volunteers) linked to professional and grassroots sport. The four mobility modules, which will be implemented in each partner country, will improve the skills and competencies of a total of 80 sports professionals, as well as their qualifications, through learning mobility. Learning mobility is planned as an investment in human capital and a contribution to the capacity building of various sport organisations with clear focus on building a network of well-trained sport diplomats, with activities co-funded by a European Union pilot program.

In the period 14-17 January, 2019 the first meeting of the partners in the project "Sports diplomatic academy" was held in Sofia. 7 initiatives have been funded under the mobility program in the sphere of sport, with the Diplomacy Academy being the contribution of our country to the purposeful development of human capacity in sport, which the European Commission is starting to support this year. The total budget of this call for project proposals is 1.2 million EUR. The call was intended to contribute to the development of sports organizations by supporting the learning mobility of their staff. The exchange of people, ideas and good practices could be beneficial to people, their organizations for sport and society as a whole are going to be one of the main priorities of Erasmus + in its sporting part after 2020 when it is expected and doubling the budget. Full information on the selection is available on the European Commission's website: https://ec.europa.eu/sport/news/2018/results-published-call-proposals-exchanges-and-mobility-sport_en.

On 14 November 2018, a high-level round table on "Learning mobility in sport" was held in Salzburg, Austria, in the frame of the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU. The meeting was attended by sports experts from the Member States, representatives of the European Commission and the academic community in Europe. Among the participants was Joanna Dochevska - chairwoman of the Bulgarian sports development association, which presented the framework of the project "Sports Diplomacy Academy", which was been granted for funding few days ago by Brussels. 7 initiatives have been funded under the mobility program in the field of sport, with the Diplomatic Academy being the contribution of Bulgaria to the purposeful development of human capacity in sport, which the European Commission is starting to support this year. The total budget of this call for proposals was € 1.2 million. The call was intended to contribute to the development of sports organizations by supporting the learning mobility of their staff. The exchange of people, ideas and good practices can benefit people, their organizations and sport and society as a whole and will be one of the main priorities of Erasmus + in its Sport chapter after 2020, when it expects a doubling of the budget. Full information on the selection is available on the European Commission's website: https://ec.europa.eu/sport/news/2018/results-published-call-proposals-exchanges-and-mobility-sport_en. Sport Diplomacy Academy /SDA/ project is legacy of recent First Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU 2018 and will focus on Western Balkans lot as a logical follow up of all implemented #EU2018BG Main activities: prioritizing the EU perspective and connectivity of the WB, referring to the SofiaDeclaration and Sofia Priority Agenda. Both #EU and WB partners should continue to invest efforts in strengthening the cooperation and good practices exchange, focused on democracy, security and fundamental rights.