Paddle Worldwide and its partner National Federations have secured €1.2 million in European Union funding for three new Erasmus+ projects designed to accelerate the development of paddlesport, including a major initiative to embed sustainability at the heart of grassroots sporting events.

The flagship project, ESE x SDGs – European Sport Events for SDGs, will receive €400,000 and will see Paddle Worldwide lead the development of a European framework for embedding the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals into grassroots sporting events.

The scale of the overall achievement is underlined by the competitiveness of the latest Erasmus+ funding round, with around 320 projects selected from more than 3,100 applications.

Paddle Worldwide will coordinate the ESE x SDGs project alongside the Italian, Serbian and Croatian National Federations, with the initiative beginning in December 2026.

The project will help grassroots events put sustainability at the heart of their planning, delivery and participation, creating a practical framework that can ultimately be replicated across federations, sports and disciplines.

At the core of the initiative will be a digital training and accreditation platform, supported by a mobile application, through which athletes and event organisers will gain the knowledge and practical tools to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals.

Participants will be able to complete training and work towards an official SDG accreditation, giving grassroots events a tangible way to demonstrate their commitment to sustainability.

The framework will be tested at nine sporting events in Italy, Serbia and Croatia, allowing the partners to assess the model in real event environments before refining it for wider use.

The long-term ambition is to create a European model that can be adopted across different sporting environments, helping organisers make sustainability an integral part of their events.

The project will look beyond environmental sustainability alone, using the full breadth of the UN Sustainable Development Goals to encourage sporting events to consider their wider social, community and economic impact.

Fully aligned with the UN 2030 Agenda, the initiative has also received a letter of support from the United Nations Institute for Training and Research (UNITAR), strengthening its international credentials and potential long-term impact.

The project will also provide an opportunity to develop a Paddle Worldwide-branded SDG accreditation product, creating the potential for a lasting sustainability initiative that can continue beyond the period of EU funding.

Paddle Worldwide Vice President Lluis Rabaneda said: 

“Securing €1.2 million in European funding for projects supporting the development of paddlesport is a significant achievement and an important endorsement of our development priorities.

“The ESE x SDGs project is particularly exciting because it gives Paddle Worldwide the opportunity to lead the development of a European framework that can help grassroots sporting events put sustainability at the heart of what they do.

“We want to create practical tools that athletes and organisers can use, while building a model that can have a lasting impact across paddlesport and potentially much further afield.”

Alongside the flagship ESE x SDGs project, Paddle Worldwide will participate in DECK UP – Sustainability in Sport, coordinated by the Italian Canoe Kayak Federation. The project will integrate sustainability and circular-economy principles into governance and funding systems involving the Italian, Greek and Slovenian National Olympic Committees, with implementation across 15 pilot federations. Paddle Worldwide will lead the communications, dissemination and legacy activities.

The third project, BLUEPATH – Inclusive Grassroots Para Canoe, is coordinated by ANTC Portugal - National Canoe Coach Association and will develop a European framework for safe and accessible grassroots paracanoeing, including common standards, coach education, digital learning and participation programmes across six countries.

Paddle Worldwide will provide strategic and international alignment for BLUEPATH and act as the local coordinator for the Croatian implementation cycle, contributing to the development of European grassroots Paracanoe standards and stronger pathways into Paralympic sport.

The new funding builds on Paddle Worldwide's ongoing Erasmus+ portfolio, which includes the HUB Pyrenees Whitewater project.

Running from December 2025 to November 2027, the €400,000 initiative seeks to establish the world's first internationally endorsed hub for whitewater paddlesport coach training and certification.  

Coordinated by Club Cadí Canoe Kayak, the project brings together the Spanish, French and Portuguese National Federations, INEFC university and the Pau Canoe-Kayak Club to develop homogeneous European standards for whitewater teaching and safety, supported by a multilingual digital training platform.  

The project is now well into its implementation phase, with the consortium's strategic and management framework published in four languages and the technical group currently finalising the Level 1 whitewater coaching curriculum and the admission and selection process for the first international certification courses, which would be conducted for participants from Portugal in La Seu.