Sustainable tourism: new skills for youth workers

Dec 18, 2025News

Tourism can become a real opportunity for fragile territories when guided by awareness and participation. B²TL supported European youth workers in developing skills on sustainable tourism, offering practical tools to actively involve young people and local communities in positive change.

The training course brought together youth workers from several European countries for a learning experience focused on promoting responsible, inclusive, and community-based tourism. Activities took place in Trappeto, Sicily, and included a study visit to Palermo, combining residential training with field-based learning.

B²TL responded to the growing impact of mass tourism on rural and marginalised areas by strengthening the educational role of youth workers as facilitators of sustainable local development. Through non-formal and participatory methodologies, including the Reciprocal Maieutic Approach, participants explored real-life cases, experimented with community dialogue tools, and designed local actions.

Throughout the programme, participants:

  • built competences to promote sustainable tourism practices;
  • designed local action plans and awareness campaigns;
  • strengthened digital skills for responsible tourism communication.

One of the key outcomes of the project is the B²TL handbook, a practical guide collecting methods, activities, and good practices developed during the training course, designed for direct use in local contexts.

Download the B²TL handbook and discover how to turn tourism into an educational and sustainable opportunity for your community.

B²TL – Building Bridges for Understanding between Tourists and Local Communities is a European project funded by the Erasmus+ – KA153-YOU – Mobility of youth workers programme. The goal is empower youth workers in promoting sustainable tourism and ecological awareness, especially in rural and disadvantaged contexts.

Partners

For further information

Read more about the project or write to Riccardo Bellavista: riccardo.bellavista@danilodolci.org.