From October 27th to November 2nd, we experienced an unforgettable week during the Second Transnational Training Meeting of the PlaceYour Project, in a collaborative, festive, and deeply meaningful environment.
Representatives, trainers, and young participants from Mexico, Italy, Greece, Colombia, Spain, and Brazil came together to share the progress achieved in each Academy Lab, where the professional profile of Place Branding Designer is being developed and applied in real tourism contexts.
The international meeting in Aculco, Mexico, was a highly valuable moment for the PlaceYour partnership, combining project coordination, shared learning, territorial exploration, and intercultural exchange. The meeting aimed to strengthen the common implementation of the PlaceYour Academy Lab, align partners around the project methodology, and connect the training approach with real local contexts, communities, and territorial challenges.
Throughout the meeting, partners explored how place branding can support sustainable, circular, and community-based tourism, while also reflecting on how vocational education can better respond to local realities and emerging professional needs. The activities helped consolidate key aspects of the project, including the quality of the training pathway, certification processes, learning outcomes, and assessment methods linked to the Place Branding Designer profile.
At the same time, the meeting offered a rich cultural and experiential dimension. Through visits to local communities, heritage sites, artisan activities, and participation in cultural traditions, partners had the opportunity to experience firsthand the elements that shape the identity of a place: its history, stories, public spaces, crafts, rituals, and community values. These moments made the exchange especially meaningful, transforming the meeting into a living learning experience fully aligned with the values of PlaceYour.
One of the most important results of the meeting was the strong sense of connection among partners, not only at a technical level, but also at a human and intercultural one. The experience helped build a more shared vision of the project, generated practical inspiration for the national Academy Labs, and reinforced the idea that place branding must always be rooted in authenticity, participation, and respect for local culture.
The meeting in Aculco strengthened the partnership, enriched the project with concrete territorial insights, and confirmed the importance of combining training, community engagement, and cultural exchange to promote more sustainable and meaningful tourism strategies.
