Digital media have created unprecedented opportunities to connect, communicate and learn, in non formal and informal environments. Digital badges are validated indicators of an “accomplishment, skill, quality, or interest that can be earned in many learning environments.” In education, badges are becoming the preferred way to recognize micro credentials, as qualifications on units of study that focus on particular skills or competencies.

BadgeTour - VET Micro-credentialing in the tourism sector is an Erasmus+ project that aims at boosting VET managers and trainers' abilities and skills in recognizing competences and certifying the learning process of learners in the tourism sector through a continuous professional development training on the use of micro-credentials.

One of the general needs of this project is the invitation of European Commission in the 2020 EU skills agenda in order to work on the development of a shared approach to micro-credentials that guarantee quality, cross-border comparability, recognition and transferability of micro-credentials.

Recent research reveals that EU employers and in particular SMEs in the tourism sector face challenges in recruiting workers that are highly skilled:  digital skills, that have increased in importance during the covid-19 crisis, are also necessary for tourism entrepreneurs and managers, as well as green skills in order to respond to the increased interest in sustainability of all the activities and of the change in tourists’ preferences. Understanding the business and societal challenges that involve employment levels, thus skill profiles in tourism is necessary for designing and offering relevant and high-quality VET. Accordingly, the new acquired learners’ competences need to be validated through online systems (open badges) in order to respond easily to managers’ selection criteria. Therefore a training for VET providers on the use of digital badges and micro-credentialing will allow to create a common awareness and understanding of the topic. Educators and trainers have to be well-prepared and motivated to support higher quality training and education. This is one of the strategic priorities for EU cooperation in education and training towards the EU Education Area and beyond (2021-2030), as well as the objective to Improve quality, equity, inclusion and success for all in education and training. VET organizations and trainers are one of the key groups to fill the gap between conventional education and learning and the developing prerequisites for an approach to show proof of validated, micro-certifications earned. Considering the above, during COVID-19 pandemic era, it can be said that not only Italy’s and EU countries economic performance has been deeply affected, but also the outbreak has paralyzed the global tourism industry, devastating national economy of the partner countries largely dependent on tourism.

In this regard, this main aim is to support VET managers and trainers to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to create new and well prepared professionals of the sector by providing significant support and recognition for the progressive skills transformation of the tourism sector.

BadgeTour is an European Erasmus+ project that involves the following partner countries: TRAINING2000 (as coordinator Italy); OULUN AMMATTIKORKEAKOULU OY  (Finland); SBTC DANISMANLIK (Turkey) Mindshift Talent Advisory lda (Portugal) INSTITUTO PARA EL FOMENTO DEL DESARROLLO Y LA FORMACION SL (Spain) and SUPSI (Switzerland). The project will produce a comprehensive set of tools and resources to provide VET trainers and managers in the tourism sector throughout Europe with opportunities to validate competence-based learning through micro-credentials.  In this regard expected results of the project are:

R1 - a set of guidelines for the creation of micro-credentials in the tourism sector, introducing a standardised process and support for trainers for the recognition of competences;

 R2 - a collection of OERs on the elaboration of micro-credentials to validate learning allowing for continuous update of professionals working in the VET tourism sector and mainly on micro-credentialing issues.

R3 - a training course for trainers on the use of micro-credentials which allows to understand the underlying technical aspects of digital badges and the broader ecosystem for learners and the issuing organization.

For further information, please visit the project website  at badgetour.eu/