The partners of the Erasmus+ Online Internship in Europe project meet at the ULL

The project partners Online Internship in Tourism (Onlt), funded with the support of the European Union's Erasmus+ program, met this week at the Faculty of Economics, Business and Tourism as part of their final event, with the collaboration of the DISA Foundation Chair for Young Entrepreneurs at the University of La Laguna. At the event, José Fortes, CEO of Laureon, spoke about the importance of remote work as a professional development option and shared his experience. Tenerife Work and Play, driven by the economic promotion platform Why Tenerife? which include the Cabildo, the Chamber of Commerce, the Port Authority, the Canary Islands Special Zone (ZEC) and the Free Zone.

Fortes noted that a culture of hard work is key to managing uncertainty in an increasingly complex environment, and that most of the professions university students will work in are yet to be invented. In this context, promoting remote work to enhance globalization and bridge geographical distances is crucial for societal progress.

Gigliola Paviotti

In light of these circumstances, Gigliola Paviotti, a professor at the University of Macerata (Italy), commented that the objective of the Onlt project was precisely to develop a framework of guidance and practical tools to design and implement quality online practices in higher education.

The day continued the following day, May 23, with the celebration of the final meeting of the project, in which the partners of the consortium met, made up of the University of Macerata (Italy), which is the coordinator of the project, University of Applied Sciences of Finland; the Montpellier Business School (France), the University of Rijeka (Croatia); the Mediterranean Universities Union (Italy), the International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism (Spain) and the University of La Laguna, which was the host of this meeting.

As a result of this project, a protocol for managing remote internships has been designed and piloted across various universities. This protocol aims to equip students with the knowledge and skills necessary to meet the challenges of digital transformation as they transition into the job market. The protocol and the tools developed will be available to the university community starting in September 2023, representing a clear example of the knowledge transfer linked to research projects for which universities are responsible.