Slow-Tourism and E-Tourism : prepare to change for the close future Erasmus Project

Project Title

Slow-Tourism and E-Tourism : prepare to change for the close future

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 : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Environment and climate change; Open and distance learning; New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses

Project Summary

At the begining of the project in 2017 the United Nations 70th General Assembly designated the year as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development. We used this as a starting point to create our projetc STET we saw as a opportunity to raise awareness about sustainable tourism to development among students, persons in public and private sectors, decision-makers and the public, while mobilizing all stakeholders to work together in making tourism a catalyst for positive change.

Within this global objective, the 5 partners of this project worked together to create two high quality training modules, using up to date digital technologies, and answering the needs of skill and knowledge development of the youth and future labour force in the growing economy of Tourism, especially in Slow Tourism and E-tourism, two main growth factor of the tourism sector. To enhance the possibility for all satkeholders to meet up around these two subjects we also created a forum on our online platform to give the possibility to all interested people to exchange their point of views and meet together. This platform, with the two online MOOC’s about Slow Tourism and E-tourism, the forum and the general project information can be found on the supporting interactive web platform at: www.slowtourismacademy.com.
To realise these project outputs two training organisation, two universities and a cluster from France, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece have been working together for the last two years.

During the project we associated companies (Kalkin, American Farmschool, Florie Thielin, Reoviz) and institutions ( Office de tourisme Sancy) as consultative experts. The goal of this association is to allow the trainings to be designed by professionals of pedagogy (universities and training centers) and linked to on-field experience through consulting companies and regional institutions. To do so we met with the stakeholders making the slow-tourism and e-tourism, either pratictioners or professionanle and made them talk aboit their experience and expertiese in this field trought videos integrated into the final Moocs.
Our project is also inscribed in a logic of innovative and open practices and digital technologies by using the most advances Moodle and wordpress integrations. These technologies are open source and easy to maintain alive on a long period as they can be updated easily.

The main final results are two MOOCs on Slow Tourism and E-Tourism, the creation of a network and charter on Slow Tourism as well as the creation of an online platform serving three purposes : dissemination of project results, e-learning platform and forum for all stakeholders of Slow tourism, thus allowing not only exchanges of information and updates to be used in the MOOCs but fostering the creation of new synergies and new exemplary Slow initiatives in tourism destinations.
The impacts expected from the MOOC’s and the Forum are diverse : from more knowledge on the topics for students as well as professors and companies, to improving entrepreneuship and facilitating the process for the next generation to implement slow tourism activities and digital tools in tourism in a close future.
The project results target students and professors of Higher Education as well as vocational training and companies through lifelong learning and network animation, but also all tourism stakeholders, from regional to international networks and regional or national elected representatives in charge of Tourism development schemes. The expected impact at long term is a deep change in the conception of Tourism activities in order to reduce in environmental and societal risks and at the same time increase its positive environmental and societal impact. At the end of the project we succeede to create 2 Moocs but then etwork stays quite challenging, we had to experience that it will take time to implement on long term such a change. But we could see in all partner countries the raising interest and changes going step by step towards the slow-tourism and the e-tourism integration. We can see that there will be a network in the near futur as the rising number of posiitve initiatives on slow-tourismm and e-tourism will reenforce a network about theses topics. These 2 topics really are new trends and even going further new deep preoccupations of citizens in all europe: in terms of how they travel but also how they eat and consume.

The activities which will be maintained after the end of the EU fundings are concentrated on the platform www.slowtourismacademy.com. The two developped MOOC’s will stay active on the platform as well as the forum and the community. The professors fo Madeira and Palma, who developped the two courses will update the content if needed or if they feel to improove them. We published as well the main results on the E+ result platform. Other networks on Facebook, instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter will stay alive in the next years.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 230312 Eur

Project Coordinator

AFORMAC & Country: FR

Project Partners

• Euroform RFS
• Universidade da Madeira
• PAP HOTELS CORP S.A.
• UNIVERSITAT DE LES ILLES BALEARS