Inside Italy: Co-creating Experiences
With its focus on People, Enrichment and Wellbeing, this minor allows students to join in Tuscany’s effort to build resilient communities that breathe new life into the region. Understanding the territory and the people that inhabit it, including their culture, interests, and desires, makes sustainable developments possible. After all, destinations are made of people: not only the citizens, but also all stakeholders involved. This minor is designed for those who want to work closely with communities and involve them in a co-creating process of well managing and developing the place they live in. Students will be capable of supporting and promoting community ownership, but also to support people's pride in the place where they live. Co-creation, (tourism) experiences, sustainability and resilience are at the heart of this Minor.
At the end of this minor, students will have acquired the knowledge and skills to work as specialized facilitators and/or consultants for these communities. They will be able to analyse a destination and empathize with the people who live there. Through an in-depth knowledge of the territory, they will be able to offer collaborative planning, responding to the increasing demand of authentic and sustainable experiences, and with a strong sensitivity to the needs of locals.
Minor content
The core Knowledge Areas are:
1. Cross cultural dialogue and understanding. Focusing on the importance of cross-cultural dialogue and understanding, students should be equipped with the skills to effectively communicate and engage with cultural diversity.
2. Sustainable practices. Exploring sustainable practices in tourism opportunities and their application in community projects. Providing students with the knowledge and tools to promote sustainable community tourism initiatives and build resilience, focusing on best practices, standards development and KPI measurements.
3. Analytical and planning skills. Emphasizing the use of data and strategic planning in tourism development. Students must possess the tools to be able to map the location so as to develop an appropriate proposal which is prototypes with the concerned stakeholders.
Structure of the minor
Students will be divided into groups. Groups formations will be kept as such for the entire period of the minor. Two methodological approaches will be adopted, cooperative and collaborative learning, in order to make the differences amongst students a potential for learning. Cooperative work will promote skills development, giving students the opportunity for real-life challenges to be addressed and developed utilising their range of abilities and interests. Collaborative learning is an umbrella term for a variety of educational approaches involving joint intellectual effort by students, teachers and stakeholders together, mutually searching for understanding, solutions, or meanings, or creating experiences. To support the learning process, workshops, (guest)lectures and field visits will be organised. This also includes culture and language classes. The field work will take 3 weeks in total and it is expected that students will be able to travel and eventually stay in the destination.
Study features
There will be four entries of which two will be individually assessed.
A summative assessment involves active participation in lectures, workshops, seminars and field visits and field work. An individual perspective on the development process within a community is assessed with a grade. Another individual component is the portfolio which entails personal reflection. Based on the design thinking process a leisure, tourism or hospitality related innovation will be presented in a report and orally assessed by lectures and the concerned stakeholders
There are no special admission requirements for this minor. It is relevant for students in the tourism and leisure industry, hospitality management, media and international business. If not studying hospitality, like social work, students should empathize with the tourism industry through work or personal experience. This minor can be combined with the other NHL Stenden minors already offered at Fondazione Campus.
