ETHOS – Enhancing Tourism Higher Education
The project will develop a shared competence model and curriculum integration framework, and translate these into multilingual, immersive open educational resources. These will be tested in different educational contexts, with attention to curriculum integration and the recognition of learning outcomes. ETHOS EDU will support educators and institutions in connecting tourism, hospitality and leisure education with ecological responsibility and ethical questions.
Background
Tourism and hospitality are closely linked to ecosystems, biodiversity and the relationships between humans, animals and their environments. However, other-than-human perspectives are not always translated into clear learning outcomes, assessment methods or recognised educational units. As a result, educators and institutions lack practical tools to integrate these perspectives systematically into existing curricula.
ETHOS EDU addresses this need by translating ecological and ethical themes into practical competences and educational resources. The project brings together a European consortium with expertise in tourism, hospitality, biodiversity, animal ethics and digital learning. It aims to make other-than-human perspectives more accessible and relevant to higher education and to support their integration into existing educational structures.
The challenge
ETHOS EDU addresses the lack of structured, practical models for integrating other-than-human perspectives into higher education programmes. The project will develop a shared competence model and curriculum integration framework, including learning outcomes, assessment methods, and indicative workload and ECTS ranges. These tools will help institutions integrate topics such as biodiversity literacy, animal ethics and ecosystem accountability into existing curricula.
The project will also develop multilingual open educational resources and test how they can be used and recognised in different educational contexts. Its aim is not simply to bring other-than-human perspectives into educational discussions, but to make them teachable, assessable and transferable.
Project team
ETHOS EDU is delivered by a European consortium coordinated by NHL Stenden Unversity of Applied Sciences, through it's Academy of Leisure, Tourism and Hospitality. The consortium partners are:
Approach
The project is organised into five interconnected work packages. First, partners will review existing curricula and consult students, educators and other stakeholders to identify opportunities and barriers to integrating other-than-human perspectives. Based on these findings, the consortium will develop a shared competence model and curriculum integration framework.
Next, the project will develop multilingual open educational resources and immersive learning activities, testing their accessibility and usability. Pilot activities in different educational contexts will help evaluate the resources and explore opportunities for curriculum integration and recognition of learning outcomes.
Finally, the project will share its results through an open digital knowledge hub and establish arrangements to support their continued availability and use.
Results
- Discovery Report and Validation Strategy
- OTH Competence Model and Curriculum Integration Framework
- Multilingual Open Educational set, including at least 15 immersive open educational resourcess
- Pilot Report and Accreditation Strategy
- Digital Knowledge Hub, Sustainability, Recognition and Integration Guide
