EXTOR

• VET Learners: rural entrepreneurs, including owners of farms, wineries, smaller stores, beekeepers, accommodation facilities.
• VET Providers: Public and private VET providers/trainers in the entrepreneurial and touristic sectors.
• Local/regional/national authorities: representatives of public administration, decisionmakers or policymakers.
• Rural communities: people living in rural/remote areas, including local businesses and CSOs.

• Promoting workforce upgrading in rural areas through customized training on sustainable tourism and increased capacity of rural communities to actively contribute to local development;
• Upgrade the provision of Vocational Education and Training (VET) in rural tourism by designing a common skills framework and a kit on how to use it, while also providing VET students with the opportunity to apply their newly acquired knowledge for better visibility of their products/services;
• Facilitating access to VET provision by designing new channels of access to state-of-the-art blended learning that responds to diverse preferences, overcomes space constraints, and allows learners to complete it at their own pace.

Project activities have as a common goal the promotion of a sustainable approach to rural development through the opportunity of the experiential tourism sector. In this regard, it is planned to:

• collect and map success stories at the European level to gain greater awareness of current trends in rural and experiential tourism, which will contribute to the renewal of VET provision;
• structure and test a customized online training program and kit for VET providers to support the qualification of students and entrepreneurs already involved in this sector;
• create and/or expand communication channels for project beneficiaries by organizing an in-person forum and using an ad hoc platform, where there will be a digital marketing space for promoting the products and services of activity participants.

The EXTOR project will have an impact and can create synergies in the areas of education and training, youth, sports and experiential tourism. For the development of the common framework, the following will be involved:

• 60 rural entrepreneurs, 60 rural tourism professionals and 36 VET providers.

For the pilot phase of the program, the following will be involved:

• 120 VET students and 30 VET providers.

For the implementation of the multi-actor forums, the following will be involved:

• 28 VET learners will be present and interviewed after the multi-actor forums;
• 14 VET providers will be present and interviewed after the multi-actor forums;
• 7 local authority representatives and 21 rural community members will be present at the forum.

For the Local Fairs and the International Festival, it is expected that:

• at least 200 participants;
• 140 people will be registered for the online forum;
• at least 14 agreements will be signed with VET providers.

Common Framework for the Renewal of Education and Vocational Training in Rural Tourism, providing effective recommendations to improve the adaptability of current and future training offerings and to strengthen workforce employability. The Common Framework is the result of National Field Research and existing good practices.

EXTOR Interactive Map: an exchange of success stories and greater awareness of current trends in rural tourism. The interactive map is based on the collection of EU success stories and the analysis of VET needs in the rural tourism sector, to define common guidelines for the renewal of existing education and training programmes.

EXTOR e-Platform: a customised online training programme and toolkit for VET providers, supporting the upskilling of students and rural entrepreneurs. It includes several interactive features for e-learning and communication with a wide range of actors, offering a central hub for networking.

Toolkit for VET providers: an interactive guide for VET teachers and trainers on the EXTOR training programme and other tools.

DigInRur: a tailored online showcase aimed at improving the visibility of products and services and the digital marketing skills of the rural workforce. It includes a digital showcase of local products/services and of the vocational training offer in the field of sustainable rural tourism.

EXTOR Community: a network linking various key stakeholders and different existing international, national, and local forums, allowing access to different virtual and in-person spaces to raise issues or report specific problems in their rural area. New multi-actor channels will be created to improve communication, networking, and digital marketing, ensuring the sustainability of the project.

Newsletters: 1,2,3,4

• LAND Impresa Sociale (coordinator, Italy)
• INFODEF (Spain)
• DieBerater (Austria)
• Einurd (Iceland)
• CSI – Center for Social Innovation (Cyprus)
• OTC – Olypic Training & Consulting (Greece)
• READLAB Brussels (Belgium)

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.