Key project objectives included the creation of awareness on the advantages of sustainable business management & green skills for business, society/community & the environment. Supporting SMEs in their green transition by upskilling/reskilling staff and encouraging sustainable entrepreneurship & practices, contributing to behavioural change and creating an understanding that sustainability is not a nice to have by-product but a critical aspect of business operations. It also aimed to develop business sustainability competences of academics & educators by offering a new flexible open-source training opportunity for educators and hospitality managers/ workers alike to upskill and meet new labour market needs but also to address the critical need for all to contribute to climate action.
This project was applied for at a time when the Hospitality/Tourism sector was in deep crisis as a result of temporary and permanent closures and loss of its customer base linked to the Covid-19 pandemic. This sector is the 3rd largest socio-economic activity in the EU and plays an important role in social inclusion, offering the first job experience for many young people. It also offers jobs to a relatively unskilled workforce, as 30,2% have a lower secondary education or under, compared to 17,7% in the overall economy, (EUROSTAT). ECOSME has developed a broad range of activities to support the sector and has brought together stakeholders from the hospitality and tourism ecosystem, encouraged lifelong learning leading to boosting the resilience and sustainability of SMEs . The sector, remains largely unsupported and is one of the most challenged sectors in Europe. It is still very much in crisis mode, experiencing several environmental challenges from skill shortages to inflation, energy costs and climate challenges.- The creation of results and materials such as the collection of practices, the development of European SME network and the provision of training toolkits and resources will greatly assist business needs.