Learn and go international! – experiences from Portugal and plans for Norway

By: Malla Alatalo, M.A, specialist, Responsibility in Business and Services; Aulikki Laitinen-Tolonen M.Soc.Sc., Senior Lecturer, Responsibility in Business and Services & Britlise van den Bosch, student, intern, Lapland UAS

Our project “From Research to Working Life” is gearing up for another international exchange for our students. In this blog post we take a moment to reminisce about the trip we undertook last fall to Estoril, Portugal. As we wrap up our reflections on Portugal, we’re excited to unveil the next steps of our project: an intensive learning and cooperation period in Stavanger, Norway, in September, where we invite students to join.

This blog post is a reflection on the Learning, Teaching, Training (LTT) trip to Portugal in November 2023 in relation to the From Research to Working Life project (ReWo). This post sheds light on the experience, especially from the students’ perspective, and will hopefully inspire students to participate in international projects in the future – perhaps with ReWo project in September.

ReWo is an Erasmus+ funded project with the aim of creating permanent methods and practices for developing education and research structures, within higher education institutes. To enhance the cooperation between education institutes and international working life. The Partners in this project are the University of Maribor, Lapland University of Applied Sciences, the University of Stavanger, and the Estoril Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies.

The LTT trip was related to Work Package 3 of the project, with a focus on creating visual outputs that makes data from research more approachable and applicable to the industry. The main objective being: “to encourage students to explore the visual as a way of distributing research results.”. The LTT, named “Seeing is Believing” brought together tourism students from all the partner countries and their teachers or coaches in Estoril, Portugal hosted by the Estoril Higher Institute for Tourism and Hotel Studies (ESTHE).

Day 1

6th of November 2023

On the first day one of the teachers of ESTHE, the local organizer of the LTT, picked the group from the hotel where all the other institutes were staying. This is when the whole group first got introduced with the other teachers and coaches as well as students from the institutes.

After arriving to ESTHE, the group got introduced to one of the practical classes taught at ESTHE, namely, a cooking class. This offered an opportunity to get to know the other participants of the LTT in a fun and engaging manner, as well as to gain understanding in some of the curriculum offered to the hotel and tourism students at ESTHE.

The cooking was guided by two chefs who showed how to prepare traditional Portuguese dishes, examples being cod cakes and punched potatoes. The participants got to make their own hands dirty as they all volunteered partaking in different cooking tasks. Afterwards eating what they had prepared, offering a further opportunity to socialize.

Following the practical class, the students got some free time to get to know each other better. While the teachers and coaches proceeded to have a meeting together on this work package and some other practicalities of the project, such as the “Seeing is Believing” webinar.

As the meeting ended, the students joined the teachers and the coaches. The group met with other ESTHE staff, and the group got a guided tour around in school premises. The group then entered a meeting space for an institutional welcoming by the president of ESTHE. This marked the end of the day for the students, who got to enjoy their free time in Estoril for the rest of the afternoon, while the teachers and coaches continued discussing some more practical matters.

Picture 1. Group photo taken at a deck in ESTHE campus.

Day 2

7th of November 2023

On the second day another practical class of ESTHE was introduced. On this day the LTT group followed a tour guiding class south of Lisbon. Throughout the trip students from ESTHE gave presentations of different aspects of the day. We got guided through different viewpoints as well as historical sights.

Lunch break took place in the city of Setubal, where the group got to try the famous cuttlefish. In the afternoon the group partook in a winery tour hosted by one of the alumni of ESTHE.

Throughout the day, as a visualization assignment, students, teachers and coaches took photos for the purpose of the project. The aim of the photos was capturing a reflection of the day trip, as well as the LTT in general.

This field trip offered a way for the LTT participants to get to know history and culture of Portugal, as well as the general surrounding area of Lisbon. Further, it offered the students of ESTHE to have a practical exam with actual tourists. Additionally, the photo assignment contributes directly to the project, as it can be reviewed how pictures play a role in visualization and how the students capture pictures differently.


Picture 2. The students and staff of Lapland UAS on a field trip.

Day 3

8th of November 2023

On the third day the students were free in the morning, this offered the opportunity to refine the student presentations in guidance of the teachers and coaches and to explore Estoril and nearby city Cascais.

In the afternoon the first “Seeing is believing” session commenced where students presented their visual assignments (this will be elaborated on further on in the next chapter of this post). After this session another practical class was provided to the group as they followed a class on reservation systems for airlines.

Day 4

9th of November 2023

This day commenced with the second session of “Seeing is believing” (which will be further elaborated on, in the next chapter). Following this was another practical class on communication in relation to tour guiding provided by one of the teachers in ESTHE.

This class was focused on the role of a tour guide within their group as well as their role in society. The class varied between theoretical and practical, touched upon intercultural communication, stereotypes and once again facilitated interaction between the participants of different countries. This class was yet again an interesting example of how education differs between the countries but also a learning opportunity on different aspects of communication.

Day 5

10th of November 2023

On the last official day of the trip the entire group went on a field trip to Lisbon, where hosts from ESTHE provided a tour of the town, explaining history of Lisbon and culture of Portugal. Particularly focused on the time of the explorers. Following this the group had farewell lunch at a restaurant of one of the Alumni of ESTHE.

This day again increased cultural knowledge in Portugal and facilitated interactions between the different participants. This day marked the end of our trip together, as the following day everyone flew back to their home countries.

Seeing is believing

Within the “Seeing is believing” session the aim was for students to produce a visual output for an assignment they had received from their home institution. The task was different in each institution and all the students had received guidance and learning materials from their own teachers and coaches throughout the process.

The purpose of this exercise was to see how Generation Z communicates visually, and how this could overlap with the needs of the industry or how this can be used for the industry. Further, the aim was to open the floor for a discussion on the actual contents of the assignments, the visual aspects but also general perceptions towards education by both students, teachers and coaches.

Session 1

In session 1 the students and teachers from Lapland UAS presented their assignments as well as the students from the University of Maribor. First the project manager of Lapland UAS presented the report on “Best practices for translating knowledge to working life” produced in work package 2. This report contains case examples and survey results rooted in HEI and working life cooperation practices.

The assignment for the students of Lapland UAS was to create a development idea based on one case example within the best practices report. The students presented their ideas visually in the shape of a flowchart, a website and a video. Other participants then responded to this, which turned into a discussion on the development ideas as well as how these were visually created by the students.

The next group to present were the students from the University of Maribor. Their assignment was to make a visual CV, a pdf form as well as a video. This assignment displayed the creativity and the editing skills of generation Z. The students then received feedback from the other participants if they would be hired on the basis of these CVs.

Session 2

In the second session the students of ESTHE started off with their presentation. The assignment was making visual output for the tour guiding course. The students worked together as group and produced a training video in Lisbon for new guides. Where, sped up, a walking route was displayed in Lisbon, to train guides for this specific route. Afterwards the students received feedback, and a discussion was facilitated on how this visual way of presenting was deemed to be effective.

Lastly the team of the University of Stavanger presented their assignment. They had to make a visual output of a business plan in adventure tourism. Both teams produced videos on their business plans. They received feedback on their business plan as well as how they visually presented it. Afterwards time was left for an open discussion between the students, teachers and coaches on tourism related topics. In particular the conversation geared towards ecological sustainability within tourism and education. Within this, differences between the institutes were observed.

Picture 3. Seeing is believing session with student presentations.

Final reflection and concluding remarks

Overall, the experience was highly valuable. Not only for the contributions it has done to the project, but also the interaction between people from different cultures, backgrounds and ages. The discussions facilitated between the participants provided insights in different approaches to several topics. For example, how different institutes handle and value sustainability within tourism and how the tourism industry has evolved in the countries.

In conclusion, it was overall a successful week, in which a lot was learned and cooperation between countries was enhanced. It further contributed towards the project when looking back at the main objective of the work package: “to encourage students to explore the visual as a way of distributing research results.”

This objective has been successfully met, by means of the seeing is believing sessions with supervision and feedback both from the international team of teachers and project staff as well as from other students. In addition, the photo assignment on the second day stimulated visual thinking and visualization of ideas.


Video. A short video capturing moments of the Learning, Teaching, Training activity in Estroril, Portugal.

Up next: Learning, teaching, training activity in Stavanger in September

The project team is currently preparing for the next stage of the project which is to bring students together again – this time in Stavanger, Norway. This learning, teaching, and training (LTT) activity takes place on September 13th –17th, with travel dates being September 12th and 18th. Our team is missing two eager students who are inspired by working and learning in an international team.

The title of the LTT is “I will be Idea Manager!” and the aim is to develop the role of an idea manager who operates between tourism education and the tourism industry and working life. During the intensive week in Norway, you will work as a member of the international student team. The programme includes e.g. workshops, presentations, group discussions and other activities.

By actively participating this LTT activity and finishing the assignments given it is possible to get 4 study credits (ECTS). The studies start on May 16, 2024, at 13.00 – 14.30 with a webinar in Zoom.

Applying to the LTT activity

Tourism students of Lapland UAS can apply to the activity by sending us a motivation letter.
In the letter you should shortly introduce yourself and elaborate on following questions:

• How would participating this study course support your study and career plans?
• How is your ability to work as a part of an international team in English?
• What motivates you to contribute to the development tasks of the project?
• Can you commit to the schedules of the study unit?

To be noted:

• Be concise, 300–500 words is enough for the motivation letter.
• Note that by applying to the study course, you confirm that you’ll have the travel documents needed for travelling to Norway (depending on your citizenship you may need to have a passport and visa).
• You need to have first year studies completed, send us you’re a copy of your study records.
• Project covers the travel and accommodation costs for the intensive week in Norway but the students need to be prepared to cover their own meal costs.

Send your motivation letter and your transcript of records by 7th of April to the coordinator of ReWo project Malla Alatalo (malla.alatalo(a)lapinamk.fi)

Title your message: Application to ReWo study course – Norway

Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the authors only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.