CURRENT SITUATION AND MOTIVATION Pilgrim routes lead through different countries thus enhancing cultural exchange throughout Europe. Believers and non-believers of various religions get together on pilgrim routes like the Santiago Ways (300,000 pilgrims yearly) or the Ways to Rome that serve both as a symbol, reflecting over one thousand years of European history and as a module of cultural cooperation for Europe. Since the 1990s pilgrimage has experienced a true renaissance. Today many are searching compensation for increasing automatisation, deadlines‘ pressure and the flooding of information. Walking long distances pilgrims experience culture and history along the way and at the same time reflect their social and emotional situation and develop spiritually. If they search accompaniment, it requires experienced guidance by thoroughly trained pilgrim guides. These guides accompany individual pilgrims or groups practically and spiritually and convey the fascination of pilgrimage. Guidance needs a profound knowledge of pilgrim routes and cultural heritage. Moreover pilgrim guides must have educational and social skills, as they are acting as adult educators. Pilgrims are often in difficult living conditions, e.g. changing live sections or decayed familiar circumstances, which requires psychological skills. These skills are normally not trained in regular courses. In Austria certified pilgrim guides are available. The training is usually provided by educational institutions in collaboration with dioceses. There is no uniform training scheme for courses at national or international level and the taught knowledges and skills vary considerably. In the partner countries educationists, tour guides, hiking guides or honorary escorts with various training backgrounds are guiding pilgrim groups. OBJECTIVES AND DELIVERABLES Train-to-EUPILGRIMAGE will develop a standardised international training scheme for pilgrim guides realized in 3 Intellectual Outputs: a curriculum, web based training tools including e-learning platform based on multiple choice trainings and tests, e-manuals, as well as best practice videos and case studies. The curriculum and e-learning platform will cover all requirements for all partner countries. The curriculum is based on 7 modules: cultural heritage & spirituality, psychological & pedagogic skills, theory & practice of pilgrimage, sustainability, innovative technical tools & digital competence, planning & networking. The training course will enable pilgrim guides to guide groups beyond regional and national borders and allow them to competently and sympathetically guide them, helping to develop intellectually and spiritually. They will get practice and knowledge in new topics, which have not been available yet, such as improving softs skills (e.g. how to take care of persons with handicaps or elderly people), digital competences (knowledge of walking with mobile apps and how to develop and use best practice videos) or linguistic competences (pilgrim tours in foreign speaking countries). Participants will also be able to learn from other cultures and values (mutual learning). During the project a sustainable network will be set up and allow a future international collaboration. Furthermore, consciousness for pilgrimage as a sustainable and educative form of travelling is enhanced. TARGET GROUPS Target groups for the training are educators, pilgrim and tour guides, hiking guides, escorts and already certified pilgrim guides, according to the referring situation in the partner countries. PARTNERS Applicant is Forum, which is the major course provider in the field of ecclesiastical adult education in Austria with some 75 member associations. Partner organizations are GUL (AT), Fondazione Homo Viator (Diocese Vicenza, IT), Foundation San Valero (Diocese Zaragoza, ES), Dom Sv. Josef (Diocese Celje, SI) in cooperation with experts, pilgrim guides and representatives. Lead of the Intellectual Outputs are Austrian partners as currently training schemes for pilgrim guides are available only in Austria. This is also why Austrian partners will send more participants to Meetings and Activities. METHODOLOGY The methodology is a 9-step by step procedure beginning from developing a very first draft, discussion and reviewing phases, feedback phase from an Advisory Board, final updating and finalization of single modules, and finally the wide dissemination of the outcome. For all modules of the curriculum a team leader will draft the content like a storyboard with logical sequences to allow tailor-made exercices at the e-learning platform. The project results will be promoted by all project partners and shall become the base for the establishment of an EU-wide recognized training scheme with a curriculum fit for upcoming new pilgrim generations across Europe, which will be used by all partners and other training providers. This will create a long-term benefit for pilgrimage movements beyond all borders.
The aim was to develop an advanced international training scheme for pilgrim guides, which enables participants to offer professional guidance beyond national borders. Participants in these trainings get practice and knowledge in absolutely new topics, which have not been available yet in existing trainings for pilgrim guides e.g. digital and linguistic competences or how to take care of persons with disabilities. The objective was to create a working model with e-learning tools which allows to increase the competences of group leaders and tour guides. We developed a training scheme with three Intellectual Outputs: 1. interdisciplinary curriculum, 2. web-based training tools including an e-learning platform based on multiple choice trainings and tests, 3. training and best-practice videos and case studies downloadable from the corresponding website. We also wanted to create a basis for standardization of education of pilgrim guides in Europe. Project implementation also included the upsetting of a sustainable network for national and international collaberation useful for all members of target groups.
Due to the renaissance of pilgrimage since the 1990s, there is a continuously increased need for guided pilgrimage. Pilgrim groups require professional guidance by well-trained pilgrim guides with a profound organizational knowledge of routes. Especially walking long distances abroad needs experienced guides. We realized a need for well-trained guides who can accompany pilgrims practically and spiritually in times of a growing demand for pilgrim experiences and competent guidance. Guides need profound knowledge of routes, cultural heritage and pedagogical skills and must have high social and psychological skills as well as knowledge for guiding groups with special needs. In our project we additionally focused on guiding persons with disabilities and elderly people. We saw that there is a lack of training schemes and learning materials in the project countries. In Austria training is usually provided by educational institutions from catholic dioceses. A collaboration with other course providers is only available occasionally. There is no uniform training scheme for courses at national or international level. In Italy only a few trainings are offered, in Spain and Slovenia special trainings for pilgrim guides do not exist at all.