SUPPORTER

SecUring sPORTs Education thRough innovative and inclusive Gender Equality Plans

Project Summary

SUPPORTER aims to support eight sports institutions of Central Eastern Europe in developing intersectional, innovative, inclusive and impactful Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) tailored to sports higher education institutions, and explicitly addressing gender-based violence.  

The eight sports institutions will receive systematic support and mentoring towards the development of these GEPs from the core team partners (ESF, SEERC, UGOT). The multiplier effect of SUPPORTER –starting from the 8 partner institutions and gradually reaching the sports ecosystem and its various organisations in Eastern Europe and beyond – also has the potential to trigger institutional change from a gender perspective in a variety of further institutions, primarily in the (local) ecosystem of the partner institutions (e.g.: beyond RPOs), the overall sports ecosystem, and therefore, in the long-term go beyond institutional change, reach society more broadly and contribute to wide-range systemic societal changes.   

ESF contribution to the Project

Project management and coordination 

ESF, in its role as project coordinator, ensures the successful delivery of the project through adequate management and quality control mechanisms, and an efficient and proactive relation with the European Commission. ESF activities focus on ensuring: 

  • Sound overall project administration (finance management, periodic reporting, etc.); 
  • Smooth partner liaison and coordination; 
  • Creation and maintenance of a secure and user-friendly environment for co-working, communicating, storing information, data and planning; 
  • Highest quality of results through quality assurance, validation, and risk management; 
  • Assure the adherence to highest methodological, ethical, gender equality and data management standards throughout the project; 
  • Establishment of synergies with other projects, initiatives, communities of practice. 

Mapping the organisational environment of the implementing organisations 

ESF leads the task of mapping the state-of-the-art of each of the eight participating sport institutions at the start of the project, to define a baseline for the co-creation of the institutional roadmaps to inclusive gender equality. This initial reflexive activity focuses on mapping institutional arrangements, existing action plans in view of the ultimate objective of the project; and evaluate institutional framework conditions to be taken into consideration for the formulation of the institutional roadmaps to gender+ equality.  

Implementing the training programme 

ESF leads the implementation of the project’s training programme shape-cut for the eight sport institutional needs, designing and facilitating knowledge-transfer activities that serve as baseline for institutional capacity building for the efficient formulation and implementation of the institutional roadmaps towards gender equality, putting the already existing institutional GEPs into a practice and updating them to focus on shaping the GEPS to the needs of the faculties of sport, including GBV.  

Drafting Policy Briefs 

ESF leads the drafting of two policy briefs primarily addressed to policymakers. The policy briefs include the state-of-the-art description and recommendations related to the implementation of GEPs in sports institutions in the European Research Area, based on the observations made throughout the project. 

Dissemination, outreach, and impact 

ESF develops and implements the general communication and dissemination strategy of the project. In addition to this, ESF leads the initiative to create of a network of sports organisations implementing 4I-GEPs to ensure stakeholders’ awareness and further uptake after the project lifetime. As such, ESF: 

  • Provides suitable communication tools;  
  • Ensures awareness of the project and of the need to address gender+ equality and GBV in the sports ecosystem with well-planned, concrete actions, engaging stakeholders’ participation;  
  • Empowers sports institutions and organisations to successfully implement inclusive gender+ equality plans;  
  • Stimulates the different stakeholders and policy-makers to embrace the SUPPORTER learnings and ultimately advocate operational implementation and the use of the 4I-GEPS, trainings and guidelines developed through the project 
  • Shares the new knowledge acquired with researchers. 

Project Partners

  • Fondation Europeenne de la Science (ESF), France
  • Göteborgs Universitet (UGOT), Sweden
  • Kentro Erevnon Notioanatolikis Evropis Astiki mi Kerdoskopiki Etaireia (SEERC), Greece
  • Univerzitet u Banjoj Luci (UNIBL), Bosnia & Herzegovina
  • Univerza v Lubljani (UL), Slovenia
  • Univerzita Karlova (CU), Czechia
  • Natsionalna Sportna Akademiya Vassil Levski (NSA), Bulgaria
  • Lietuvos Sporto Universitetas (LSU), Lithuania
  • Universitatea de Vest din Timisoara (UVT), Romania
  • Georgian State Teaching University of Physical Education and Sport (GSTUPES), Georgia
  • Universitatea de Stat de Educație Fizică și Sport (USEFS), Moldova

Timeline & Funding

  • Project duration: April 2023-September 2025 
  • Budget:  1,075,092.50 € 
  • Call topic: HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ERA-01-81
    Support to the implementation of inclusive gender equality plans 
  • Type of Action: CSA

Contact details

This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon Europe programme under grant agreement No 101094529