Youth Education - Tourism in Action through Social Entrepreneurship

<< Background >>The YETA project was born from the need to promote social entrepreneurship among young people, especially within the field of sustainable tourism in the rural areas. In many regions across the partner countries - Italy, Spain, Greece, Serbia, and Cyprus - youth unemployment remains alarmingly high. The project was an answer to the Eurostat data that in 2022, as it was checked before writing the project, reported some of the highest youth unemployment rates in Europe: Greece 34.9%, Spain 30.2%, Serbia 28.8%, Italy 26%, and Cyprus 17.7%. Moreover, the consortium's organizations are based in underdeveloped regions within their respective countries, where the unemployment rate is even higher than the national average.Tourism can be an important tool for change and the consortium realised how far is this from the awareness of youth people, also considering it is not embedded in formula education curricula. Therefore, the project YETA wants to equip them with the practical skills and entrepreneurial mindset needed to pursue self-employment within the realm of social tourist entrepreneurship. In addition, YETA addressed the whole community, taking in consideration sustainability and social inclusion. << Objectives >>YETA project aimed to empower young people by providing them soft and hard skills, knowledge, and tools to develop their own entrepreneurial initiatives in the social sustainable tourism sector among underdeveloped rural areas. Starting from the difficulty of employability and opportunities, the development of this project was aimed at the realization of non-formal learning and the encouragement to realize one's own entrepreneurial activities having social responsibility as a necessary value for long-lasting and important activities for the communities in which they are inserted. The innovative methodologies and digital tools aimed to strengthen the role of youth workers inside their communities to promote entrepreneurial skills. At the same time, YETA aimed to leave a lasting impact by providing freely accessible tools and resources that could support youth entrepreneurship idea’s beyond the project’s duration. The transnational cooperation of partners ensured that knowledge and best practices were exchanged across different contexts, creating a network of support that extended beyond national borders and reinforced the value of European collaboration in tackling common challenges.<< Implementation >>At the core of our implementation was a well-defined project management structure that ensured that all activities were carried out effectively. The consortium had regular transnational meetings, both online and in person. Inside the project there was the development of 12 modules and exercises for the training online, that lead to the YETA Online Platform, which serves as a free digital learning tool for youth people interested in entrepreneurial activities in sustainable tourism inside their rural area. The consortium also created the “YETA for Future” Digital Catalogue, which contains the best practices in sustainable tourism and entrepreneurship across the partners’ countries, and the “You Are YETA” Digital Guide, designed to help young people to develop business ideas by responsibly using local resources. The interactive session, the local training workshops, the LTTA with the blended mobility activities, were implemented to foster inside the project, the involvement of young people. Besides, multiplier events, virtual mobilities boost the relationship with local stakeholders, creating a local context in which the participants share their vision about the local development and how the project could impact them. << Results >>At the core of our implementation was a well-defined project management structure that ensured that all activities were carried out effectively. The consortium had regular transnational meetings, both online and in person. Inside the project there was the development of 12 modules and exercises for the training online, that lead to the YETA Online Platform, which serves as a free digital learning tool for youth people interested in entrepreneurial activities in sustainable tourism inside their rural area. The consortium also created the “YETA for Future” Digital Catalogue, which contains the best practices in sustainable tourism and entrepreneurship across the partners’ countries, and the “You Are YETA” Digital Guide, designed to help young people to develop business ideas by responsibly using local resources. The interactive session, the local training workshops, the LTTA with the blended mobility activities, were implemented to foster inside the project, the involvement of young people. Additionally, multiplier events, virtual mobilities boost the relationship with local stakeholders, creating a local context in which the participants share their vision about the local development and how the project could impact them.