Final meeting and last multiplier event of the project 28 junio, 2023

On June 27th the Erasmus+ Para-Limits Project came to an end at the final transnational meeting at the headquarters of the ONCE Foundation in Madrid. This closes a strategic project for UCAM, led by the Faculty of Sport, which has had a total funding of 400,000 €. Throughout its thirty months of duration, the Para-Limits project has contributed to the social inclusion of athletes-students with disabilities through the dual career model.

Qualified as a success by the consortium partners, the Para-Limits project has been a step forward in the extension of the dual career model through the specific training of university professors through an innovative course, to turn them into expert mentors in dual career and disability. Thus, a total of 27 university teachers in five different European universities (Foro Italico in Italy, UNEFS in Romania, Limerick in Ireland, Polytechnic Institute of Viseu in Portugal and UCAM), have received pioneering training to serve the needs and demands of those elite athletes with disabilities who seek to combine their sports careers with their higher education.

The event was attended on behalf of the UCAM by the Principal Investigator of the project and Secretary of the Faculty of Sport, Prof. Dr. Alejandro Leiva Arcas; and the Academic Director of the Cartagena Campus, Prof. Dr. Juan Alfonso García Roca.

During the event, Juan Alfosno García Roca participated in a round table together with other specialists and elite athletes with disabilities. During his speech, he stressed that UCAM’s dual career model is consolidated and is serving as an inspiration for other institutions.
He also stressed the value of sports mentoring as a true emblem and guarantor of success within this philosophy of support to the athlete.

The meeting ended with the constitution of the “Dual Career, Disability and Sport Observatory”, made up of all the project partners. This Observatory, unprecedented in the world, seeks to continue with the research and dissemination activity in this field and to keep alive the legacy of the project. During the signing ceremony, Alejandro Leiva affirmed that this is a first big step to continue advancing in the social inclusion of this population and to create awareness in the institutions to increase the existing support networks.

This closes the Para-Limits project, which has been a pioneering milestone in research on dual careers and adapted sports. The project ends with a large production that includes three scientific articles (two still in peer review), a European Manual that collects the design of the pilot course, a guide of good practices and a collective work that will be published by McGraw-Hill at the end of the year.