The Mont Guide + project at the end
(October 2017-September 2019)
Project funded by the European Union under the Erasmus + program, Strategic Partnerships, Key Action 2
The Mont Guide + project is nearing its end and it is time to draw some conclusions.
What have we achieved in this project? What has our project brought us?
The first objective of the project was to raise the level of preparation of guides in the partner countries (Romania and Bulgaria) and to align it with the level of preparation of guides in the alpine countries.
To achieve this objective, we have developed a modern occupational standard for the mountain guide, a standard that can be adapted to other European countries.
Here are some of the novelty elements of the elaborated standard:
– the addition of ‘green’ competences, environmental protection, responsible and sustainable tourism,
– integration of the Learning Curriculum into the Standard,
– the introduction of clear evaluation criteria.
Due to these innovative elements, vocational training and evaluation will be able to be conducted at a national level and in accordance with the level of training in countries with old traditions in the European Community. These elements are also a first step in terms of transparency and professional mobility for mountain guides.
At the same time, it is ensured the adaptation of the mountain guide occupation to the demands of the tourist market, which shows an increased interest for the tangible and intangible culture of the places, local history, cuisine, traditions.
The quality of the standard developed within the project has been recognized by the International Union of Motorcycle Guides Associations (IFMGA), the international regulatory body in the occupation of mountain guides. In Romania, the standard has been submitted for validation to the competent authorities and we hope to receive national recognition by completing the validation process.
A second important objective of the project was the creation the e-learning platform using Moodle open source software and electronic manual, which will be used in the courses for mountain guides.
The content of the platform and the courses was developed using innovative methodologies and SCORM e-learning standard by incorporating images, sounds, audio-video resources, animations and interactions. Individual learning, which uses in-depth study materials (pdf, power-point), is combined with interactive self-assessment exercises and forums.
Solving the problems proposed in the forums allows the instructors to give feedback on the solutions found by the students.
In addition, the project has also brought direct and immediate results. One of these is the short course for the training of disadvantaged people, with limited material possibilities, in order to participate in the admission test for the specialized mountain guide course. In this category of unemployed people, people over the age of 50, young people under 25 without income, coming from single-parent families, single parent having at least one child, etc. The result was successful in the examination of admission of 6 people.
n the same category of direct results comes the two trainings organized in Italy, at Gressoney. The first training was for the instructors and the staff within the project partnerships and represented an excellent opportunity to exchange information and good practices between the project partners.
The second training in Gressoney was dedicated to the participants in the mountain guide course. The students thus had the opportunity to know both trainers and companies with experience in their field of activity (mountain and mountain tourism). At the same time, they had the chance to train during the winter in the Alps, where the conditions offered by the mountain are much more diverse and more complex than in the mountains of Romania.
Equally important are the intangible results of the project, the cooperation and friendship links that were concluded during the project between participants, true bridges that connect the three partner countries: Italy, Bulgaria and Romania.
All the organizations involved have achieved some of the objectives of this project, alone or, in particular, in collaboration with one or more partner organizations, depending on the area of knowledge and interest. The collaboration was intense and the modern means of communication: e-mail, Skype, WhatssUp, etc. overcame the physical dissatisfaction between the collaborators. Inviting partners to the area of activity of each participating organization helped to better understand and get to know each other.
Project partners Mont Guide + (www.mont-guide.eu)
Modern mountain guide occupation and training for enhancing competitiveness of European mountain tourism and increase workforce mobility of the sector:
Coordonator:
Asociatia Ghizilor Montani din Romania
Parteneri:
AITR-ASSOCIAZIONE ITALIANA TURISMO RESPONSABILE
Professional team S.R.L.
http://www.professionalteam.ro
SC EDUFOR SRL
Ecosystem Europe Association
http://www.ecosystemeurope.org
Monterosa academy ASD
http://www.monterosaacademy.com
Eco Monde
Bulgarian Association of guides in natural environment
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