Project information
The COVID-19 outbreak has severely affected the European tourism sector and ecosystem, with massive impacts on the EU economy as a leading tourist destination. This is particularly relevant for SMEs, which account for over 99% of all enterprises in the EU. The twin green and digital transition offer a new opportunity for the European tourism industry to incorporate sustainability & innovative practices towards a more resilient scenario. Tourism SMEs are accountable for and must account for the changes taking place seriously in their journey towards sustainable businesses. However, not all SMEs are prepared for the twin green transition, and this may create a “lagging effect” that can strongly affect their competitiveness and severely affect their short- and medium-term viability. SUSRUR aims to support SMEs from 5 rural & remote areas of Europe by promoting sustainability and innovative practices & strategies while providing tools and skills to strengthen their competitiveness in a post-COVID-19 scenario, increasing their awareness and capacity to accelerate and implement the twin green & digital transitions.
Environmental, economic and social aspects will be taken into account by developing suitable pathways and scenarios for sustainable recovery. Through 2 Open Calls, rural SMEs from eligible regions will be able to build their capacities, develop new skills and implement innovative solutions. A monitoring framework and accelerator programme for sustainability will be specifically adopted for this project, taking into consideration the specific requirements & scenarios of SMEs within rural & remote areas. In addition, suitable stakeholder and clustering tools & actions will be promoted for the interregional exchange of knowledge, replication of best practices and peer learning.
Project Grant Agreement number: 101085887
WP1
Project management and coordination
- To ensure the delivery of the project on time and within the budget, fostering the flow of information between participants and WPs and providing communication with the EC
- To develop optimal and effective cooperation & communication between all the partners and actors involved in the action
- To coordinate the financial management and coordination of the project
- To timely allocate resources and implement procedures to ensure proper fulfillment of the Grant Agreement, complying with the reporting obligations
- To develop efficient communication between the coordinator and participating organizations for administrative and financial management through a dedicated operational management structure
- To guarantee high-quality standards at all levels and manage and mitigate risks.
WP2
Communication & Dissemination
- Establish and maintain an effective and timely dissemination, communication strategy in relation to the implementation and promotion of SUSRUR activities and results in order to maximise the impact and scope of the action.
- Develop a tailored dissemination & communication plan to promote the project, including an outreach strategy targeting relevant stakeholder groups and the procedures in order to reach them and promote a proactive engagement in activities throughout the entire duration of the project
- Maximise the impact of the project by engaging multiple audiences and relevant stakeholder groups (media, general public, local communities, policy makers, etc) and generating relevant outputs targeting specific audiences within the tourism sector and rural communities.
- Raise awareness on the importance of sustainability aspects on the tourism sector, with a particular focus on rural & remote/mountain areas
WP3
Third‐party support through Open Calls for SMEs
- Successful implementation of three SUSRUR Open Calls for direct financial support to SMEs from rural & remote areas in the eligible regions
- Enable and promote the development of new cross-regional and cross-sectoral value chains through cooperation, knowledge exchange and peer-learning
- Design and implementation of the proposal management & submission platform and matchmaking tool
- Preparation of the supporting documentation for the Open Calls
- Successful engagement, collaboration and participation of SMEs within the target regions
- Implementation of a monitoring & reporting scheme to validate and provide qualitative & quantitative indicators to validate the success of the action.
WP4
Green entrepreneurship
- Enable and promote the development of new cross-regional and cross-sectoral value chains through cooperation, knowledge exchange and peer-learning
- Design and implementation of the proposal management & submission platform and matchmaking tool
- Preparation of the supporting documentation for the Open Calls
- Successful engagement, collaboration and participation of SMEs within the target regions
- Implementation of a monitoring & reporting scheme to validate and provide qualitative & quantitative indicators to validate the success of the action.
WP5
SUSRUR monitoring framework
- Develop SUSRUR Monitoring framework for sustainability applicable for SMEs in remote rural areas.
- Create the sustainability guidelines to improve the performance of SMEs in remote rural areas.
- Develop a handbook on annual sustainability reporting for tourism SMEs in remote rural areas.
- Raise awareness on the sustainability importance for efficient development of tourism SMEs in remote rural areas.
WP6
Stakeholder engagement tools & clustering actions
- Bring SUSRUR partners alongside related regional tourism entities and other rural stakeholders to discuss and debate the role and impact of sustainable practices in
- the local tourism communities of rural & remote areas
- Contribute to the development of relevant regional, national and EU policies in the sector
- Analyse the needs & challenges of rural SMEs and related entities in order to establish a roadmap of common actions for the future of rural tourism
- Organise relevant networking & clustering actions with other projects and relevant actions
