The Walking Towards Employability project arises by the need to identify sustainable and transferable models for youth entrepreneurship able to respond to socio-professional inclusion especially in vulnerable situations. Specifically, the project designs and tests an innovative Skill Path for youth built around the Walking Tour Model and based on five innovative modules:Module 1. How to start up a sustainable Walking Tour Collaborative Business? Module 2. Asset Community Mapping through Street Audit and digital: Let us discover new perspectives! Module 3. Key Resources: Local guides. How to do tourism where apparently there is nothing? Module 4. A FAM Trip. What is and how to organize it? Module 5. Marketing: convivial and collaborative communication Transversal Module: How to create a Sustainable Scattered Tour Package? The Path combines forms of entrepreneurship (Business Network and Collaborative economy) with the educational values of Cultural heritage and social cohesion (Responsible, community-based Tourism).Walking Towards Employability: -Contribute to the social professional inclusion of youth through Responsible Tourism -Contribute to the valorisation of underprivileged communities and/or neighbourhoods in by celebrating their cultural assets and history through Community-based Tourism -Promote sustainable tourism as sector combining youth employability and communities’ culture promotion and contribute to policies recommendations Its specific objectives are to:-Design and test a new skill pathway for youth based on the Walking Tour Model combining innovative forms of entrepreneurship to educational value of Cultural heritage and social cohesion (Responsible Tourism) -Create the opportunities to 40 European youth for acquisition of innovative entrepreneurial competences and valorisation of their entrepreneurial ideas within the Responsible Tourism sector -Extend and develop the competences of 18 youth educators in 4 countries in collaborative and social entrepreneurship, community mentoring approach and Responsible Tourism -Contribute to the Development of Open educational resources for youth and youth workers on social and community-based entrepreneurship-Make 40 youth aware of new perspectives and long-term potentialities of social and community-based forms of entrepreneurship -Support the establishment of an international network to facilitate development and sustainability of youth entrepreneurial initiatives and the exchange of innovation in EU. The project links the design of Walking Tours to the promotion of youth social entrepreneurship by transforming communities in open incubators where the centrality, in the learning path is given to individual youth entrepreneurial ideas. Specifically, youth, during the Walking Towards Course are guided and challenged (together with youth workers) on designing a sustainable and valuable proposal of a Scattered Walking Tour offer in their communities that arises through the collaboration between different youth start up, ideas, initiatives.

<< Background >>Tourism is among the key drivers for socio-economic progress and contributes to employment and economic growth, as well as to empower rural, peripheral or less developed areas. In 2019, more than one in ten enterprises in the European non-financial business economy belonged to the tourism industries. These 2.3 million enterprises employed 12.3 million persons. Tourism plays a significant role in the development of European regions. Nevertheless, the outbreak of COVID-19 has significantly affected all aspects of life across Europe. Indeed, the pandemic has generated challenges to our socio-economic systems. According to UNWTO, due to the COVID-19 crisis Europe had experienced a 70% decrease in international tourists’ arrivals. In rural and low populated areas local tourism businesses are particularly affected. Local tourism businesses of rural areas are facing a “double digital divide”. On the supply side, they are still lagging behind in terms of the provision of NGA infrastructure, on the demand side, many rural areas lack the basic skills and knowledge of the potential of digital technology so that even if the ‘digital highways’ are in place, they may remain under-exploited in terms of service provision, business use, or customer take up. Rural areas and local tourism businesses shouldn’t be left behind. We need to work on both the supply and demand side of digitisation to ensure rural business prosperity, future livelihoods, public services and the community life of many of our rural areas.Among all the digital narratives, Storydoing has a strong potential to boost the digitization of local tourism businesses. Storydoing is an innovative technique aiming at creating compelling actions and experiences that put the corporate narrative to the test in everything they do. While storytelling is just telling a story, Storydoing focuses on making sure that the story is lived by turning the businesses’ philosophy and their values into action.<< Objectives >>Nowadays there is a lack of proper tools to support storydoing for the local tourism sector. The project is designed to enable “Storydoers” to develop:-Storydoing skills: digital narrative skills for digital and social media platforms;-Digital competences: to reduce the digital dividing of local tourism businesses of rural areas;-Social competences: for community engagement and sustainable development of rural areas.For this reason the project will produce free educational resources to teach storydoing skills for:-Improving the competitiveness of rural businesses that operate in tourism and related sectors;-Developing the capacities of rural businesses to design and promote sustainable local tourism experiences based on Storydoing.The primary target group consists of entrepreneurs and workers, aspiring storydoers, of local tourism businesses of rural areas: TA & TO, Small Hotel Accommodation & Guest Houses,Restaurants, Tour & Mountain Guides, Transport companies, Museums, Other local tourist services like farms, bakeries, breweries, etc.The project targets also supporting organizations of rural entrepreneurship: incubators, intermediaries organization, mentors...<< Implementation >>The project objective is to provide support the digital storydoing of local tourism businesses to improve it the competitiveness of rural businesses that operate in tourism and related sectors and developing the capacities of rural businesses to design and promote sustainable local tourism experiences based on Storydoing.For that purpose the consortium is going to implement the following activities:-Project Management activities: by developing a project management handbook to communicate all necessary information from the funding agency to ensure partner are following guidelines and rules regarding communication, project meetings, administration and financial arrangements.-Dissemination and Communication activities: To ensure the promotion of the project and the involvement of the stakeholders via online dissemination, multiplier and networking events, etc-Quality and Impact Evaluation activities: to measure and manage the quality of our work, understood as the congruence with the end goal of the project, the relevance to target groups and the professionalism of the execution.-Partners meetings: To help the partnership focus on how to organize the work to be done and how to complete the work done on specific results or activities that the project foresees during its completion. -Learning, Teaching, Training activities: Like Train of Trainers to test and improve the methodology, tools, learning and actions content in the PR2 Storydoers Training Combo and National Trainings to analyze and validate the PR2 to be further disseminated and promoted during the national-level multiplier events.<< Results >>Storydoers foresess Thre Project Results-PR1 will enable to build state of the art of the situation and a needs assessment that will be the base to produce -PR2, the materials for the trainings to provide both trainers (during the first C1 - the ToT) and participants (C2 - the training) the above mentioned skills- Finally PR 3 will be a transmedia manual that will collect existing information and tools, as well as the materials and lessons learned from the previous two PR and trainings, to develop the needed competences. This manual is the most important outcome of the project as it will allow its replicability and sustainability. The project expect to equip the target group with the appropriate competences for Storydoing (digital narrative skills for digital and social media platforms), Digital (to reduce the digital dividing of local tourism businesses of rural areas) and Social (for community engagement and sustainable development of rural areas)

<< Background >>“Our house is on fire and we are looking somewhere else” is a phrase coined in 2002 Jean-Paul DELEAGE, physicist, geopolitologist and historian of ecology, for the second Earth Summit in Johannesburg (South Africa).Twenty years later, the ERASMUS + project “Act for European Responsible Tourism” (ATRE) proposes to no longer “look elsewhere” by creating tools to educate adults about climate change.The project is in line with the horizontal priorities of the program (environment and climate change) and also corresponds to the Paris Agreement adopted at the end of the 2015 United Nations Conference of the Parties (COP21), as well as the European Green New Deal initiated by the Council of Europe in 2019 and adopted by the European Parliament in 2020.Since 2002, the number of tourists crossing a border on vacation has more than doubled worldwide, from 700 million tourists in 2002 to 1.5 billion in 2019. The share of tourism in global CO2 emissions has exceeded in 2019 the rate of 10% ,. While our European and international commitments plan to limit global warming to below 2 ° C compared to the pre-industrial level, and CO2 emissions in 2019 exceeded the record high of 40 billion tonnes of CO2 emitted due to human activities on the planet.Among all the subjects addressed by the sustainable development of tourism, controlling CO2 emissions has become a priority subject.However, both travel producers and consumers still struggle to understand the phenomenon of climate change and its interactions with tourism. A proverb says: “tourism can boil your pot just as it can burn your house”. With reference to the word ‘âtre’ meaning ‘house’ in french but also ‘family’, the project “Act for European Responsible Tourism” (ATRE) proposes to use this parable of a tourism which must restrain its contribution to climate change, of a tourism which must not burn its wings, of a tourism which must not saw off the branch on which it is sitting on : a living, livable planet, offering a wide variety of attractive and welcoming destinations!Yet tourism is both “victim and villain” since its sustainability is based on sensitive destinations, the quality of visits of which is threatened by climate change, while it contributes significantly, in its current forms, to global CO2 emissions..It is therefore a matter of involving producers and consumers of travel and tourism services in the fight against climate change and of creating a community of adults active in the production and consumption of more responsible and low-carbon travel.Furthermore, the tourism sector is made up of multiple trades and is increasingly experiencing a “hybridization” of all the functions performed by intermediaries who design and produce the trips, with those who distribute and even those who receive, with an increasing role of the use of the internet.There is also more and more “disintermediation” where the traveler himself becomes a producer or even distributor (coach), or the receiver on site directly markets stays.Faced with this mosaic of situations, the ATRE project has chosen to target European adults involved with the consumption or production of travel and to promote their understanding of the climate emergency as well as to give them the means to reduce, assess and absorb the CO2 emissions of their trips, training them in the necessary eco-gestures.<< Objectives >>The ATRE project will mobilize a network of European actors sensitive to the sustainable development of tourism, responsible for jointly producing and then disseminating in their respective geographical areas adult education tools on the challenges (why act?) and good practices (how to act? ?) in the fight against climate change so as to honor the objectives of the Paris Agreement and the European Green New Deal.The target groups :1. First of all producers who design trips and assemble tourist services, intermediaries between travelers and producers of tourist services in destinations (local transport, guide, accommodation, catering and on-site activities), such as operators, members of ATR networks in France (which also participates in the inter-professional network of Sustainable Tourism Actors ATD in France), AITR in Italy, and the UPAV in Belgium, making it possible to reach a large number of experts and beneficiaries using educational tools, in particular, “intermediaries” between travelers and producers of tourist services in destinations, but also travelers, in particular customers of members of these networks.2.Then the producers of tourist services in the destinations which are responsible for transporting, guiding, accommodating, feeding and offering activities and visits to travelers, in interaction with many other actors in the field, such as MKP (receptive agency and NGO working with many local partners in Greece) and KOAN (consulting firm which supports many and various partners, which also co-founded the Spanish Center for Responsible Tourism), should facilitate the identification of the most important challenges (knowledge on the why) and good practices (skills on the how) to recommend to European tourism stakeholders, especially travelers and those who welcome them.3. Finally, the travelers themselves because their behavior also depends on the responsible nature of the trip.The project meets its objectives while participating in the digital transformation and also responding to the digital decade (2021-2030) of the EU with new uses of digital tools that benefit citizens and businesses, while helping the EU to achieve its goal of climate neutrality by 2050.The ATRE project offers, through educational cooperation between the above partners, research and development of 3 digital tools: to train adults in the fight against climate change as part of their travels, to measure, reduce and absorb CO2 emissions from travel:1.A MOOC: educational web pages with educational content permanently accessible (upon registration) with files, videos and quizzes, in 4 modules (understand / evaluate / reduce / absorb) for travel designers and producers, intermediaries between travelers and producers of tourist services in destinations, in particular salespeople and those responsible for communication and customer relations at travel agencies, product managers but also those responsible for transport to the destinations of tour operators and those responsible for relations with suppliers2. An application: responsive web pages (accessible from a mobile phone) with 5 pictogramsdedicated to the various reception functions (guide / driver / host / cook / site manager) and factsheets for service producers tourism in destinations, who will be supported in understanding the challenges and the adoption of eco-gestures on the scale of their realities on the ground3. A game: web pages based on an interactive map presenting the challenges and providing suggestions for more or less committed and low-carbon routes, for travelers, consumers of tourist services, trained in a series of eco-friendly actions.<< Implementation >>In Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, and Greece, the aim is to mobilize thematic resources and teaching skills, to pool complementary knowledge on the interactions between tourism and climate change, and to make the challenges of the fight against climate change understandable for a heterogeneous audience of tourism stakeholders to produce and then distribute tools intended for several types of audiences.Tool development:Three partners are each responsible for the development of one of the digital educational tools:The Spanish partner KOAN will be responsible for coordinating the development of the MOOC for “designer” producers in the tourism sector.The Greek partner MKP will be responsible for coordinating the development of the application for providers of different tourism-related service sectors.The French partner and ATR (coordinating organization) will be responsible for developing the online game for travelers.As such, the 3 coordinators will ensure the pooling of the knowledge of experts from the networks of the 5 other partners and of their own experts.In partnership with the IT specialist and the graphic designer contracted by the partnership, they will compose a first functional French version of the tools.The Travel Pro partner will ensure the pedagogical framework of the method.Transnational trainingA mid-term transnational training course of 4 days in Paris will allow to simultaneously test the tools and train 4 executives per partner organization.Organized by TravelPro, each partner responsible for a tool will provide teaching facilitationfor their product. The finalization of the toolsUpon return in their respective countries, these first ambassadors will organize a pilot training to test the 3 tools on their respective targets.Following feedback from the evaluation of the 3 products by the 5 partners, the 3 product coordinators will finalize the 3 tools, which will then be translated into their respective languages. The Travel Pro partner will be responsible for the English version of the tools.Communication and disseminationThe Italian partner AITR is responsible for the coordination of communication throughout the project. The products of the ATRE project will be widely promoted through the networks of the partners themselves and those of their associated partners.The highlight of the communication will be the 5 final dissemination events in each of the 5 partner countries. Over one day, the partners will present the 3 tools to the participants. Then training workshops will be organized for each of the tools so as to ensure the appropriation of the tools, already from the end of the project, by as many people as possible.<< Results >>Production:To achieve its objective of training travel stakeholders, producers and consumers, to integrate climate change concerns at all levels of travel, the ATRE project will produce 3 digital tools addressed to different audiences, to understand the interconnections between climate change and tourism, give oneself the means to assess their impact, and eco-friendly actions to reduce this impact, and / or to absorb it:- A MOOC for people producing tours, stays, and tourism offerings. It will be composed of 4 modules:1 / Understand the interactions between climate change and tourism (Why act?)2 / Evaluate the CO2 emissions of travel companies and their productions3 / Reduce the CO2 emissions of travel companies and their productions4 / Absorb CO2 emissions from travel companies and their productions - A smartphone application for adults who produce tourist services (guide, local transport, accommodation, catering, on-site activities)This application will have several “I am” profiles with associated pictograms for each profession: guide, driver, host (link), cook, tourist site manager.Several entries:1 / Understand the interactions between climate change and tourism (Why act?), and feel the urgency to fight against climate change and to act to assess, reduce and absorb CO2 emissions when we ... guide, transport, host, feed, welcome tourists.2 / Adopt a series of eco-gestures to measure / reduce / offset your carbon footprint in the various tourism-related services - An online game for adults who consume travel and tourism services. It will be a game with several entries on the motivations and practices of travel with associated pictograms for each. It will be of very simple ergonomics for easy use by all types of travelers in order to allow them to:1 / Understand the interactions between climate change and tourism (Why act?)2 / Adopt a series of eco-gestures to measure, reduce and absorb CO2 emissions from travel Training:In addition, the ATRE project will train in the use of these tools which will be available and free: - The technical and scientific teams of the 6 partner organizations, ie 24 people during C1: These will be the “Ambassadors” of ATRE.- The 75 participants (15 / countries) on whom the 3 tools will be tested in a targeted manner during the pilot test phase before evaluation and completion.- The 270 participants of the 5 final dissemination and training events

Context/background of the project:Our project mainly started from current situation and needs:1. Different mountain guide occupational standard in different countries and the need to align these standards to the requests of the International Regulatory Forum (UIAGM). 2. Different level of training and competences of Mountain Guides in the same country and between different countries. 3. Increased interest for green competences (sustainable tourism, eco-tourism) and implementation of these green competences in the mountain guides training program. 4. Desire to align with market requirements by implementation in the training programs of work based learning and new and innovative training methods. 5. Aim that our countries to become full members of International Federation of Mountain Guides Association (IFMGA) and to become certified at international level to train mountain guides.Project goals: O1 - Increasing the transparency, comparability and recognition of “mountain guide” qualification at European level through development of a common occupational standard using European tools and methods (ECVET, EQF, formal, non-formal education) and adapting of this occupational standard to the national laws in Romania and Bulgaria. O2. Facilitating the learning and labor mobility and employability between involved countries in the project and at European level, by carrying out activities aimed by cooperation and exchange of best practices (such as: learners/teachers mobility’s, blog articles) during the project implementation and post-implementation. O3. Improving quality of VET programs through a better understanding and application of mixed VET methods (e-learning, practice, mobility, work-based learning) through exchange of best practices between partners and development of a training course using these mixed methods having 6 modules / 26 units having a total 1080 hours (45 ECVET points, 4 EQF level) and implementation of this training program in partner countries at different levels.Number and type/profile of participants:Direct beneficiaries:-Staff member of partner organisations - 29 members-Trainees - 40 participants to the training programs Indirect beneficiaries:-159 participants at the multiplying events-340 participants at the dissemination events-22 representatives of national and international authorities involved in presentations and where informed regarding our project: -160000 accessing of project website, e-learning platform, partners websites, facebook, linkedin, etc. The activities carried out within the project:1. Elaboration of the Common Standard for Mountain Guides (methodology, occupational standard, occupational analysis) for Increased transparency, comparability and recognition of the mountain guide qualification and introduction of green competences in the standard in order to have a better response to the market demands. 2. Elaboration of National Standard for Mountain Guides in Romania and Bulgaria and we involved in validation of this standard at national level. 3. Elaboration of a coaching plan and organization of a preparatory course to facilitate the access of disadvantaged persons to mountain guide training. 4. E-learning platform and courses using mixed learning methods (online courses). 5. Long term pilot course (1 year) finalized with national certification in order to test the materials we created and to improve the training program.6. Articles, Handbook, E-learning, integration in the curricula of work based module in order to improve the quality of mountain guides training.7. Participation to the Mobility Events inside project one for teachers and one for learners in order to increase the professional competencies of the trainers and trainees participating in the project.8. Trainees in the pilot course had to prepare projects in the field thematic touristic programs.9. 5 international meetings among partners which improved the cooperation and friendship links established during the project between the three partner countries: Italy, Bulgaria and Romania 10. 4 multiplication events, articles, Facebook posts, video, flyers, brochures, participation to different events for dissemination and multiplication purposes. The main results obtained - Improved occupational standard at European level - 2 New/Improved occupational standard at National level - E-learning platform and blended learning courses - Increased transparency, comparability and recognition of mountain guides across Europe (through the new occupational standard, publications, improved skills of trainers - Short preparatory training course for disadvantaged categories - Long term (1 year) pilot course for certified mountain guides- Increased mobility of learners attending mountain guide courses across Europe (2 mobility events)- Increased employability at local/regional level of mountain guides after certification - Increased awareness and use of thematic touristic programs