GRASSROOTS aimed to structure an innovative training offer in the field of eco-health tourism (largely under-represented, with over 85% of training courses geared towards traditional economic models), in order to promote youth empowerment and the adaptation of educational and professional practices to contemporary social and environmental challenges. Our three objectives:-To strengthen the skills of youth professionals by providing them with concrete and transferable tools to support young people in sustainable tourism projects. -To enable young people to discover, experiment with and structure a social entrepreneurship project related to tourism, in line with their interests (sport, culture, digital technology, food, etc.).-Promote intersectoral and inter-territorial cooperation between educational structures, tourism stakeholders, local authorities and training organisations. The project aimed to develop a base of educational and methodological resources enabling the model to be replicated in other contexts: mapping of good practices, experiential pathways, skills sheets, immersive tools, digital toolkits.
Quentin, 27, describes himself as invisible: he has a degree but no job and lives with his parents. Mohamed, 21, left school without qualifications & rejects traditional integration programmes. These young people share a lack of status, recognition & prospects. The NEET phenomenon affects 13.1% of young people in the EU (Eurostat, 2020), & the COVID crisis has exacerbated this exclusion, particularly in sensitive urban areas & rural regions. Our project responds to this challenge with an innovative approach rooted in the priorities of Erasmus+: inclusion (Youth Goal #3), sustainability (Green Deal), entrepreneurship (Youth Goal #7) & active participation (Youth Goal #9). It mobilises the emerging eco-health tourism sector, which has strong economic & environmental potential, to create sustainable & local employment opportunities for young people. It strengthens the resilience of rural businesses & revitalises areas that are losing their appeal. GRASSROOTS was born out of a shared observation by our partners: there is an urgent need to create concrete, hybrid & accessible frameworks for engagement, where young people in difficulty can become actors, project leaders & contributors to an ecological transition on a human scale.