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Podróże ze smakiem / Tasty travels
Podróże ze smakiem / Tasty travels
Start date: Jul 1, 2014,
End date: Jun 30, 2016
PROJECT
FINISHED
The project "Tasty travels" was created for the students of the School of Catering and Hotel Industry in Iwonicz-Zdroj. The name of the project closely reflects the nature of the tasks that awaited participants of the project: learning and discovering the flavours and tastes of the host country, sharing the flavours and tastes of the national - Polish and regional - Subcarpathian cuisine and hospitality, finding the value in diversity of the cuisines and cultures, using the knowledge for the personal development, the development of the school, the region and the country.
There were 4 groups which were sent abroad for practical training, two groups went to Italy and two groups to Spain, each group consisting of 13 students, including two with mental disabilities, a teacher responsible for minors and a teacher assisting students with disabilities. 60 people took part in the training abroad, but the number of people involved in the preparation and dissemination is definitely much higher.
The students of ZSG-H mostly come from small towns and villages of the area with high unemployment rate and from the families facing material and social problems. Getting good qualifications and professional skills is their chance for a better life. Catering and hospitality industry gives hope for employment in their region of residence, which has been deprived of other forms of industry and, at the same time, of employment opportunities. Employers will recognize the students’ experience enriched by the practical training in a foreign country, as was the case with the previous graduates benefiting from the Leonardo da Vinci programme. The contact with the idea of EU projects, as well as the acquired skills, can also encourage the students to set up their own business in the future. Providing intellectually disabled students with learning and travelling abroad opportunities will increase the confidence of the labour market in professional skills and abilities of people with intellectual disabilities.
The main objective of the project in relation to students was to provide them with opportunities to gain training, professional experience and education at an international level, which will increase employment opportunities for participants through the acquisition of new skills, including language and professional knowledge and experience, it will also affect the alignment of their life and employment chances. In parallel, the project will improve the quality of vocational training in the school by comparing and using the experience of similar foreign institutions, inspiring the participating teachers to intensify innovative activities and to expand their knowledge and skills.
Direct contact and work with a foreign client and employer affected the motivation of trainees to learn new skills. The special effect is expected in relation to the need for conscious foreign language learning as an essential working tool on European and global markets.
Observation of work organization and forms of promotion of foreign companies showed other ways and possibilities, what enriched the experience of students and teachers. Hoteliers, waiters, cooks, nutrition and food technicians gained new practical skills, compared the methods of work in the country and abroad, learnt to use the best forms in particular professional situations.
The selection of countries and experienced partner organizations, Spain, Centro Superior de Hostelería del Mediterráneo, Italy, YouNet, allows for specific targeting of learning and practical training in order to understand and disseminate the rules and regulations distinctive for national and regional cuisine. Italian and Spanish cuisine is known and appreciated in the food service industry so the students/graduates who can confirm their skills in this field increase their chances of employment on the labour market, as well as get a chance and inspiration to open their own business. Learning about and disseminating of the appreciated and recommended by nutritionists Mediterranean diet is also a chance to improve eating habits of students, their families, the local community and other people informed about the effects of the project.
Presentations, films, photos, exhibitions, articles, Italian and Spanish recipes, food tastings, interviews and publications, and direct meetings with target groups will help to disseminate the project results. Dissemination activities influenced and will continue to influence the raise of awareness in the society about the benefits of the participation in EU projects, they will encourage others to create their own projects, provide information and practical examples of such projects, they will also help to disseminate the knowledge about partner countries, particularly presenting the organization of work in the catering and hospitality industry. Dissemination activities will encourage the modification of diet, and last, increase the interest of employers in the graduates of ZSG-H.