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Women Entrepreneurs in Rural Tourism

This project aimed to build the competencies of existing and new women entrepreneurs through innovative training in required business skills. It sought to build on the European Rural Tourism Development (ERTD) training package, modify and add new elements to meet the needs of women entrepreneurs, test and evaluate the training package in all partner countries and develop a community of women entrepreneurs across Europe who could benefit from the training.The consortium consisted of 8 partners from 6 European countries with a good geographical spread and representation of more recent EU member countries. VET partners had significant experience of working on European projects and in the rural tourism sector. Two network partners were actively involved in the partnership to ensure that target group needs were considered at every stage and to disseminate outcomes. EfVET added value as the network had the ability to reach 1500 VET institutions in Europe. Two of the partners were involved in the ERTD project and used their experience to transfer and add value to the innovation. A strong communication network was coordinated between the partner countries and a sustainable WERT community of target groups and influencers established on the project web site and linked to the DestiNet forum building on existing networks and expanding across Europe.Tangible outcomes included a needs analysis, modified training package and guides, project web site on which the WERT community was developed, pilot reports including evaluations from target groups based upon which improvements to the package were made and external evaluation reports. Intangible outcomes included a growth in confidence for women entrepreneurs based on skill development and working with others leading to improvements in the rural economy. VET providers also benefitted by narrowing the gap between employer needs and training providers. In line with the 'New Skills for New Jobs' initiative, this project provided better access to training for women in rural areas. As women's businesses developed, they should increase profitability and ability to employ others thereby strengthening the rural economy. Teachers from VET schools improved their own skills by getting closer to employer needs. Accreditation was considered and a sustainability plan implemented to enable the course to be offered more widely across Europe.
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