In the end of January 2025, 20-24 ENRICHER hubs trainers and trainees met in Comrat, Moldova, for a design sprint. It was the third Training of Trainers (ToT) of the Erasmus Plus project coordinated by Haaga-Helia UAS. The aim of the training was putting service design tools and methods into action in form of a design sprint.
The six trainers came from Austria (MCI), Finland (Haaga-Helia) and Italy (University of Genoa), and the 22 trainees were educators from Moldova and Georgia as well as tourism stakeholders from Comrat. The training was hosted by Comrat State University, one of the ENRICHER hubs project partners in Moldova. Comrat is the capital of the autonomous region of Gagauzia in sourthern Moldova.
The week started with a visit to the commissioner, ”Ethno Village” Gaugaz Sofrasi – a local hotel, restaurant and museum complex. The visit allowed participants to experience the place and engage with local tourism industry representatives and other stakeholders. During the sprint week, the participants proceeded to identify the the right problem to address, then ideate solutions and design a prototype to solve the challenge. Finally, they presented the solutions to the commissioner.
The design sprint provided an excellent opportunity to apply service design tools and methods learnt in previous trainings. The feedback for the training was positive and the participants embraced the method with enthusiasm. One particpant commentet: ”I liked that there were many practical exercises and a lot of methods introduced.” Another said: ”I liked because it was very interactive, made us creative and active.” These methods will be used in the hubs to be established at each partner university in Moldova and Georgia during the upcoming phases of the project.