The project "ECHOS in Europe", devised by the IPSAR Carnacina, coordinator and sending partner, by 10 host partners (Hotel & Catering Departments. of Vocational Institutions in Munich-D, Plymouth-UK, Helsinki-FI, Guyancourt-F, Antwerp-B, Gøteborg-SE, Lillehammer-NO, Riga-LV and, new partner, Hvolsvollur-IS), and by 4 other sending partners, the IPSSAR Cipriani of Adria, the IIS Mantegna of Brescia and, new partners, the IPSSAR Berti-Verona and the IPS Medici-Legnago), supported by a number of local partners, represents the natural development of the many considerable long-term mobility projects carried out since 2004 and successfully enlarged year after year till now. Today the project can rely on a solid transnational and national partnership, which is at the same time large, diverse and competent. The positive results of past mobility experiences lead us to believe that also the present proposal will have the same relevance, thus consolidating a project that the Carnacina includes as a standard activity in its educational and training plan. The project develops within the CHASE (Consortium of Hospitality and Accommodation Schools of Europe) transnational network, which has been operating for over 20 years and including today 16 partner Institutions, sending and receiving on a reciprocal basis. The project envisages 22-week work placements in 9 EU countries in the period between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2016, to be carried out by 50 young people, recent vocational graduates in the field of Hospitality/Catering, not yet employed and aiming at improving their skills in view of better employability. The participants will be divided into 2 groups of 25 each, leaving respectively in September 2014 and in September 2015. The selected participants will come from a wide area including Verona-Lake Garda and Legnago-Adria-Rovigo on one side and Mantua-Brescia, in Lombardy, on the other, and will have acquired basic skills in at least one sector of the hospitality/catering industry and in at least one foreign language. The participants’ preparation is one of the project's strong points and crucial for the smooth running of the subsequent work placement in the industry. It is carried out in 2 phases, in Italy and abroad, and it includes pedagogical and cultural induction, a social programme, practice laboratories, intensive language courses in English, the first communication language, and in the other 8 local languages (also through the on-line language courses in English, French and German provided by the European Commission). Besides, an approach to the key topics that will be developed during the actual work placement: health and nutrition awareness (through nutrition lessons from experts and the purpose-built Health and Nutrition On-line Questionnaire, provided by the Finnish College) together with modern innovative interpretations of traditional dishes and drinks. Greater nutrition awareness as well as topics such as sustainability and equal opportunities are common themes to all the CHASE projects. The participants abroad will spend the 4-week preparation period at the host schools/institutions, in multiethnic groups; subsequently they will be placed in the Hospitality/Catering Industry at selected establishments, in the Food Production or Bar-Food Service/Reception sectors at their choice. School tutors along with industrial mentors guarantee that the work programme is correctly carried out and all the learning objectives are reached. Monitoring, evaluation, certification of skills (through Europass - certificates - ECVET documents as detailed in the annexed MoU), dissemination, partner meetings - both transnational (Hvolsvollur/Iceland November 2014 - Budapest/Hungary November 2015) and local - are also envisaged to monitor the results achieved and to discuss the new development plans. The ECHOS project aims at meeting the needs of the local and international hospitality industry to employ staff which is both better vocationally qualified and able to cope with the new organizational challenges: in order to achieve this, traditional knowledge should be complemented with the innovative technical skills associated with the new job profiles in the Food+Beverage sector such as food/wine chef, dietician chef and food/wine bartender. At participants' level the objectives are: enhance vocational, communication, language and soft skills, strengthen awareness as European citizens, develop abilities for lifelong learning. In view of the creation of new career opportunities, the project’s strong points are the collaboration between the schools and the SMEs, the host hotels/restaurants, as well as the wide local partnership including local public bodies (Municipalities-Province), the Verona Chamber of Commerce, associations, industry and trade unions. They are required support and cooperation, on the basis of their individual competences, in the project's planning, in selection, preparation and dissemination.