Creating Employment in Sustainable Tourism as a Source of Wealth for the Community Erasmus Project

Project Title

Creating Employment in Sustainable Tourism as a Source of Wealth for the Community

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: Entrepreneurial learning – entrepreneurship education; Teaching and learning of foreign languages; Early School Leaving / combating failure in education

Project Summary

The project “Creating Employment in Sustainable Tourism as a Source of Wealth for the Community” is a result of cooperation between six countries: France, Greece, Italy, Portugal, Slovenia and Spain (coordinator), in which the target group is 13-17 year-old secondary education students from low and middle class families, often unaware of the opportunities offered to them by the European Union.

During two years (October 2019-October 2021), we will work on two project’s objectives. The first is focused on the tourism sector: to show the students what kind of jobs their areas offer them within this field and how these jobs can be developed in an alternative and sustainable way. The second goal is to promote local products as an additional value to the tourist attractiveness of our areas.

The project is mainly aimed at the school students (age group 13-17) who will work in groups, mostly during regular school hours. However, only the 4 most active participants from each partner school will qualify for each mobility, according to specially designed criteria. The rest of the students will be able to continue participating by actively using the project sites (eTwinning and specific project website), where they will upload suggestions and materials.

The teachers’ participation is absolutely necessary. During the preparatory activities they will organise, lead and evaluate the activities. Using specially designed rubrics, they will also select the participants in the mobilities. Finally, two teachers from each partner school will accompany their students during the mobility and will take care of a proper dissemination of the results of the mobility in their country.

Locally, the host schools will participate in the mobility as a whole. Especially the parents’ participations and cooperation is required as during some mobilities pupils may be hosted in local families so that they can experiment the partner country’s real lifestyle, but the cooperation is also expected form local businesses and authorities.

The project involves a wide variety of activities which will focus on food as a tourist attraction: olive oil, sugar cane, wine, cheese, herbs and chocolate and relate it to a possible job in the tourist sector. Before the mobilities, the students will prepare the stay in the partner school by together elaborating different materials on the subject (reports, presentations, talks, games, etc). Each mobility will then concentrate on how the product is made and what job it can offer. After the mobilities, results will be evaluated and disseminated. The final product requires special attention as the students will design their own startup based on the experiences of all the mobilities. A common cookery book will also be completed along the project.

The students will work in pairs and groups, during the mobilities composed of different nationalities, so that the communicative use of foreign languages is promoted. Different skills and competences will be required for each activity in the project. Therefore, competential, integrated skills methodology and project-based learning will be employed in all the activities.

Different kinds of results will be produced in the project. The preparatory activities will show intermediate results (reports, posters, interviews, recipes, etc). The final results can be divided into material ones, such as planting a tree, making a tourist leaflet, a leaflet against abuse of alcohol, making cheese and a photo collage, a herb guide, and non-material ones, embodied in gaining linguistic, digital and other skills, increased awareness of being European citizens who benefit from the European policies as well as of the possibilities the tourist sector has to offer and thus preventing early school dropout and promoting lifelong learning.
The strong impact which is expected from this project will be seen in the students’ increased self-confidence, social and linguistic skills, teamwork, knowledge of the European Union’s policies and countries and especially in the increased motivation to study and to start a business or work in the tourist sector. Apart from acquiring similar kind of knowledge on the EU, the teachers will also develop their project management, digital, linguistic and social skills.

In the longer term, we hope that this project can help students develop a real motivation to complete the compulsory education and continue with the further formation to get ready for the demanding national or international job market. We also expect to contribute to the development of our regions, encouraging the young generations to stay in the area rather than migrate to the cities and, therefore, prevent the depopulation of the zones. In the industrial areas, we hope to instigate lifelong learning and higher skills and qualifications in our students. These objectives are not at odds with the possibility of setting up and internationally expanding one’s own business in the European Union.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 194430 Eur

Project Coordinator

IES CLAVERO FERNÁNDEZ DE CÓRDOBA & Country: ES

Project Partners

• Geniko Lykeio Neas Peramou
• Escola Básica 1, 2, 3 / PE do Porto da Cruz
• Solski center Rogaska Slatina
• Lycée Professionnel Turgot
• Istituto Comprensivo Statale “G.Pascoli”