The second edition of the EUSA-FISU seminar was held in the beautiful Val di Zoldo, Italy, on March 23-26. The event was attended mainly by general secretaries and office staff of the National Universities Sports Association from Europe, as well as representatives of the European Universities Sports Association (EUSA) and FISU.

EUSA Education and Development Manager Sara Rozman moderated the sessions with EUSA First Vice-President Haris Pavletic, who delivered the opening speech. He was followed by FISU Acting President Leonz Eder, who shared his opening words via video message.

First day topics related to EUSA sports and education events, meetings, projects and other activities, plus news from FISU Director of Development and Campus Fernando Parente and NUSF FISU Development and Relationship Manager Tarmo Jaakson. They highlighted upcoming FISU events as well as an outline of strategies, programs and a Healthy Campus.

On the second day of the seminar, a panel discussion related to EUSA Games 2022 and lessons learned was held. Many topics and ideas were discussed around the EUG 2022, such as its evolution, challenges, difficulties in promoting university sport, the legacy of the event and advice for future organizers.

This was followed by a lecture on the legacy of sporting events, with a focus on the FISU World University Games in Lucerne 2021, by Swiss University Sports President Mike Kurt. Its main theme focused on how heritage should always come first when organizing a sporting event.

FISU Sports Director Juan Carlos Holgado also provided an overview of FISU’s future and past events and outlined FISU’s sports policy. He also participated in the second panel discussion on Sustainable Sports Events, during which the FISU Sustainability Strategy, Sustainable Development of Sports Events from an environmental, social and economic perspective and the Green Sports Hub Europe project were discussed. EUSA Secretary General Matjaz Pecovnik closed the day by talking about EUSA Goes Winter, the first edition of the European University Winter Championship, which will take place in December 2023.

The final day focused first on university winter sports events, including FISU Winter Games Sports Director Paola Matringe, who introduced the FISU World University Games Winter, specifically Lake Placid 2023 and Torino 2025. She then spoke about ski orienteering and ski mountaineering, while Holgado, they talked about sports like padel, jiu-jitsu, flying disc, dodgeball, kickboxing and functional fitness. The relatively new sport discipline of snow volleyball was also discussed by the coordinator of snow and beach volleyball of the European Volleyball Confederation (CEV), Daniel Horvath.

The final presentation was given by EUSA Communications and Project Manager Andrej Pisl, who outlined the Brand Value Alignment through Dual Career (BRAVA) project.

With files and photos from EUSA