The ECOHOL project aimed to contribute to the ecological transition of European tourism, a sector that is essential to the economy but still ill-prepared for current environmental and social requirements. It sought to strengthen the training and employability of young people, particularly those from vulnerable groups (JAMO), by giving them the skills they need to become actors in a more sustainable, inclusive, and responsible tourism industry. The objectives were threefold: to raise awareness and train young tourism professionals through a set of accessible, practical, and multilingual educational tools: the ECOHOL Handbook and an interactive digital platform; to strengthen the green, social, and digital skills of tourism organizations and young people by promoting eco-responsible management, the circular economy, and social inclusion; stimulate European cooperation by comparing approaches and realities between urban and rural areas in four countries (FR, BE, ES, CY) in order to produce transferable and sustainable resources. Finally, the project aimed to influence local sustainable tourism policies by involving decision-makers, trainers, and young people in the co-creation of recommendations.
The ECOHOL project addresses the environmental and social challenges of tourism, which are still insufficiently addressed in the ecological transition. In their respective territories (France, Belgium, Spain, Cyprus), the partners have observed a lack of concrete tools to train young people, particularly JAMO, in sustainable tourism practices. LABA and Halage support young people with sustainability-related projects, CYC Brussels works with JAMO and urban audiences, Innosouth supports entrepreneurship through its networks, and CTL Eurocollege develops sustainable educational approaches. ECOHOL was designed to fill these gaps through three levers: a handbook, a digital platform, and policy recommendations. Transnational cooperation has enabled the exchange of eco-responsible tourism models between urban (Brussels, Bordeaux) and rural (Andalusia, Cyprus) areas, promoting the transferability of practices, green employability for young people, and social inclusion. By strengthening the skills of young people and local actors, ECOHOL contributes to making tourism a lever for integration and ecological transition, in line with the Erasmus+ priorities of “environment,” “inclusion,” and “employability.”