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The SHARE initiative - explained

© European Union, 2022.

The main goal of the SHARE initiative is to raise awareness on the role of sport and physical activity in the context of regional and local development. SHARE aims to raise sport's profile in European, national, regional and local policy agendas. 

SHARE brings together

  • public authorities
  • sport organisations
  • universities
  • small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)
  • business support organisations

across Europe who are engaged in highlighting sport's importance for regional development.

Launched by the European Commission in 2018, SHARE ensures sport is taken into account as part of policy and investment decision-making at European, national and regional levels.

The role of sport

Sport’s important role in fields like urban regeneration, tourism, social cohesion, sport innovation and active, healthy communities has become extremely relevant in the context of negotiations for the 2021-2027 Cohesion Policy. 

This policy initiative focuses on five main objectives for regional development, which closely mirror the SHARE initiative’s common goals of 

  • a Smarter Europe 
  • a Greener, low-carbon Europe
  • a more Connected Europe 
  • a more Social Europe
  • a Europe closer to its citizens

SHARE's main activities & outcomes

The SHARE initiative has a wide scope, with activities taking place across the sport movement.

SHARE focuses on highlighting success in sport, particularly by highlighting a growing database of best practices.

SHARE also is active in building the case for sport via

  • capacity-building activities
  • events
  • research & policy papers

Supporting legislation

Recent support for the initiative's aims include the European Council conclusions, which recognises the wide range of socio-economic benefits of sport investment, and invites the EU institutions to strengthen sport's role in regional development.

Legislation has widely supported leveraging sport as a tool for local and regional development. Examples of the policy impetus for SHARE include

Sport investment

As evidenced by a Commission study, sport and physical activity contribute to regional development through their impact on key policy areas such as 

  • innovation and research
  • social cohesion and inclusion
  • territorial regeneration & attractiveness 
  • environmental protection 

Despite ample supporting evidence, sport investment has never been mentioned as a thematic objective or sector in EU Cohesion Policy regulations.

This has been flagged by public authorities and sport movement representatives as one of the main issues preventing use of European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) to directly support sport and physical activity. ESIF is one of the main instruments of EU Cohesion policy.

Increased collaboration

The SHARE initiative aims to increase collaboration, facilitate discussions and create a forum to grow and implement best practices – particularly between public authorities and the sport movement. 

By building stakeholder capacity and strengthening partnerships in the field of sport, new funding can be unlocked for sport-related activities.

Tagged in:  SHARE Sport & Society

Related content

Publication

SHARE - Practical guidance on developing sport and physical activity projects under the Cohesion Policy Funds (October 2023)

This guide has been developed to help sports organisations and public authorities at local and regional level to access Cohesion policy funds for projects linked to sport and physical activity.

English (PDF - 639.39 KB - 20 pages)
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Tourism & Sport - A SHARE research document (October 2023)

The scope of this paper is to introduce the concept of active tourism and provide the background and a toolkit to how this sport-driven sector can bring a substantial contribution to economic and social development in local areas.

This industry is particularly relevant to sport stakeholders thanks to their ability to build bridges with tourism and the cultural and creative organisations thus supporting their local and regional areas.

From a practical standpoint, the paper provides a step-by-step approach on how to develop an EU-funded project based on active tourism.

English (PDF - 423.14 KB - 15 pages)
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SHARE - Contribution of sport to regional development through Cohesion Policy 2021-2027

The European Union institutions are focusing on making Europe more adaptable to societal and economic challenges of the 21st century. The Cohesion Policy’s proposed regulatory framework focuses on 5 main objectives.

The aim of this paper is to outline and explore how sport projects could help the EU in delivering on these main objectives.

English (PDF - 1.9 MB - 54 pages)
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SHARE - Vision

SHARE Vision on the contribution of sport to regional development.

English (PDF - 239.66 KB - 1 page)
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SHARE - Active Development

An integrated contribution from sport and physical activity to economic and social development.

English (PDF - 1.62 MB - 21 pages)
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SHARE - EU multiannual financial framework 2021-2027

The EU’s multiannual financial framework offers several possibilities for the sport sector to benefit from its various funding programmes, as a cross-sectoral area with an important potential contribution to the EU’s various policy priorities.

The present paper offers practical information on the various EU funding mechanisms available through the MFF 2021-2027 that are of relevance for the sport sector.

English (PDF - 970.21 KB - 28 pages)
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SHARE - Green transition and sport at all levels

There are a series of considerations that are of significance in any exploration of the role that sport and physical activity (SPA) can play in helping to deliver the transition towards a greener and more sustainable economy.

The main aim of this initiative is to provide some orientation for sport organisations on how to contribute effectively to hastening the transition to a more sustainable economy and society.

English (PDF - 793.81 KB - 27 pages)
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SHARE - The New European Bauhaus: opportunities for the sport sector

In September 2020, President of the European Commission Ursula Von der Leyen introduced the New European Bauhaus (NEB) initiative during her State of the Union address. The NEB is a creative and interdisciplinary movement that connects the European Green Deal to everyday life. 

The NEB welcomes contributions from a wide plethora of stakeholders and domains, including the sport movement.

English (PDF - 560.21 KB - 5 pages)
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SHARE - Next Generation EU

Next Generation EU offers several possibilities for the sport sector to benefit from its various recovery mechanisms, not only as a hard-hit sector in need of reconstruction, but also as a strategic sector with a meaningful impact in Europe’s wider economic, resilience and social recovery process. 

English (PDF - 1.65 MB - 18 pages)
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