The project objectives, all positively achieved, were: - facilitate the mobility, employability and participation of recent graduates in the European labour market thanks to innovative high-quality WBL, guaranteed by the past performance and the reliability of partners/tutors of whom we have direct knowledge; - develop vocational and communicative-relational skills in the chosen sector; - enhance the awareness of European citizenship and the education to a multicultural approach with the aim of preventing xenophobic behaviours; - foster long-term cooperation between vocational schools and companies by offering mobility paths which are in line with the needs of the local area and the hospitality industry. The project offered learners opportunities for mobility in a wide geographical area and in countries that can traditionally count on a well developed hospitality industry and with solid links between school and industry. Besides, it offered equal opportunities of mobility and skills acquisition to young people who would not have ventured independently into transnational mobility, also due to lack of knowledge of the opportunities offered or low self-esteem or because socio-culturally less advantaged.
The local context in which ECHOS.4 PRO is inserted is an area traditionally with a tourist vocation that still shows a risk of loss of competitiveness in today’s Hospitality market due to the early call to work and the consequent inadequate education and training. On the other hand, the HoReCa market is, both locally, nationally and internationally, one of the areas that is expected to grow more strongly in the next 3-year period and which can offer various career opportunities to the qualified personnel who can demonstrate high technical-professional and transversal skills. With this in mind the project, designed by IPSAR Carnacina as a sending organization and by 12 host partners (Munich-D, Plymouth-UK, Glasgow-UK, Helsinki-FI, Guyancourt-F, Antwerp-B, Gøteborg-SE, Riga-LV, Reykjavik-IS, Amsterdam-NL, Tenerife-S) belonging to the CHASE-Consortium of Hospitality &Accommodation Schools of Europe which includes both sending and receiving institutions, aimed at meeting the needs of the local and European hospitality industry to employ staff who is better vocationally qualified and equipped with the innovative skills associated with the new Food&Beverage and HoReCa job profiles.