Territorial Lab Phoenicians’ Route Project – Capacity Building Actions

Educating in sustainability is one of the fundamental principles that an Institute of higher education should adopt for educational purposes.  However, not always the approach is correct, often reduced to territorial analysis and phenomenon investigation, without affecting the results. Trough the collaboration with the Phoenicians’ Route, the Institute of Higher Education “Cipolla – Pantaleo – Gentile” in Castelvetrano (TP) adhered to the “All Tourist” Erasmus + Project, acting as stakeholder. OITS – International Organization of Social Tourism, one of the most relevant organism in this sector worldwide, is partner of the project, whose aim is to identify a correct path that generates a territorial lab, develops theoretical and practical Capacity buildings actions, creates prerequisites for the realization of students’ follow up – a sort of spin off – and guides university choice for those wishing to continue their studies, through significant contents. The Phoenicians’ Route will serve as a subject spreading the results and finding further technical-scientific partnerships.

Everything happens at the end of 2017 International Year of Sustainable Tourism, promoted by the United Nations – UN through the World Tourism Organization. The Phoenicians’ Route was chosen by this organization as a pilot project together with the Silk Road.

2017 was also the XXX Anniversary of the Cultural Route Programme of the Council of Europe: the Phoenicians’ Route is one of the first for the year of its certification and admission to the Programme that today counts 31 international Routes. In particular, the Phoenicians’ Route, whose headquarters are in Castelvetrano-Selinunte, is the Route of Intercultural Dialogue in the Mediterranean. That’s why in 2013 the Mediterranean Schools Network was launched by Castelvetrano, as the first example of an international network on Heritage Pedagogy that has been favouring for several years the exchanges between the schools of territory and those of Mediterranean countries. The project activity is based on the Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society (Faro 2005), a fundamental document for a new heritage pedagogy that allows local communities to value their cultural and natural heritage and that has been adopted as a tool for urban planning and development from Marseille, European Capital of Culture 2013 and from Venice. The Phoenicians’ Route, through the All Tourist project, has launched a methodology inspired by the Faro Convention, which will involve about 60 students from the “Cipolla”, “Pantaleo” and “Gentile” Institutes in the various phases of the project divided into three thematic groups:

INTERCULTURAL DIALOGUE and Heritage Pedagogy
MEDITERRANEAN DIET as an identifying factor
COMMUNICATE THE HERITAGE

The phases of the project will involve the students in an Orientation activity organized by experts.

Fieldworks, workshops and external visits. In the end, promotion Construction sites, follow-up activities and operational spin-off, with integrated events. Moreover, the students will develop an on-line communication channel through the CastelvetranoSelinunte blog for the dissemination of information.

The first meeting with the students was held on December, 18 2017 at the “Cipolla” Institute in Castelvetrano.