"<< Background >>The health and economic crisis, caused by the COVID19 pandemic, has plunged the entire planet into an unprecedented situation. Young Europeans are perhaps being the least seriously affected by the disease, however, they experience to a greater extent its consequences: higher level of unemployment, substantial changes in the methods on how they receive education, alteration of their socialization and leisure habits, impact on their mental health, only to name a few of them. A study from ILO (2020, Covid-19 and the world of work) define those young people as the “lockdown generation” and points to the multi-dimensional challenge of the pandemic “…through the resultant disruption to education and training, amplified vulnerabilities among young workers, and the longer and more arduous transition into decent work.” While the expectations and job opportunities of young people before COVID-19 were already difficult, especially for those in vulnerable situations, a year after the pandemic we can affirm that they have only gotten worse. According to the ILO study “Youth and Covid-19: Impact on Jobs, Education, Rights and Mental Health” the transition from the world of studies to employment is getting even more complicated, with a lack of vacancies, a higher risk of losing jobs in a climate of massive layoffs, and the collapse of businesses and start-ups. The same report confirms that the outlook for career prospects is dominated by uncertainty and fear, although there are also some indicators that young people approach the situation as an opportunity, i.e., over 50% of young people interviewed in this research have sought out new learning opportunities despite the crisis, or about a 20% increase in volunteering actions. Along with these positive data, we find another relevant factor: the digitization of life at all levels also offers new opportunities for civic participation and for the development of key competencies and skills that, for example, through volunteering, can favor a smooth transition of young people towards the world of work. Within this context Digital Tourism becomes an ally as it offers a sectoral framework in which youth organizations and young people can find a field of action. Tourism, which accounts for 6% of total EU exports and 10% of its GDP, has been instrumental in the economic recovery of many countries in Europe, contributing to job creation and economic growth, and becoming a key niche for young entrepreneurs. Indeed, tourism is a key pillar of the EU strategy for employment and inclusive growth of young Europeans.The UN study on ""Covid-10 and the transformation of tourism"" describes how the tourism sector has accelerated digitization and highlighted the consequences of the digital divide for certain segments of society. “Self-employment training and digital literacy are necessary for those working in the tourism sector, especially women and youth, to increase their ability to use digital tools and online resources to streamline their operations and offer flexibility, while preparing for the future of work.” Our project focuses on the potential of digital transformation to give a response to:- The need of youth workers and organizations to count on specific tools and methods that support them promoting the transition of the younger generations to the labour market.- The need of young people to acquire key competences as necessary for the digital age work, especially digital competences, creativity, problem-solving, initiative, communication, resilience, flexibility, and innovation)- The need to overcome the barriers faced by young people to access learning opportunities and innovative social participation, contributing to promote equality, responding to community needs.<< Objectives >>The project builds on the potential of digitization in the tourism sector to offer youth organizations and young people a set of resources that allows them to launch innovative volunteer initiatives with vulnerable people.On one hand, we want to provide youth workers with a Digital Tourism Toolkit, as a set of practical resources that will help them better understand digital tourism and cultural heritage, and to know how to create digital experiences, including volunteering, and social entrepreneurship mindset. They will use these resources in their daily work with young people, to empower them with competences for the creation of tourism digital experiences, initially through volunteering initiatives addressing vulnerable collectives (people with functional diversity, low qualifications from each age, elder people…). Through the use of this toolkit, youth organizations will acquire resources that contribute to improving their digital skills, and promoting active citizenship among young people, through volunteering, also reinforcing their sense of initiative and greater community action.On the other hand, young people will participate in the DT Experience that, through a gamified approach, will put themselves in the shoes of a digital touristic operator, and overcome different challenges that will contribute to develop their competences as: as researchers (by looking for interesting cultural or touristic topics), as storytellers, as digital content creators (using audiovisual tools), as marketing people (to make their offer more appealing than the others), as socially responsible people (considering the possible barriers that vulnerable collectives face and find out how to overcome them). This experience reinforces key competencies and basic capacities, essential in facilitating the transition of this group to adult life, especially by supporting their integration into the labor market. Specific objectives are:O1. To offer youth organizations resources that increase their capacities and foster a critical understanding of the opportunities brought by new technologies in the field of youth work, contributing to initiating the process of digital transformation within their institutions.O2. To contribute to the E+ strategy of inclusion and diversity, by creating volunteering experiences that, led by the young people, address vulnerable collectives to provide them opportunities to participate in digital tourism experiences.O3. To facilitate the transition of young people to the labour market, providing them with key digital competences that will allow them to function adequately in the new jobs marked by digitization.O4. To promote in young people the acquisition of key competences (analysis, creativity, problem solving, communication, innovation ...) that are the basis and help consolidate an entrepreneurial mindset.O5. To consolidate a more inclusive tourism model that allows diversification of the offer to vulnerable groups (either for reasons of functional diversity, economic limitations, or lack of language skills) that can inspire social entrepreneurship initiatives.<< Implementation >>The project has been designed so that the activities to be implemented adequately include the 5 main phases within a classic work scheme: planning, preparation, implementation, dissemination, and evaluation.The planning phase has been carried out prior to the presentation of this project proposal. It has included research, needs analysis and the joint design of its objectives and expected results.The preparation phase includes all the activities necessary for the correct implementation of the project, and has to do with the implementation of the action protocols, the formalization of internal and external agreements, the establishment of collaboration and communication instruments, the agreement about the exact dates for the meetings of coordination and follow-up, and the launching of the actions oriented to guarantee the sustainability of the results in the medium and long term.The implementation phase has been designed to lead to the development of the two planned outcomes: the PR1 – Digital Tourism Toolkit and the PR2 – The Digital Tourism Experience[IAA1] .The evaluation stage includes a set of activities aiming at supporting partners monitoring that the planned objectives are achieved, resources properly spent, and activities successfully implemented. This is a transversal stage, covering all the project lifetime.Finally, another key and transversal stage for the proper implementation has to do with the dissemination and exploitation of the project and its results.<< Results >>The Project will accomplish the planned objectives through the development of 2 intellectual outputs and the organisation of multiplier events in all participating countries.PR1. Digital Tourism Toolkit. This outputis mainly addressed to youth workers and youth trainers. It will include specific resources (case studies, handouts for activities, training pills…) that the trainers will use to better understand digital tourism and cultural heritage, and to know how create digital experiences, inclusive volunteering, and social entrepreneurship mindset. They will use these resources in their daily work with young people, to empower them with competences for the creation of tourism digital experiences, initially through volunteering initiatives addressing vulnerable collectives (people with functional diversity, low qualifications from each age, elder people…). PR2. The Digital Tourism Experience. Second educational resource, this output offers a more direct and impactful experience for the end-users (the youth), and is a gamified resource that, through a kind of role-playing activity, will challenge young people to overcome different activities (challenges) dealing with the digital tourism world. Other tangibles results that will come from the project and will contribute to the quality of these Project Results will be: - The reports on project results validation and testing activities.- The Intellectual Property Rights Agreement (IPRA) where the rights of use and the intellectual property of the results of the project will be defined. In line with the objectives of the ERASMUS+ programme of promoting the development of Open Education Resources (OER), the IOs will be available online, and will include a Creative Commons licence to protect them from alterations, commercialization, or non-agreed modifications by third parties.- The Dissemination tools: based on the Dissemination Strategy that concretes the channels, materials, tools and activities with a specific calendar to disseminate the project in each country, the project platform, leaflet and presentations, social network accounts.- The monitoring tools and documents: the Quality Management Plan, which will include quantitative and qualitative indicators to assess the proper implementation of the project and to ensure the quality of its results, as well as the tools to evaluate these indicators (questionnaires, interviews with the partners)- The Financial and Administrative Reports; the Evaluation Reports and the Dissemination activities Reports (3 of each during the project lifetime).- The management documents: specially the Risk Assessment Plan, Communication Plan, Budget Dossier, that will gather all the relevant information about the roles, rights and obligations of both parties; details of the partner budget (including financial and administrative reporting rules, calendar, and payments scheme); operational rules; communication, problem solving and risks management mechanisms and other special conditions related to the breach of the contract."