The two days meeting (March 17-18, 2025), foreseen in the framework of the WP3 of the STRIVE project, “Capacity building on project design and management”, was held in Portugal, hosted by the University of Évora.
The training was attended by more than 60 university staff members, in presence and remotely, from the STRIVE project consortium (University of Hanoi, Phu Xuan University, Quang Ninh University of Industry and Academy of Public Administration and Governance, AlmaLaurea, University of Évora and University of Tuscia) as well as from Vietnamese universities new to the project (Hanoi Tourism College, Cuu Long University and University of Danang).
In the first day of the training, following the overview of the CBHE budget table and the instructions for its proper fulfilment, the sessions went into the details of the preparation principles for the different budget headings, as well as the budget management and monitoring process.
The second day was devoted to discuss among consortium partners the general structure of the new CBHE project on sustainable tourism, one of the main deliverables of the STRIVE project.
Following the definition of sustainable development as a multidimensional and complex concept, namely “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs”, a round table with external experts took place.
Nuno Pina, Alentejo Operation Director, Pousadas de Portugal, Pestana Hotel Group, James Hanrahan, Lecturer in Tourism Management at Atlantic University & Sligo-Ireland and Director of Atlantic Sustainable Tourism Observatory and Patrícia Araújo, Marketing & Sales Director, Biosphere Portugal provided their vision of sustainable tourism and shared with the participants the key factors to be taken into account when engaging in sustainable tourism project design and building of partnership among academia, public institutions, private sector and NGOs.
Shared vision and common goals, effective involvement of local communities and key players, efficient coordination mechanism, sustainable tourism as collective wellbeing emerged as key concepts during the brainstorming among the participants and will be further developed for the drafting of the CBHE project proposal on sustainable tourism in Vietnam.