"The FOODIES project was born and developed in the regional contexts of Piedmont, Lombardy and Liguria and within the framework of the ""Milan-Sanremo del Gusto"" Programme, promoted in 2016 by the three Regional Councils and aimed at enhancing local identities, discovering experience of the territories and their respective historical, artistic, eno-gastronomic and manufacturing quality attractiveness, to be realized with the involvement of public and private subjects, schools and universities of the territory. In this context, the project aims to meet a dual need: 1) on the one hand, the need to stimulate the innovation of local tourism enterprises in order to make them more competitive and visible at national and international level; 2) on the other hand, invest in the training of skilled and trained professionals and therefore employable and self-employable; attentive to tradition, but also to change and innovation. Through FOODIES, the ""Giolitti-Bellisario"" Institute, the other 6 sending Educational Institutes and the Consortium partners aim to provide adequate expertise in the tourism-receptive sector that can bring a boost to the tourism work market of the three regional basins, recovering knowledge and skills of tradition, bringing innovation and critical spirit in the creation and management of competitive tourism enterprises and in step with the global challenges and thus improve the quality of education and vocational training, giving a European dimension to the educational pathways and thus offering young participants the opportunity to verify and deepen their curricular skills: professionalism in specific areas of belonging (TOURISM), cultural and transversal knowledge and linguistic preparation. This general objective, in line with the ET2020 Strategy, is pursued through a mobility experience consisting of a 1-month internship abroad for 84 STUDENTS of the fourth classes and 3-month for 84 JUST GRADUATED of the 7 schools involved (Tourism VET school pathways). In summary, the activities envisaged by the project are: 1. Cross-cutting activities: Management; Dissemination and exploitation of results; Follow up; 2. Mobility preparation: Communication and cooperation plan; Selection and preparation of participants; Definition of learning plan; 3. Mobility: Internship in the company; Monitoring; Evaluation of traineeships and projects; transparency of the LOs. From the methodological point of view the project includes: - continuous and active involvement of all the project staff figures and supervision by the trainers and company mentors; accompaniment and tutoring; teaching methodologies based on involvement, participation, the high integration between theory and practice, the development of practical skills that can be immediately spent, the validation of acquired skills; - a system of mid-term and final checks to monitor progress in learning achieved by the participants, as well as to evaluate, certify, transfer and validate them in an ECVET-compatible framework; - the preparation of a final report focused on identifying the effective functioning of the activities and the elements that can be reproduced, transferred and integrated within the Consortium and in other contexts. For the participants, the main results expected from the realization of the FOODIES project concern not only its usability in the employment field, but also its positive influences on the development of human potential through its formal, informal and non-formal learning moments. Finally, FOODIES is expected to consolidate a network of European subjects with good practices and innovative training models in the areas of digital tourism, culture, creative industry and the promotion of food and wine of the territory and specific vocational training for the sector, laying the foundations for future collaborations. The project is therefore an important starting point to be followed up with updating and use of the results on a wider scale. These, therefore, the expected impacts: AT THE END OF THE PROJECT: -development of the specialized skills of the target groups involved (168 young people between students and new graduates); -realization of models and training tools of innovative value. IN THE MIDDLE TERM: - dissemination of the results and training models between the subjects of the relevant macro-sector and those of the vocational training; - making available results and training models for institutions and professionals of local / regional territories; IN LONG TERM: - orientation of the policies of the public partners involved based on the results of the project; - use of procedures as a standard model."

"The need for Tuscan turistic entrepreneurs is to maintain a high standard of services offered, with a level of quality that will satisfy demanding and well prepared customers (national and international), in order to fight the global economic crisis. The needs of recent graduates from VET schools is to specialize, to acquire new skills on turistic sector by consequence of the potential of job opportunities offered by the sector. These two worlds are the demand and supply to meet that need to find a mutual benefit and profit. For these reasons, the Regional Council of Tuscany, since 2001, has been promoting the programme ""VETRINA TOSCANA"" (Network of enhancement of the typical Tuscan products that involve different economic and institutional actors) and that from three yeras ago included in the Special Programme of Regional Development (PRSE) and considered as an excellent model of communication and promotion of tourism. The project ""Vetrina Toscana in Europa"" (VET -EU) aims to be connected to this regional programme, promoted by the Regional Council of Tuscany, in order to offer the opportunity of an internship abroad to the students of Tuscan Tourism and Catering VET schools, participating to some dedicated training courses carried out within the farmework of ""Vetrina Toscana"" Programme. The VET-EU project is promoted by an articulated partnership of local actors (Tourism and Catering VET Schools institutional bodies, trade associations) and foreign partners. It aims to offer students and recent graduates from VET schools in the turism industry of the provinces of Siena, Florence and Prato, a great opportunity to provide more and more qualified sector services by performing a high quality mobility experience at European level. Participants follow a path of education in the tourism and hospitality industry and be selected from the target group who has already participated in the training activities of the Project SCUOLE VETRINA TOSCANA (sub-programme of Vetrina Toscana). The Project VET-EU, in fact, aims to complete with a foreign mobility experience the training path of a a target of participants, who, having acquired knowledge and professional skills in turism sector, have also carried out an intra-curriculum training path on the valorization of the characteristic of the local products of the the region (elements of Vetrina Toscana Programme). Participants, after their selection carried out by the 7 vocational schools, sending partners of the project, will receive an intercultural preparation as well as being stimulated to self-study on the host country, to improve their language skills and to actively participate throughout the international path. The preparation, therefore, involves multi-disciplinary pedagogical, linguistic and cultural preparation aimed to provide information, even of a practical nature, including various aspects of an internship abroad as well as knowledge and skills useful to a full integration into the context of the host country (e.g. highlights on the cultural aspects of the host country, lifestyles and working conditions). Participants will also be called before departure to deepen their language skills (comprehension , but also oral and written skills). The main expected results from the implementation of the VET-EU project affect not only its marketability within the job market, but also its positive influences on the development of human potential through its features of formal, non-formal (on the job) and informal learning."

The Professional School of Vouzela was founded almost 25 years ago and its exclusively dedicated to the education and vocational training of young people.The lack of skilled labour in the Hospitality business in the region and the high percentage of dropout students, without preparation for life and for the labour market, was the reason behind the creation of thus Vocational School, which currently has 297 students spread across the several training courses.EP Vouzela, in a joint work of its staff and students, ensures the fulfilment of a growth strategy that strives for excellence, integration into the local, regional, national and European market. More than allow the school’s development in only one direction - the internationalization, this project and the knowledge that results from it, will build a two-way street, from local to international and vice versa.The EUROVOUZELA II project is structured to give continuity to the internationalization process started last year and has as OBJECTIVES:1- PREPARING STUDENTS FOR the ACTIVE LIFE - TRANSITION FROM THE ACADEMIC LIFE TO THE LABOUR MARKET2 - IMPROVING THE EP’S EDUCATIONAL OFFERE IN A SUSTAINABLE WAY, FIGHTING THE SCHOOL DROPOUT AND WITHDRAWAL THROUGH MOTIVATION AND ATTRACTIVENESS3 – CLOSENESS OF THE SCHOOL COMMUNITY TO THE EUROPEAN REALITY - BUILDING PARTNERSHIPS AND INTERNATIONAL SYNERGIESThe needs of the EP Vouzela are necessarily those of their students:• High numbers of DROPOUTS / WITHDRAWALS AND SCHOOL FAILURE• WEAK LANGUAGE SKILLS, even at the English level• LITTLE EXPERIENCE OF STUDENTS IN WORK CONTEXT • COMMUNICATION in INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, as well as the so-called soft-skills• POOR OR LITTLE CIVIC PARTICIPATION. The feeling of belonging to Europe and the defence of Human Rights are a distant reality• DESENSIZATION/ LOW AWARENESS OF THE EUROPEAN REALITY• DESERTIFICATION• LACK OF LIFE GOALSThe mobility plan and cooperation for the academic year 2015/2016 is developed on two axes:(1) MOBILITY OF SCHOOL STAFF to a new context – Finland, in order to learn new procedures and practices, as this is a country well known for its political and educational distinct practices.(2) MOBILITY OF STUDENTS extending the territory of the students’ curricular internships to Greece, Italy and the Czech Republic, because we feel that a wider range of destinations can be more fruitful.The participants will be 20 trainees – from the 11th and 12th years of vocational training courses (level IV): Industrial Maintenance Technician - Electromechanical; Industrial Maintenance Technician - Automotive Mechatronics; Mechatronics Technician; Restaurant Kitchen-Pastry Technician; Restaurant-Food&Beverage Technician; Secretariat Technician; Trade Technician.The destination countries are selected according with the fact that these are references in the professional areas of the participants:- United Kingdom, Czech Republic and Germany for the areas of Industrial Maintenance, Electromechanics, Mechatronics and Automotive Mechatronics;- Spain and France in the areas of Trade and Secretariat;- Greece and Italy for the areas of Kitchen / Pastry, Restaurant/Bar.The student mobility periods in Group 1 countries will last 9 weeks and students who will go to the group of countries Group 2 will make 10 week program (1 week language course + 9 week internship).As for the job shadowing activities of the teachers, they will last for 1 week.The mobility of students will be certified through the delivery of the EUROPASS MOBILITY Certificate, INTERNSHIP CERTIFICATE, LANGUAGE COURSE CERTIFICATE, PROMOTER’S CERTIFICATE and ECVET; the teachers will receive a PROGRAM STATEMENT.The expected RESULTS and IMPACTS on the students and the school community are:- STUDENTS WITH STRENGTHENED QUALITY CVs THAT WILL ALLOW THEM TO MORE EASILY JOIN THE LABOUT MARKET (NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL) AFTER THE END OF THE COURSES;- BEST EDUCATIONAL OFFER AND THEREFORE LOWER LEVELS OF SCHOOL DROPOUT/ WITHDRAWAL;- STRATEGIC INTERNATIONAL PARTNERSHIPS CONSOLIDATED BY EP VOUZELA, AS WELL AS THE REGION AND THE ENTREPRENEURS THAT EMPLOY THE STUDENTS.At the Regional / Local level, the continuity of the development of the project will contribute to:• The sustainable development of the Region• The qualification of Human Resources of the Region • Higher levels of entrepreneurship• Closeness of the Region to the European sphereAt the European and International level, this project will contribute to:• Achieve the goals in the European 2020 Strategy in the fields of education, innovation and development.• Increase the number of European mobilities, duly certified and accredited.• The qualification of Human Resources, able to work in other countries.• Boost the cooperation between vocational training institutions and companies, which will facilitate the access to the European labour market.• The increase in the number of international partnerships and contacts.

1) CONTEXT AND OBJECTIVESThis consortium initially comprised 15 institutions from different socio-economic contexts and specialities, which have in common the values they teach, their educational methodology and the relevance they give to innovation in the school environment. During the implementation of the project, 1 new school joined this consortium, with 16 partners. One of the reasons for the formation of this Consortium was the sharing of objectives and difficulties shared by the schools to improve the key competences of students and teachers and to offer mobility opportunities to those who could not afford it on their own.Our aim was to empower participants to tackle the problem of de-motivation and school drop-out, promoting respect for diversity and multiculturalism.This consortium made it possible to promote new methods of teaching and learning foreign languages, cooperating between the various training centres present in the consortium, organisations working through non-formal education, and organisations in the world of work. As a result of this cooperation we have established a long-term sustainable network and opened up spaces for the exchange of good practices and improvement of sustainable methods and projects.2)PARTICIPANTSDue to the variety of centres in this Consortium, the profile of the participants is very heterogeneous. The selection criteria have been common to all the centres. 3)ACTIVITIES -90 student mobilities with duration of 30 days (2 days of travel). The mobilities are distributed among 14 schools (one school did not have any participants) to 10 destinations (12 to Poland, 10 to Slovenia, 8 to Portugal, 8 to Italy, 10 to France, 15 to Malta, 7 to the Netherlands and 10 to Romania, 5 to Greece and 5 to Macedonia) - 6 mobilities of teachers from 6 schools, with a duration of 5 days of activity (plus 2 travel days) to 3 destinations 1 to Poland, 1 to Malta and 4 to Italy -10 mobilities of accompanying persons, one for each destination of the students, with duration of 5 days of activity plus 2 of travel. 4)METHODOLOGY -PREVIOUS PHASE: Meetings were organized between the centres to inform the staff and organize the next action plan. -DURING THE PROJECT: Members followed the planned dissemination strategy and informed their audiences about the project. The selection phase followed common criteria and those selected were provided with linguistic and intercultural preparation. The coordinator of the consortium planned with the partners the management of mobilities and stays abroad. 5) LEARNING OUTCOMES FOR THE STUDENTSThe students worked on their sense of initiative and responsibility right from the first stages of the project, having to use their computer and communication skills. In the preparation phase they were able to improve their linguistic and social skills, exploring their fears, expectations and sensitivity thanks to the common moments of reflection and training organized.Finally in the mobility phase they improved their professional skills and acquired transversal competences that helped them to grow as people.FOR THE TEACHING STAFFThe staff also improved their sense of initiative and were more motivated to take responsibility within the centre because of the greater involvement required. Thanks to the presentation of their own mobility plan, they were able to improve their language and communication skills, being more involved in the improvement of the centre and in the dissemination of results. 6)BENEFITSThe participants, during all the phases of the project, had the opportunity to mature on a personal, social and working level. They developed their creative, resolute and enterprising capacity by living in a new environment and having to deal with responsibilities and unknown contexts. As a result of the good functioning of this consortium, 3 new consortiums were created and presented in the 2019 and 2020 calls. The project coordinated by the coordinating centre of this consortium was financed in the 2019 call.

"The project, named ""TUBALCAÍN VET IN EUROPE"", has as its main goal the improvement of the personal and professional education of the Vocational Education students of the IES Tubalcaín. The duration of the internship was:- 32 days in Italy- 31 days in PolandDue to the difficulty of being able to travel on the scheduled dates given the availability of flights, the duration of mobility for students from Poland has been 31 days.During the mobilities the students made 160 hours of internship in the companies. Most of the students went with all the approved modules and the internships have been part of the 410 total hours of the professional module of Training in Workplaces (FCT) which is required in each VET studies.After checking the training needs and considering the objectives of the project, several companies from 2 different countries were chosen that operate in the fields of our three educational branches: Transport and Vehicle Maintenance, Installation and Maintenance, and Administration and Management.The countries chosen for this project were Italy and Poland. These destinations have been chosen on the basis of students' preferences, their language level and the quality of the companies in which they were able to carry out the internships, with the aim of offering a variety of experiences, European techniques and methodologies to improve their vocational and personal training.Although it was planned to carry out mobilities in companies in Slovenia and France, in the end no internships were carried out in these countries.The mobilities that took place in the 2018/2019 academic year were:- Italy: 15 students in the first year, in 2019.- Poland: 3 students in the first year, in 2019Taking into account that 3 students were minors and that, in general, they do not have previous experience of travelling abroad, 3 teachers travelled with them and accompanied them during the first week.In the 2019/2020 academic year it was planned to carry out 14 mobilities of this project, and despite having carried out all the necessary formalities and training to carry out the mobility, Finally, the students were not able to do the internships due to the international situation generated by the COVID-19 pandemic.The objectives of the project have been:- To provide better opportunities for pupils/students: Students have been given the same opportunities as other young people/students in Spain. The IES Tubalcaín is located in a rural area away from large population centres and therefore in an area that offers fewer opportunities for students/ as they have fewer services. We have offered our students the most complete training and new opportunities.- To improve the intercultural skills of students: our students have had the opportunity to leave home and to get in touch with people from different countries and cultures, with different customs and have found it necessary to practice, speak and understand a language other than one’s own. Thanks to an international experience, students have improved their intercultural skills, developed values of respect, tolerance and will help to contribute to a more inclusive society.- To promote study and employability, and reducing school drop-out: in the area where the Centre is located, such initiatives are a very positive complement to the training of pupils/s. International internships mean an improvement in the training offered by the Centre, helping in the training of students, facilitating their subsequent integration into the labour market and improving their employability, as well as encouraging entrepreneurship. All this encourages the students to continue with their studies, decreasing the dropout rate.- To Improve the personal and professional skills of students/s: this international experience has exposed students/s to new situations and has helped them to mature and develop on a personal level, and to acquire key personal and professional skills. In addition, pupils/students have improved their language skills.The benefits of the project has had a positive impact on all participants:- The students/participants have benefited in terms of improving their personal, professional and linguistic training. This has improved their opportunities to enter the world of work, or for continuity with higher education or entrepreneurship: a high percentage of participants are working in companies in the area and the rest are studying a higher degree.- The Education Centre offers more complete training and is open to the outside world. The area benefits from the best qualifications of its workers and helps to improve the perception of vocational training."