The Erasmus+ youth worker mobility project, which was prepared by 1000/0 ADVENTURE, a Sports and Nature Association in Portugal, and whose first leg was planned to take place in Turkey, supported by the Portuguese National Agency and the EU in 2020, was held at the Istanbul Grand Termal Hotel between 19-25 June.
The project hosted a total of 36 participants from Sweden, England, Bulgaria, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Netherlands, Macedonia and Turkey.
The project aims to raise awareness of youth workers and European youth in the field of ecotourism, to ensure interaction between cultures and good practices in local communities, and to increase the environmentally friendly approach in tourism practices by exchanging ideas in the field of ecotourism.
In this context, the project has been a facilitator for the exchange of cultures and good practices in local communities, providing youth workers with information about encouraging young people to different cultures and eco-tourism practices, local rights, tourist dynamics, and the importance of the local circular economy and also contributed to raise awareness in communities for environmental protection and sustainability and to inspire eco-tourism.
Within the scope of the project activities, works of different countries on eco-tourism were seen, what could be done to develop ecotourism was discussed, and the benefits of ecotourism were discussed. In addition, the officials of the Istanbul Permatürk Foundation met online and the works of the institution were heard from the authorities.
The project also contributed to the awareness of tolerance among the participants from different countries by seeing the intercultural differences. Participants said that the project added essential information to them.
Participants, who had the opportunity to visit Istanbul during non-activity times, stated that they gained a lot of information and awareness about ecotourism and that they were highly influenced by the cultural structure of Istanbul.
