CONTEXT Europe is the 1st destination in the world with more than 500 million international tourists. According to the European Environment Agency, the tourism sector has an important environmental impact. In view of this situation, the EU has developed a political framework with important priorities aimed at achieving competitive and sustainable tourism. OBJECTIVES Taking into account the priorities of the EU towards sustainable tourism and the objectives of Strategic Partnerships in the field of VET of the ERASMUS programme, the general objective of is established: Develop a strategic alliance to promote innovative practices based on Service-Learning to improve the professional training of tourism through new knowledge and skills on sustainability. The specific objectives will be: - Strengthen the skills of VET teachers in the field of sustainable tourism. - Improve the curriculum of professional training in Tourism by implementing new concepts related to sustainable tourism, in order to improve the skills of students. - Reinforce the employability of VET students through an approach to the world of work in relation to sustainable tourism through participation in international events. - Improve the linguistic competences in the Vocational Training of Tourism, both in students and teachers. - Promote the work in international networks of the different organizations allowing an improvement of skills and competences of the participants in management matters and strategies of internationalization of professional training. PARTICIPANTS AND TARGET GROUPS The partnership of the project is created by: * La Vall d´Uixó (Spain). A municipality with an important tourism activity. Also there are VET Centers that will be involved directly in the project. * EKU (Hungary). University with wide experience in sciences and in tourism studies. * MMSZ Károly (Hungary). VET Center * EPALTE (Portugal). VET Center specialist in environmental and rural Tourism. * CRESOL Association (Spain). NGO experts in educational methodologies. The direct participants of the project are students and teachers from 4 VET centers located 1 in Hungary, 1 in Portugal and 2 in Spain: - 56 VET students, who will participate in the activities of the project. - 44 teachers who will participate in activities directly. Other participants in the project will be the researchers and expert from the non-VET centers partners. Indirectly, the project will benefit other groups, mainly: - 80 professors from other VET centers with an interest in the theme of the project, through the active dissemination. - 80 professionals / companies (potential employers) working in the field of sustainable tourism. - 100 students through active dissemination. ACTIVITIES The main activities during the project and their contribution to achieve the objectives, will be: OUTPUTS - IO1: Learning Material for VET teachers to improve the knowledge and skills about sustainability and employability in tourism. - IO2: E-learning course for VET teachers: Improving knowledge and skills on sustainability. - IO3: Toolkit for the implementation of sustainable criteria in tourist activities by students. - IO4: Service-Learning guide for VET students in the sustainable tourism field. - IO5: Videos " Service-Learning in Sustainable Tourism" LEARNING, TRAINING AND TEACHING ACTIVITIES - C1: VET-Teachers Event. Sustainable tourism face-to-face course. - C2: Students Event. Sustainable Tourism Training through Service-Learning Methodology. Other activities in the project will be: Multiplier Events, Management and Transnational Meetings and Dissemination Activities. IMPACT The main impact of the project is directly related with the objectives. And the main focused group is the participants (Teachers and Students). Moreover, this project will have a high level local and regional impact as the project is directly linked to tourism which is one of the main economic activities of the region and where the project develops. Therefore, the acquisition of new skills and knowledge based on sustainable tourism by the project participants and the methodology based on Service Learning will have an impact on the socio-economic level in the region . Expected specific impacts at local and regional level are: - Creation of interest on the project by external organizations of different typologies linked to the tourist activity. - Creation of new relationships of the participating VET centers with external organizations linked to the labor market. - Creation of new job opportunities in local and regional organizations, especially for the VET sutudents. - The acquisition of new knowledge and learning methodologies for VET centers. - Greater flexibility for sector of the population with fewer opportunities.
Taking into account the priorities of the EU towards sustainable tourism and the objectives of Strategic Partnerships in the field of VET of the ERASMUS programme, it was established as the general objective: - Develop a strategic alliance to promote innovative practices based on Service-Learning to improve the professional training of tourism through new knowledge and skills on sustainability. The specific objectives were: - Strengthen the skills of VET teachers in the field of sustainable tourism. - Improve the curriculum of professional training in Tourism by implementing new concepts related to sustainable tourism, in order to improve the skills of students. - Reinforce the employability of VET students through an approach to the world of work in relation to sustainable tourism through participation in international events. - Improve the linguistic competences in the Vocational Training of Tourism, both in students and teachers. - Promote the work in international networks of the different organizations allowing an improvement of skills and competences of the participants in management matters and strategies of internationalization of professional training.
The third most important economic activity in the EU is tourism, but it has a huge environmental impact, due to several factors such as inefficient water and energy consumption, waste and greenhouse gas emissions. To diminish these negative results, the EU developed a political framework aimed at achieving competitive and sustainable tourism. In this sense, the project was motivated to contribute to increasing the knowledge about sustainability to move towards a more ecological tourism. The needs analysis carried out at the preparation phase, the project partners defined the objectives and activities, identifying the importance of introducing concepts of sustainability and responsibility in the study plans. Moreover, at that time, the main identified needs that the project was addressing were: - A gap between the business opportunities offered by sustainable tourism and the curricula in tourism. - The specific competences of VET teachers with regard to sustainability are low or require updating. - Tourism VET students have difficulties in accessing high quality international experiences based on work. - VET studies require that modernization and internationalization align with the requirements of sustainability.