Webinar “Green Skills for Tourism SMEs”

Held on Oct 16 within the framework of the Erasmus Days 2026

Watch the recording of the Green Skills for Tourism SMEs Webinar.

On this page you will find:

  1. Information about the event

  2. Agenda of the event

  3. Speakers line-up

  4. Information about the Sustainable Ecotourism Awareness project

1. About the Event

Discover how tourism can become genuinely greener and more competitive in this interactive webinar on Sustainable Ecotourism Awareness and Green Skills for Tourism SMEs. 

We will explore practical ways small and medium‑sized tourism businesses can build sustainability into everyday operations, navigate environmental certifications and use digital tools to upskill their teams. 

The session is especially relevant for tourism entrepreneurs and managers, trainers in vocational education and lifelong learning, local development actors and anyone curious about turning eco‑tourism from a buzzword into a concrete business strategy that attracts customers and reduces environmental impact.

In a compact 90-minute format, the session offers 

  • a short introduction to the Sustainable Ecotourism Awareness project; 

  • a round table with invited tourism SMEs and sector experts, 

  • sharing first-hand perspectives on sustainability certification and green upskilling; and

  • an open Q&A to exchange questions, experiences and ideas with the panel. 

Join us, share your experiences and connect with others working on greener tourism. 

Link to the official event page:
https://www.erasmusdays.eu/event/sustainable-ecotourism-awareness-and-green-skills-for-tourism-smes/ 


Disclaimer

This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. This document reflects the views only of the author, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein.

2. Agenda of the Event

10:00 – Why green skills, and why now?
Welcome by Think Tank AlterContacts

10:05 – What is SEA, and what can it offer your business? How can we make tourism more
sustainable while helping businesses remain competitive?
Introduction to the project Sustainable Ecotourism Awareness by Promos Ricerche

10:10 – Certification explained: what does the green tourism course cover?
 Recap of the Course on Green Tourism Certifications by Cappadocia University 

10:15 – Through the learner’s eyes: what is useful for tourism SMEs in practice?
Feedback on the course from Lombardini22

10:20 – Green Tourism Certifications: Why Awareness and Green Skills Matter for
Cappadocia’s Sustainable Future?
Insights and Perspectives from Kelebek Group Cappadocia

10:25 – How can SMEs get hands-on support?
Introducing Mentoring and Consulting for Tourism Green Sustainable Management
and Certification by MACTT 

10:30 – Looking ahead: can AI make green learning personal?
AI platform to enable Learning for Green Tourism Certifications by Ole Tecnología

10:35 – Your turn: what does it take to go green and get certified?
Open Round Table and Q&A on Green Skills for Tourism SMEs

11:30 – Closing of the event

3. Meet the Speakers

Daniela de Gregorio – EU Project Consultant for Sustainable Ecotourism Awareness project on behalf of the Coordinator - Consorzio Promos Ricerche (Italy). EU Grant Manager with more than 25 years of experience in the design and implementation of EU- and nationally funded projects.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniela-de-gregorio-21792710 

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Halil Burak Sakal – Professor of International Relations at Kapadokya Üniversitesi / Cappadocia University (Türkiye), GSTC Trainer and GSTC Auditor. The university led the design of the SEA course.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/halil-burak-sakal 

Carmen Spagnoli – Director of Sustainability and Certifications at Lombardini22 (Italy). Chartered engineer specialised in project management and environmental certifications.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/carmen-spagnoli-96327791 

Dr. Tibethan Memişoğlu – Chief Operations Officer (COO) at Kelebek Group Cappadocia (Türkiye). PhD in Sustainable Tourism and Destination Success, with previous experience as a Regional Development Expert at the Ahiler Development Agency (AHIKA).
https://www.linkedin.com/in/tibethan 

Alexia Maggi – Project Manager at the Mediterranean Academy of Culture, Technology and Trade (MACTT) in charge of the Work Package 3 activities with Maltese businesses.

Adrián Suárez – Tech Lead at Ole | Tecnología (Madrid, Spain), the SEA partner responsible for the AI-powered learning platform.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/luis-suarez-fullstack-developer 

Prof. Dr. Lidija T. Petrović – Full Professor in Management, The Sports Academy Belgrade, the NOC Serbia official business school and collaborator of the Mediterranean Academy of Culture, Technology and Trade (MACTT), Malta, which leads mentoring and consulting in SEA. 
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lidijapetrovic 

Prof. Roberto Micera – Associate Professor in Management at the University of Basilicata (Italy) and Senior Researcher at CNR-ISMed, with research on destination management, smart tourism and innovation in tourism businesses. Representing GuestItaly.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/roberto-micera-2767566

Piera Buonincontri – Senior Researcher at CNR-ISMed (Italy) and coordinator of its Tourism Economics and Management research line since 2021. Her research focuses on sustainable tourism, experiential marketing and new technologies for tourism experiences.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/piera-buonincontri-70abaaa7 

Tonio Cini – Administrator of the Mediterranean Tourism Foundation (MTF) and Operations Executive at the Malta Hotels and Restaurants Association, where he manages national and international tourism events and stakeholder engagement.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/toniocini 

Event Facilitator

Massimo Mercuri – Co-founder and Lead Facilitator of Think Tank AlterContacts (Netherlands), with over 30 years of international experience in sustainability and innovation.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mercuri

Event Organizer

Julia K. Skupchenko – Co-founder of Think Tank AlterContacts, NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations ECOSOC, The Netherlands. Expert on communication and stakeholder engagement for sustainable development.
https://www.linkedin.com/in/juliaskupchenko 

4. Sustainable Ecotourism Awareness Project

Co-funded by the European Union under the Erasmus+ programme, KA220-VET, Project Number 2025-1-IT01-KA220-VET-000358865

Sustainable Ecotourism Awareness is an EU co-funded Erasmus+ project that helps tourism businesses in Italy, Türkiye, and Malta turn the growing demand for sustainable travel into concrete and certified practice. It does this by training vocational education providers and tourism consultants in green certification standards, who then mentor small and medium-sized tourism enterprises on the path to certification.

Led by Consorzio Promos Ricerche, the project is implemented between 2025-2028 by partner organizations from Italy, Malta, Spain, Türkiye and the Netherlands.

Why it matters

The tourism sector is under growing pressure to reconcile competitiveness with environmental responsibility, and small and medium-sized tourism enterprises often lack the resources or guidance to turn sustainability commitments into concrete action.

The project brings together partners across Europe to develop green skills, support tourism SMEs in obtaining recognised certifications such as EU Ecolabel and ISO 14001, and implement an AI-powered e-learning platform for accessible, personalised sustainability training.

The SEA project contributes to the Erasmus+ horizontal priority Environment and fight against climate change and the VET priority Adapting vocational education and training to labour market needs.

The SEA approach in two steps

Trainers and tourism consultants follow a structured course on sustainable tourism management and green certification, so that they can support tourism operators.

These trained professionals mentor and coach tourism businesses in the project's pilot areas (Italy, Türkiye and Malta) on their way towards green certification, supported by an AI-powered learning platform.

AI-powered learning

A dedicated AI-powered e-learning platform tailors the training to each operator's language, sector, and prior knowledge, making green skills development more accessible, scalable, and aligned with national legislation and local environmental conditions.

Meet the consortium

  • Consorzio Promos Ricerche, coordinator (Italy)

  • GuestItaly (Italy)

  • Kapadokya Üniversitesi (Turkey)

  • Ahiler Kalkınma Ajansı (Turkey)

  • AlterContacts (Netherlands)

  • Mediterranean Academy of Culture, Technology and Trade (Malta)

  • Mediterranean Tourism Foundation (Malta)

  • Ole | Tecnología (Spain)

Webinar

The webinar is organised within the EU co-funded project Sustainable Ecotourism Awareness.

Useful Links

Website: https://www.sustainable-ecotourism-awareness.eu/ 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sustainable-ecotourism-awareness/ 

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sustainableecotourismawareness/ 

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SustainableEcoTourismAwareness 

Free Online Course on Green Certification in Tourism developed by the EU co-funded project Sustainable Ecotourism Awareness:
https://www.sustainable-ecotourism-awareness.eu/green-tourism-certification-course   

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