P4 Skilled and socially inclusive region
4.2. More aligned vocational education and training (VET) programmes in the Central Baltic region
Central Baltic
01.04.2020 - 31.12.2022
€325 726
€255 157
In the Central Baltic islands, the tourism season is short. To maximize their profit possibilities local business owners in the field of gastronomy and tourism need further training, but because they own microbusinesses or SME:s they have no possibilities to undertake full time studies.
The project EPIG aims at supporting them to boost their skills in a flexible way. By developing a curriculum in collaboration with vocational schools in the Åland islands and Saaremaa and by taking into consideration the islands peculiarities. The 10 ECTS curriculum will be developed tested and evaluated on/by students. Based on the first evaluation the curriculum will be improved and tested again.
As a result, the developed curriculum will be implemented in the partners’ vocational schools.
Ålands yrkesgymnasium
Country: FI
Partner budget: 217.106 EUR
Amount of ERDF funding: 162.830 EUR ERDF
Kuressaare Ametikool
Country: EE
Partner budget: 108.620 EUR
Amount of ERDF funding: 92.327 EUR ERDF
Gutegymnasiet/Guteskolan AB
Country: SE
Achieved results
EPIG educated professionals on islands in gastrotourism
The main result of the project is a joint curriculum for Gastro Tourism (10 ECTS) which implementation is supported by a teachers’ manual and further trained teachers. During the combined activities, especially the workshops for the teachers, both the curriculum and the teacher manual were extensively discussed. Also students were involved in developing and improving the curriculum.
One of the outcomes of the project was that the lack of skills and the needs of skill enhancement in the gastronomy and tourism industry were analysed using a survey. Presenting the results of the survey motivated teachers and other stakeholders to take part in the project and to see a need to actively participate in the development of a new curriculum. The bottom-up approach which allowed all teachers to contribute to the development of the curriculum was highly estimated. It encouraged greater commitment from project participants and better relationships between colleagues because everyone was given the opportunity to influence decisions, regardless of their position.
Project has indicated in their final report that the biggest value of the cross-border cooperation was that the participants learned from and about each other as well as about successful factors influencing the Gastro Tourism Industry in both countries. In addition, the cooperation project provided inspiration, improved language skills and cultural exchange among teachers and students.
- a joint curriculum for GastroTourism was developed
- both teachers and students were involved
- needs for skill enhancement were analysed using a survey
- cross-border cooperation widened the participants' perspective
