The EAVF aims at adding value to walking experiences and their peculiarities, as well as promoting slow and sustainable tourism through the education of the young generations. It also promotes exchange between cultures and a sense of European identity, which have always characterised the work of our association and the values of the itinerary itself. This is how Erasmus+ projects become focal points for the tourist promotion of the Via Francigena territories!
Having been awarded funding twice, through consecutive calls under the Erasmus+ programme, KA1 Individual Mobility for Learning Purposes, and as lead partner, the EAVF intended to enable Italian university graduates to gain practical experience through training placements in France, United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain, in order to contribute to the development of a strategic vision for the tourist and sustainable promotion of the Via Francigena, to the training of new professional figures, as well as to foster youth entrepreneurship and a greater participation of communities in the care and enhancement of their territory.
The numbers of the Erasmus “F.O.R.Es.T” projects
Together with the network of schools, public bodies, associations and technical partners, the Via Francigena achieved 170 mobilities: with the first project “FORREsT: new skills FOR expeRiEntial Tourism” 70 young students from tourism schools on the Via Francigena north of Rome were given the opportunity to do work experience in the fields of Tourism, Marketing and Business Information Systems. Through the second one, ‘F.O.R.R.Es.T. 2.0 – FOsteR an euRopEan identity through the Trainees mobility‘, 100 young people from tourism school institutes on the Via Francigena, including the itinerary south of Rome, tried their hand at work concerning the promotion and development of slow tourism along the Via Francigena.
“F.O.R.Es.T” and “F.O.R.Es.T 2.0” in the EPRP database
The Erasmus+ National Agency INAPP, i.e. the Erasmus+ Italian Agency for Vocational Education and Training, has identified the two Erasmus projects “F.O.R.R.Es.T” and “F.O.R.R.Es.T 2.0” as best practices to be included in the Project Results Dissemination Platform (EPRP), i.e. the European database of Erasmus projects to enable the sharing of experiences and results at EU level. This was done within the framework of the annual selection of best practices among the best project proposals with a score of no less than 80 out of 100. On the basis of specific criteria such as capacity to generate impact, transferability of outcomes, innovation, sustainability, communication and management capacity, the two projects emerged as outstanding cases that can be a source of inspiration for future projects at the European level.
Find out more and stay updated on Via Francigena’s role and activities in the two projects:
