The T-Bridges project is aiming to promote the cooperation between Europe and Africa in the field of youth and explore the potential of youth work in order to increase the employability of the young people in the field of tourism which is one of the most promising industries both in Europe and in Africa. The consortium of the project is multi-actor, it has a great experience in the field and it has complementary competencies. It is constituted from 6 partners from 5 countries (Greece, Italy, Romania, Cape Verde and Ghana). The partners from the Partner Countries are organizations that are willing to build their capacity to support youth exchanges and also to support the youth in their local community.
From Monday 6th of July to Friday 10th of July, the Greek Partners, Academy of Entrepreneurship and Action Synergy had the pleasure to welcome in Athens, Greece our partners from Capo Verde Atelier Mar ONG, from Ghana the International Youth Exchange Community, from Romania the Asociatia Initiative si Proiecte pentru Tineret Imago Mundi and from Italy the Pegaso Università Telematica Online.
During these five days, delegates from the 5 countries had the chance to explore new formal or informal ways of learning on tourism, desirable skills mostly asked by employers, e-learning opportunities etc. Case studies on Tourism were presented by distinguished experts in the fields of gastronomic tourism (case study of Epirus Gastronomy Club), web tourism (travelmyth.com), experiential tourism (tripintouch.com), presentation of alternative routes as a tourism product (Alternative Tours of Athens), presentation of a platform for contemporary Greek culture launched in 2007 specialising in new media, the promotion of tourism through Art (Pegasus University) etc.
Other activities were also performed based in interaction. Non-formal learning in the field of tourism: Tools, methods and strategies (methods, tools of teaching and strategies specific to youth work usable for promoting sustainable tourism among youths) were presented by Imago Mundi. Dominikos from Action Synergy delivered a participative workshop on how to develop a website (with free applications) to promote a tourist product (project work). Kostas from Action Synergy presented the e-learning platform (in which e-learning courses will be performed in the field of tourism for youth workers). During the week our participants had also the opportunity to participate in outdoor activities such as the visit to the open air cinema Cine Thiseion and the secret Athens walking tour provided by ATA. The “Goddess of the Hunt Tour” was a combined tour that introduced our participants to Athenian street art, design, arts & crafts and architecture.
Most importantly, all of us had the great opportunity to get to know each other and to explore our cultures by active participation through music, dancing, food etc. The next meeting of the project will be held in Capo Verde in December 2015!
