The public presentation of the results of the international student practicum was conducted on 28 June 2010 in the ceremonial hall of Smolyan Municipality.
06/07/2010
::
From 20 to 28 June nine Bulgarian and three Norwegian students worked under the supervision of Bulgarian and Norwegian experts to implement one of the core activities of the SAVE/ GEO Tourism Project in Momchilovci.
During the week the students in collaboration with local and regional stakeholders worked in three creative teams to assess the resources and identify market-ready specialized SAVE Travel products. The area covered by the teams spanned between Dospat and Devin (West), Kurdjali (East), Luky (North) and Abdera in Greece (South).
The product identification process focused on three preliminary identified themes:
- Speleology and biodiversity;
- Archeology and history;
- Ethnology.
The young experts visited museums, archeological sites, schools, local cultural community centers, protected areas, caves, forestry units, architectural complexes and monuments, crafts workshops, etc. They held meetings with a number of experts, managers, specialists and local stakeholders.
The collected information was synthesized, structured and analyzed to lead to the end result – recommendations for six close to market-ready SAVE tourism products.
This working methodology differs from the traditional student practicum and internships. The main difference lies in the fact that the young team receives professional and real terms of reference and is expected to deliver results, which will advance the development of new niche market tourism products – for scientists, researchers, educational institutions, volunteer networks, etc.
One of the important by-products of this practicum is the significant expansion of the project’s network of partners and stakeholders which is key for the future successful functioning of the SAVE centre.