TWINNEC

TWINNEC is an interdisciplinary (system thinking, marketing, circular economy, digital transformation, tourism studies, business networks) and intersectoral (research, higher education, VET, business) project that addresses emerging skills needs for tourism innovation ecosystems. Promoting innovation at the level of single entities is not enough. To support the transition to a circular economy backed by a strong digital transformation, innovation needs to be pursued at system level and this is especially true in the tourism sector, characterised by micro enterprises and the necessity of local collaboration for the functioning of destinations. Business/innovation support organisations (BSOs) are key players in engaging SMEs, but also the social economy/cultural and creative industries, citizens and all stakeholders of the value chain in the twin transition, mainstreaming effective services. This requires a specific set of skills among BSO staff to integrate system thinking, circularity and digitalisation as well as transversal skills linked to the specificities of tourism systems to overcome the current silo-like separation of the training/service offer. TWINNEC will fill this skills gap contributing to the integration of system thinking in tourism studies both within HE and VET, through: • The co-design of a new Digital Circular Tourism Ecosystems Facilitator profile in 6 national contexts (ES, IT, SI, AL, FI, CZ), based on EU standards and frameworks (ESCO, EQF, ECVET, ENTRECOMP, GREENCOMP); • The development and piloting of a capacity building programme in 4 countries (ES, IT, SI, AL) targeting BSOs; • The development of a stakeholder and learning platform to foster exchange of knowledge on system thinking approaches, methodologies, resources and tools for tourism innovation; • The application of innovative learning methodologies based on active, collaborative, and simulation-based learning to improve innovation agents’ systemic, envisioning, and creative capacities.