Kick off Event of international ENRICHER hubs – Erasmus+ CBHE project was held in Helsinki at 26th – 28th of February, 2024 and hosted by Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences (HHUAS). Participants from nine higher education institutions made significant strides in starting a fruitful collaboration. The main objective of the project is to improve the learning methods of sustainable tourism at the universities of Georgia and Moldova through service design tools and innovative pedagogical solutions.
The partners had great opportunity to get to know each other better, which is so important for building the shared understanding and trust. Partners learned from each other from presentations, also deepening the understanding of each university’s unique contribution to the project. The team exchanged views and ideas, planned schedules and work structure in different workshops and meetings. It was also very valuable to co-create a code of conduct for the project, so that everybody shares the common understanding and values of how to work together.
As a part of the event, a field visit was organized to the sea fortress of Suomenlinna, where participants enjoyed a presentation about sustainable tourism by Tourism Specialist Milla Öystilä. At the same visit, partners were able to learn about the interesting history of the UNESCO World Heritage Site through a visit to a museum and explore the unique island. Later on the participants had also opportunity to explore the urban culture of Helsinki visiting Allas Sea Pool, a popular centre of seaside sauna & bathing and Helsinki’s Central Library Oodi, a living meeting place & “living room” of residents.
The feedback of the event from the participants is really positive, setting the base for the fruitful, continuous collaboration with the partners in this project. Here few comments to mention; “The kick off meeting gave us insight about the deliverables, project management, met new people and had very good social activities.” “You need to meet the collaborating partner in person for a lot of different reasons to work on a project successfully. Thank you so much for organizing this intensive but crucial event!”