The National Agency for Sport (ANS) on 27 October 2026 hosted the International Closing Conference of the ACT RISE project – "Romania–Moldova ACT!", funded by the European Union's Erasmus+ Sport programme. The event took place in the "Nadia Comaneci" Hall at the ANS headquarters and brought together 100 participants: representatives of public institutions and sport organisations, coaches, teachers and volunteers from Romania, the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and Germany.
Over 24 months, the project strengthened the capacity of Sport for All organisations in the region around five themes: reconciliation, inclusion, safeguarding, gender equality and the development of sport organisations.
The event
The conference was opened by Bogdan Matei, President of the National Agency for Sport, and by Sergiu Gurin, on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova, a project partner. The first part was hosted by Roxana Ciuhulescu.
A special moment of the conference was the address by H.E. Ihor Prokopchuk, Ambassador of Ukraine to Romania, who thanked the partners for including his country in the project consortium and spoke about the challenges Ukrainian communities face in the context of the war. His message highlighted the importance of initiatives that bring people together through a shared passion: sport.
Anca-Maria Ionescu, ACT RISE Project Manager, presented the results of the two years of implementation: trainings, webinars, joint sport events and educational materials made available to sport organisations in the region.
A sports moment provided by Ioana Netu-Marin, SANE Ambassador, brought the project's message to the stage: sport is for everyone.
The second part featured the international panel "ACT and RISE: Sport for All beyond borders", moderated by Anca-Maria Ionescu in Romanian and English. The panellists were:
- Olena Subchak – Deputy Director, Agency for Mass Sports of Ukraine;
- Helena Moya Bataller – Project Advisor, TAFISA – The Association For International Sport for All;
- Vasile Bobeica – Senior Consultant, Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova;
- Romeo Leapciuc – Project Manager, SPORTER, Republic of Moldova.
The panellists discussed the role of sport in reconciling communities affected by conflict, the inclusion of refugees and vulnerable groups, and how partnerships can continue after the funding ends.
The programme for the international delegations continued in the afternoon with a visit to the Palace of the Parliament
ACT RISE in numbers
In two years of implementation (December 2024 – November 2026), all 12 project deliverables were produced. Key results:
| Result | Details |
| 94 sport leaders certified | TAFISA Certified Leadership Course, Level 1: 41 in Bucharest (May 2025) and 53 in Chisinau (June 2026) |
| 750+ participants in the RISE webinars | Post-conflict reconciliation, inclusion, safeguarding and gender equality |
| 15,800+ participations in sport events | 18 events in the Republic of Moldova, Ukraine and the TAFISA network, including the Chisinau Marathon and the RUBICON Bucharest–Chisinau ultramarathon |
| About 140 wheelchair athletes | "Marathon for All", Chisinau Marathon 2025 and 2026 |
| Launches in four countries | Bucharest, Chisinau, Bucha and Frankfurt, with over 300 participants |
| Romania–Moldova Joint Statement | Adopted at the structured dialogue of 10 September 2026: predictable funding for grassroots sport, links with the federations, data for public policy, support for volunteers |
The project was presented as a case study at the TAFISA World Congress in Prague (May 2026), and Ukraine received the TAFISA "Active Country" certificate. The ACT curricula, the RISE educational materials, the good practices handbook and the capacity building handbook in Sport for All will be freely available on actrise. ro.
Statements
"ACT RISE has shown that Sport for All can build bridges where borders and conflicts have created distance. We leave behind trained people, cooperation networks and tools that sport organisations can use starting tomorrow. We want this partnership to continue after the funding ends." – Anca-Maria Ionescu, ACT RISE Project Manager, National Agency for Sport.
About ACT RISE
ACT RISE – "Romania–Moldova ACT!" (101184835) is a capacity-building project in the field of sport, funded by the European Union's Erasmus+ Sport programme (ERASMUS-SPORT-2024-CB), running from December 2024 to November 2026, with a total budget of EUR 236,022.74, of which EUR 188,818.18 is EU funding. The project is coordinated by the National Agency for Sport, in partnership with SPORTER (Republic of Moldova), TAFISA – The Association for International Sport for All (Germany), the Ministry of Education and Research of the Republic of Moldova and the Agency for Mass Sports of Ukraine.
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are, however, those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.
