Category: English

Partnership met in Pino Torinese on 4 and 5 October. The project gets into full swing with Call for participants and first public event in February: next meeting in Slovenia.

The STARLIGHT project, co-funded by the European Union’s Erasmus+ programme, focuses on the promotion of dark skies as a form of sustainable and experiential tourism. The partners gathered in Pino Torinese, Italy, on 4 and 5 October 2022, hosted by the INAF-Osservatorio Astrofisico di Torino.

One of the main topics covered during the meeting was the Toolkit. Its contents are aimed at imparting knowledge related to three main thematic areas: Cultural Heritage, Biodiversity, Human Wellbeing and Health, and Astronomy and Stargazing. The Toolkit has been conceived to be easy-to-use for those unfamiliar with the topic and related terminology. The content will be available in English and the website will have an intuitive and attractive layout.

Furthermore, the project is now getting into full swing with the Call for participants. During the meeting, it was decided to adopt an open approach, in order to involve as many participants as possible. Requirements and costs for participation were also discussed.

In February, the first public STARLIGHT event will be held in Slovenia, with the participation of project stakeholders. Partners will also engage in defining the content and organization of Webinars.

The Kick-Off meeting was held 7-8 June 2022 in Innsbruck, Austria

STARLIGHT (Skills for Tourism And Recognition of the importance of dark skies) is a project funded by the Erasmus+ EU program.

STARLIGHT project aims at increasing job opportunities for young Europeans (18-30) with an education/training background in tourism and upskilling for already active touristic operators, identifying innovative sectors in line with market trends and specifically the promotion of dark skies as a competitive asset for sustainable and experiential tourism.

Despite Europe remains the n°1 tourism destination in the world, European tourism is confronted with many challenges, starting with the need to constantly innovate and improve quality. The sector must quickly adapt to the digital revolution and develop new attractive products in a sustainable manner for local communities and the environment. New skills, competences and knowledge will be needed, both for young professionals and for experienced operators.

STARLIGHT will involve 60 young participants to learn scientific notions on astronomy, biodiversity, history and culture, light pollution. They will be trained to create an innovative business, build experience boxes to be offered to tourists and finally learn how to tell the story of our skies and transform this into a job opportunity.

The partnership covers six European countries (Austria, Bulgaria, Germany, Italy, Slovenia and Spain) and encompasses various competences such as astronomy, nature preservation, cultural heritage, local development and sustainable tourism.

The partners met in Innsbruck, Austria from 7^th to 8^th of June for the Kick-Off, hosted by the Tyrolean Environmental Ombudsoffice. The event laid the foundation for the development and implementation of training opportunities on “Dark Skies” over the next 2,5 years. “The inter-disciplinary expertise of our partnership is the key for creating well-balanced educational tools on this broad topic” the host is convinced.

Side events, such as a tour through the Alpine Zoo and a pulse by the Innsbrucker Kommunalbetriebe AG allowed glimpses into nocturnal wild life and efforts for diligent use of artificial light in cities. 

In the next months the partnership will work on Project Result 1, the training material Toolkit that will set up a comprehensive knowledge base to be used as learning material.