EUROpean Sustainable Tourism And entRepreneurship Erasmus Project

Project Title

EUROpean Sustainable Tourism And entRepreneurship

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : School Exchange Partnerships

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2019

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: ICT – new technologies – digital competences; Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage

Project Summary

Entrepreneurship is considered to be the major force of economic development. The main objective of the European Commission Entrepreneurship 2020 Action Plan is to promote entrepreneurship education and stress its importance at all levels from primary school to university and beyond. At the same time, the European Commission stresses the significance of sustainable tourism. In its Communication, ‘Agenda for a sustainable and competitive European tourism’, it proposes “sustainable tourism actions aiming at diversifying the tourism experiences on offer in the EU’. Diversification of tourism products and services is needed to cope with increased demand for new types of tourism needs.

Our multifaceted project EUROSTAR (EUROpean Sustainable Tourism And entRepreneurship), aims at exploring, sharing and preserving the hidden treasures of Europe related to sustainable tourism and at the same time realizing what entrepreneurship is and how this can be linked to sustainable tourism. Approximately 2000 students, 300 teachers and local communities from 5 European countries, Cyprus, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Lithuania agree on a two-year cooperation on this topic. These five schools realized that a project of this kind will help their students and teachers to enlarge their overview on sustainable tourism and learn how they can start their own company related to it. During the 2 years of the project, lectures and seminars by experts will give the students a professional outlook on sustainable tourism and entrepreneurship. On the first year the project will be focused on sustainable tourism in relation to environment, cultural heritage and entrepreneurship. On the second year the project will be focused on the creation of 5 startup companies related to the sustainable tourism after a careful analysis on the region, the environment, its people and their lifestyles, which somehow enhance sustainable-related activities.

According to Europe 2020 strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, one of the targets is to improve the quality and efficiency of education and training. It highlights the importance of smart growth in education, by encouraging young people to learn, study and update their skills and to create sustainable conditions of secondary education. We would like to apply these values into the project activities and potentially into the long-term goals of our institutions.

Our students will learn about European sustainable tourism sites, about the history and traditions of their own and other cultures, about ecology and the importance of protecting natural biodiversity. They will become aware of the threats facing the sites and learn how the international community as a whole unites to save our common heritage. All the outcomes of the project will need the active practice of ICT tools, logo, video-making, website designing, advertising, mobile app etc. Most importantly, they will learn how they can develop entrepreneurial skills and how they can be utilized to create their own startup related to sustainable tourism.

The project will let participants investigate and compare different sustainable tourism issues such as culture, natural sites, traditions, art, architecture and local tourism products supported by collaborative and cooperative learning, innovative educational methodology CLIL and IT technologies. They will make contacts with local educational and cultural institutions, communities and authorities around Europe and share their best practices. The added value gained through the international cooperation will enhance the development of personal (self confidence, empathy, tolerance, team player, time management), communicative, digital and organizational skills and competences. All of these will also help and strengthen teaching profiles of teacher staff , their language and project-based competences and boost the repertoire of their teaching methods thus they become more respected by the students and regional community as not only teachers but also facilitators of innovative learning, multilingual events and international project cooperation

The results of the project will be disseminated through the project website, newsletters, photo and video-documentation, local newspapers or local TV and the brochure of the project, so that other teachers, headmasters, experts, employees of the ministry of tourism and others could use the project results

This project will allow young students from various parts of Europe to work on this topic together, share ideas, learn from each other, discuss similarities and differences in entrepreneurship related to sustainable tourism so this knowledge will be transferred to their startup and schools. In some partner schools through the project, refugees and students with Economic obstacles and Geographical obstacles will be given an opportunity to learn more about sustainable tourism and the entrepreneurship. This will give them lifelong experience

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 139320 Eur

Project Coordinator

Gymnasio Omodous & Country: CY

Project Partners

• Agrupamento de escolas Carolina Michaëlis
• ISTITUTO D’ISTRUZIONE SECONDARIA SUPERIORE “U.FOSCOLO”
• Kelmes Jono Graiciuno gimnazija
• INSTITUT MIQUEL MARTÍ I POL