1 December, 2023  

Olvés, Terrer, Torrijo and Cervera de la Cañada learn how to promote their villages for tourism through Tik Tok

Residents of Torrijo and Cervera de la Cañada took part in an innovative training course whose main objective was to promote local tourism through creativity and technology. The Comarca Comunidad de Calatayud, in collaboration with Developia Foundation, organised these trainings also with groups of neighbours from Olvés and Terrer, as part of an initiative to promote visits to the villages and also to foster digital inclusion.

During the training, participants were guided in the creation of an attractive video on the popular social media platform, TikTok through aspects related to promoting tourism in their village. The final video will range from picturesque landscapes to historical sites, which capture the unique essence of their village in short and dynamic videos. The training also focused on teaching seniors how to use TikTok as a tool to exercise memory and acquire digital skills.

These events mark just the beginning of an ongoing initiative to strengthen local tourism and foster digital inclusion in the Comarca Comunidad de Calatayud.

Here are some examples of the videos made:

TikTok Terrer
TikTok Terrer
21 November, 2023  

FOCUS GROUP PROJECT YOU SMILE

Date: Thursday, 16 November 2023

Place: Plaza José María Forqué 2-3, Zaragoza, Spain

In the framework of the European project Erasmus+ YOU SMILE, the primary focus group took place on the 16th of November at the office of the Developia Foundation, coordinator of the project. The session, lasting an hour and a half, adopted a hybrid format, with six online participants and seven on-location attendees, including experts from the public and private sectors in the tourism industry and students. Developia conducted the focus group activities utilizing the Mentimeter online platform, fostering dynamic discussions.

The project, “YOU SMILE” aims to empower less fortunate individuals, educators, organizations, and more in their pursuit of sustainable and financially stable micro and small entrepreneurship in rural tourism services. This initiative involves increasing the capacities of interested youth and young entrepreneurs in sustainable practices, finance, and entrepreneurship.

To kick-off the meeting the project manager of the Micol Petrone Project presented the project and the programme of the focus group. Then the participants went on to break the ice and introduce themselves. Following, a discussion session in which the participants were asked to answer some questions by immersing themselves in different scenarios. Participants responded actively by opening a debate on the best strategies to make the tourism sector more sustainable and attentive to both waste management and the conservation of local cultural and natural heritage. After having finished the introductory exercise to the meeting, the meeting followed with a brainstorming discussion in which participants shared their experiences in the sector and the main challenges they face in offering their tourism services. Lastly, in the last portion of the meeting the focus was put on gathering data on the skills and knowledge of the participants in relation to sustainability in the tourism sector.

The project aims to establish five tourist service “living labs” in partner countries for collaborative development of innovative ideas in sustainable tourism. It includes creating an e-course with videos, TikTok content, and podcasts covering sustainable tourism, financial management for small businesses, and green entrepreneurship in rural areas. A manual will guide self-learning based on the training materials. The project will have an open-access repository for project information, conduct two training sessions to test materials, and organize dissemination events to share results with a broader audience.

The project addresses various needs. It aims to tackle the lack of formal education and awareness in sustainable practices, finance, and entrepreneurship, especially in rural touristic services. Additionally, high youth unemployment rates, particularly in Spain, Greece, and Portugal, indicate the necessity to empower youth with employable skills and entrepreneurial opportunities to reduce unemployment rates. Moreover, in sustainable tourism, professionals need an understanding of sustainable practices to minimize negative impacts on the environment and communities. Another need is innovative learning approaches. The project seeks to introduce methods like video courses, podcasts, and living labs to engage and educate youth more effectively. Lastly, the project aims to socially include less fortunate individuals by providing opportunities for personal and professional growth.

Finally, the inaugural focus group session for the YOU SMILE project, led by the Project Manager, set the tone for an engaging and collaborative exploration of Sustainable Tourism concepts. The future of YOUSMILE is set to be bright and upcoming events and activities are deserving of anticipation

Keep an eye out for news about our upcoming activities!

16 November, 2023  

Successful ‘NET REFUGEE’ meeting

We are pleased to say that the Productive TMP2 online meeting was a success. The event tackled guidelines, discussed the dissemination plan, and made progress on the website development. Please take note and mark your calendars for our upcoming meeting, where we anticipate sharing significant updates. Your attendance is valued as we look forward to presenting exciting developments.The main goal of the project is to promote inclusion of the youth with refugee and/or immigrant backgrounds while also supporting diversity in education, training, and self-employment. This project wants to provide young refugees and migrants with useful information, support, and entrepreneurial abilities to aid them overcome obstacles that prevent self-employment and to increase their chances to acquire a job and achieve a greater social economic inclusion.In agreement with the priority which aims to reduce the European unemployment rate of ‘the young’ through the provisions of necessary, support, and training to improve their entrepreneurial and soft skills needed to run one’s own business and acquire more knowledge about business culture and legal aspects related to their country of immigration. According to the priorities and general aims of the project specific objectives are therefor set:

  1. To ensure the financial stability of the young refugees and migrants by equipping them with the necessary knowledge about entrepreneurship, social support and equal opportunities.
  2. Gather knowledge they need to start a business and make it available to ‘the young’ of partner countries, including soft and hard skills, administrative skills and legal information related to their country of migration.
  3. In relation to social integration in the entrepreneurship sector, this project aims to enable participants to understand the business culture of the host country and to integrate into it by being faithful to their culture.
  4. Motivate and inspire young to become entrepreneurs and introducing them to the possibility of becoming self-employed and starting their own business as a concrete and feasible opportunity.

The NET REFUGEE project is founded on the principle of supporting self-employment among migrants, thus fostering intelligent, sustainable, and inclusive growth in alignment with the EU’s aspirations. This initiative is closely tied to the development of entrepreneurship, recognized as a crucial driver for economic growth, job creation, innovation, and productive efficiency.

Specifically, in the case of the NET REFUGEE project, the focus is on inclusive entrepreneurship, that aims to ensure that all people, regardless of their personal characteristics and backgrounds, have an equal opportunity to set up and run a business.

29 August, 2023  

New project approved!

We are proud to announce the approval of a new project called Breaking the cycle!

Breaking the cycle aims to interrupt the generational cycle of educational discrimination against young people in disadvantaged situations. Specifically, the target are youngsters (15-19 years old), coming from difficult backgrounds who are keen to drop out of school.

Developia will cooperate on the development of this project with other partners from Sweden (KC Kompetenscenter Idéburen sektor) and  Greece (I.KORMA and THEODOROS TSANAKAS MARIA KOIMISOGLOU KDVM OE). 

The main priority is to promote active citizenship, young people’s sense of initiative, and youth entrepreneurship including social entrepreneurship. All the partners are specialized in these fields and they will use their vast experience to promote engaging activities through a non-formal education and learner-centered approach. Five teenagers from every partner country and at least ten adult educators will have the chance to actively participate in the project, not to mention that also government agencies and social services will be involved t during the project’s lifecycle. 


In pursuing these goals, it is expected that by the end of the project, educators will have acquired more skills in the area of non formal education, and that the level of school dropout will decrease among the students thanks to their involvement in the proposed initiatives and the promotion of a safe environment in which they can continue with their studies. 

In conclusion, Breaking the cycle will provide an innovative model that can foster the growth of strategic hard and soft skills to support young people’s entry into the workforce and entrepreneurship in accordance with the European 2021-2027 program. Materials will be made available for those interested in bringing this initiative to their community as well. 

More information on this new project will be published very soon!