EDUGOLF Partners Make Progress in Poland4 min read

On the 3rd and 4th of November 2022 the partners in the EDUGOLF project met for their fourth meeting in Warsaw, Poland, hosted by the Polish Golf Union. The EDUGOLF project runs from January 2021 – December 2023 and is jointly led by the Confederation of Professional Golf (CPG) and the European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE). EDUGOLF is co-funded by the EU’s Erasmus+ Sport programme.

RESEARCH

The research phase of EDUGOLF is exploring topics such as the economic and social value of golf, successful initiatives for growing the game, trends which will impact on the golf market, traditional and emerging occupations, and key competences for the golf workforce.

The partners reviewed and discussed the first draft of a full Research Report including findings from a desk research, successful survey of national golf organisations, interviews with effective golf employers as well as a focus group of young people’s perceptions of golf. Most importantly, the report presents implications for the next outputs of the project. The project’s research working group will now incorporate all project partners’ feedback on the draft, consult on the draft with the wider industry and publish the report in 2023.

STANDARDS

A core output from EDUGOLF will be a new set of occupational standards for the golf industry made up of competences required of the golf workforce.

At the meeting, the partners reviewed a draft of the industry’s functional map and over 100 individual standards in the areas of golf management, coaching, game development and events. The standards include key competences, good practice indicators, skills and knowledge required to fulfil the key functions in golf organisations.

Similar to the research report, the standards working group will now implement the partners’ feedback on the draft, re-write the standards to an agreed format, and run a round of external consultation with the industry to ensure that the standards are comprehensive, clear and represent best practice in golf in order to become a useful resource for golf employers, training providers and individuals working in the industry.

EDUCATION

EDUGOLF will produce a Training Handbook for the golf industry as well as new e-learning modules for professionals in golf. At the meeting, the partners initially agreed on the content and key areas to be included in the EDUGOLF Training Handbook, including updated role descriptors for key occupations, a range of example module outlines, example qualifications structures, as well as guidance on development and delivery of effective golf education and training. Partners also started to identify potential topics that could be developed into e-learning modules for the industry, based on the findings of the research phase of the project as well as the updated occupational standards. A working group will continue working on the handbook and start developing e-learning modules with the aim of discussing the outputs at the next partner meeting hosted by the PGA of Sweden in March/April 2023.

After the meeting, Wojciech Waśniewski, Executive Director – Knowledge Development of the Confederation of Professional Golf (CPG) said “As a Pole, I hope the attending representatives enjoyed their time in Warsaw both in and outside of the main meetings. During the workshops we have received valuable feedback from all project partners, allowing us to continue the development of outputs for the benefit of the golf industry”.

Geoff Carroll, EOSE’s Director for Skills Development commented “This was a really positive and dynamic meeting which showed the fantastic progress the partners have made in developing these important products for the future of the game and the education of its workforce. Everyone present was highly motivated and made valuable contributions to the discussions. I feel confident we are heading for even greater achievements in 2023. Watch this space!”

Visit the project web page at edugolf.eu to learn more about the project. You can contact the EDUGOLF project and ask to be kept informed about developments by contacting info@edugolf.eu or subscribe to project updates on the website.

Full list of partners – European Observatoire of Sport and Employment (EOSE); Confederation of Professional Golf (CPG); PGA of Sweden; Polish Golf Union (PGU); French Golf Federation (ffgolf); Real Federacion Espanola de Golf (RFEG); PGA of Belgium; EDGA; University of Applied Sciences for Sport and Management Potsdam (ESAB); National University of Ukraine on Physical Education and Sport (NUPPES).