International Projects

Pastry Saimaa is a center of excellence in pastry arts emerging in South Karelia. The main idea behind it is to bring international top-level expertise to the region and create an environment in which pastry culture can flourish.

Read more about what’s happening in Sampo in here.

Project funded by the William ja Ester Otsakorpi Säätiö.

Project aims to

• integrate international activities more into studies
• building a internationalization path for the personnel
• integrating international activities as a permanent part of the events in Sampo

International Learning Environment 3, ILE3 - Erasmus+ KA1 (2022-2024)

International Learning Environment 4, ILE4 - Erasmus+ KA1 (2023-2025)

Befinetour – Advancing Sustainable Tourism through Vocational Education

Befinetour is an Erasmus+ KA220-VET cooperation partnership project that aims to make vocational education in the tourism sector more practical and sustainability-oriented. The project began in December 2024 and will run for 25 months, concluding at the end of 2026. It is coordinated by Etelä-Karjalan koulutuskuntayhtymä (Sampo) in Finland, with partners from Belgium, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands.

Project Partners

• Etelä-Karjalan koulutuskuntayhtymä (Finland) – Coordinator
• COMUNIDAD FORAL DE NAVARRA – GOBIERNO DE NAVARRA (Spain)
• ITE G.B. Bodoni (Italy)
• STICHTING ROC Midden Nederland (Netherlands)
• Merit (Belgium)

Objectives

Befinetour seeks to:

• adapt tourism-related vocational programmes to focus more practically on sustainability and customer behaviour,
• develop hands-on exercises based on the concept of “nudging” in collaboration with local and regional tourism companies,
• pilot student-led projects that co-create more sustainable tourism offerings with businesses.

Activities and Methods

The project includes:

• research and needs analysis on sustainable tourism and nudging, and their implications for vocational education,
• development of teaching materials on sustainability and nudging, tailored to each partner country,
• student-company cooperation projects, including international mobility to test and refine the model,
• dissemination of results to ensure wide impact and uptake.

Expected Results and Impact

Key outcomes of the project include:

• a research report on sustainability and nudging in the tourism sector,
• a core curriculum and four national adaptations,
• a practical cooperation model between educational institutions and companies,
• a guidebook for tourism companies based on ideas generated in student projects.

European Added Value

Befinetour brings strong European value by combining cultural perspectives on consumer behaviour and sustainability. It strengthens the role of vocational education in promoting green skills and supports the tourism sector’s transition toward more sustainable practices.

Erasmus+ KA2 project

The project is funded by the Finnish National Agency for Education, Erasmus +.

The project is coordinated by ROC Midden Nederland, Utrecht / the Netherlands and the network includes partners also from Romania, Austria, Portugal and the UK.

VITALity for the Future aims to change the way vocational education in the health care sector regards personal well-being and positive health at a personal level, a professional level,
from a teacher’s perspective and at a systemic level. In most European countries the population is ageing rapidly. There is unprecedented pressure on health services and community
provision and on the supply of a well-qualified workforce. A paradigm shift from curative to preventative care is essential and this can only be achieved if healthcare staff have the
knowledge to employ prevention skills, technology as part of care delivery, multidisciplinary working, and the skills to encourage and enable people to increasingly take control of their
own care.

The project will develop flexible learning materials to prepare new and present staff in the vitality sector for a new approach to healthy ageing, to be catalysts of change and to make
working in this sector more attractive to young people. Through research in the 5 partner countries, learning materials will be developed based on the knowledge and competences this
approach requires for young people in VET and staff in continuous training. The research and the learning materials will highlight best practice in positive health initiatives that are
relevant to VET organisations.

Learn about the outcomes of the project: https://vitalityforthefuture.eu/

Collaboration between four European schools

• Saimaa Vocational College Sampo
• Roc Midden Nederland, Hollanti, Utrecht
• Departamento de Education, Espanja, Navarra
• Concorzia Instuti Professionati, Italia, Reggio Emilia

Aims of the collaboration

• Increasing the mobilities
• Increase international combetence
• Increase quality of international on-the-job learning and guidance