OBJECTIVES, ACTIVITIES AND RESULTS

PlaceYour aims at implementing an innovative training program between VET institutions and companies involved in the tourism development sector in Latin America and Europe for the creation and introduction into the labor market of the professional profile of “Place Branding Designer”, which will have key competencies to activate and build sustainable, circular and inclusive territorial strategies of tourism, through the Place Branding Methodology.

The project provides the creation of a new job profile which is the final result of a joint training curriculum developed between Europe and Latin America. The project is aimed at certificating and introducing in the Job Market a new profile which will be able to design and manage local community strategies based on circular tourism for the touristic promotion of local communities at international level.

The “Place Branding Designer” also will be certificated by the VET institutions.
In this framework PlaceYour will develop a place branding strategy which fosters and promotes the selected communities as responsible and circular tourist destinations characterized by an equitable and inclusive tourist activity, based on ensuring the protection of nature, its habitat and biodiversity, and preserving sociocultural heritage and promoting the well-being of communities.

The place branding designer

The core of the PlaceYour project is to create the professional profile of the “Place Branding Designer” and introduce it into the labor market, with the direct role of the VET institutions to activate and build sustainable, circular and inclusive territorial processes. This figure can make the local community more attractive to travelers, through the application of a strategic planning of place branding divided into 6 phases:
1. Place branding analysis – Analysis of the trend of demand and supply of the tourism market, in terms of characteristics, potential and any critical issues.
2. Search for place branding – Construction of the identity, values, perceived and projected image of the local community and comparison of the place with its competitors, in order to draw ideas for the vision, mission and objectives of the project of place branding.
3. Construction of place branding – choice of brand identity, promotional channels, tone of voice, messages, in relation to a person in charge and circular approach to the territory.
4. Implementation of place branding – based on the calculation of the ecological footprint and using the principles of the circular economy, to create destination products and/or services that reduce greenhouse gas emissions compared to the past and that offer a visit to the territory.
5. Place branding management – raise awareness and propose techniques and methods to increase the visibility of circular tourist destinations, characterized by sustainable stays and forms of responsible consumption among visitors.
6. Place branding certification. The local community becomes an attractive place of circular assets, where the local community, the stakeholders and all actors are protagonists of a sustainable and socially responsible and circular tourism development of their territory

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

• To identify and establish professional relationships between VET Institutions, companies and organizations involved in the tourism sector that will form a collaborative consortium for the development of circular tourism at the local level in each country.

• To improve the connection of VET with the labour market by including actively social actors and employers in the definition of the learning objectives and training needs. This will be done in the project through extensive consultation with these groups in the processes of the development of the qualification profile and the development of the curriculum.

• To exchange good practices between VET Institutions through a constructive and intelligent dialogue for the construction of a pilot “Place Branding Training” applied to circular tourism for train Facilitators, Trainers and Mentors of European and Latin American organizations as experts in the design of strategies that promote the development of Circular Tourism by applying the Place Branding methodology.

• To develop the professional profile of Place Branding Designer, who will be able to create targeted marketing strategies to increase tourism in a territory, improving its local market and increasing business opportunities in a sustainable way.

• To develop the PlaceYour Academy Lab as Platform aimed at providing a practical tool for the application of the methodology of Place Branding, at designing the local strategies of “Place Branding”.

• To train young workers involved in the tourism to become and certify as “Place Branding Designer”, which will have key competencies to activate and build sustainable, circular and inclusive territorial strategies of tourism, through the Place Branding methodology.

• To improve the assessment and certification of learning outcomes. This will be done through the new certification of competences related to the profile of the “Place Branding Designer”.

• To increase the internationalisation of VET. This will be done through the transnational cooperation and also through the development of the “Digital Place Brand” PLACEYOUR international course and Academy Lab.

• To introduce the new “Place Branding Designers” in the job market through collaboration with local actors, stakeholders and operators.

MAIN ACTIVITIES

1. Design of the VET Training: the main activities will regard the creation of the local VET Networks, the national needs analysis, the study and exchange of the best-practices and the development of the training Handbook.

2. VET Training: the training program will be held though a blended approach. The program will be composed by an e-learning course for trainers, mentors, educators and 2 Transnational Meetings in Colombia and Mexico.

3. PlaceYour Academy Lab: the implementation of an innovative academy between VET professional training institutions and companies, inspired by European green and cultural values for the creation and promotion of the VET professional figure “Place Branding Designer”. In the final stage of the project, the Academy Lab will be the main tool for the practical implementation of the “Place Branding Designer” job profile which will be spread and shared in the local community of the project. The Academy will be based on 3 steps: the virtual training of young workers in the tourism sector with the certification of the Place Branding Designers; the bootcamp for the development of the local DPB strategies; the matching with local enterprises and the labour market.