Food Routes project aims to strengthen the capacity of the vocational education and training sector to provide a skilled and employable population to meet the needs of the gastronomic sector and the tourism ecosystem in the Maghreb region.

The project will be implemented through a three-pronged approach: the first is cooperation with the private sector, increasing the capacity of vocational education and training to interact with it through sustainable cooperation (STRENGTH); the second is the organization of capacity building activities in three phases for vocational education and training students (KNOWLEDGE); and the third approach involves the development of life skills through hands-on activities (WBL and business simulations) to stimulate the entrepreneurial mindset of vocational education and training students (PASSION).

Other activities that cross-support the partnership effort will be the organization of networking opportunities, mobility actions in the form of Capacity Building and Knowledge Transfer, and small-scale events to "open up" VET to the local community.

The central beneficiary of Food Routes will be the VET sector in all its forms: staff, for networking and counseling skills development, learners through gastronomy and entrepreneurial skills development, but also VET institutions as a whole. Secondary beneficiaries will be businesses at the local level in the Maghreb, which will benefit from a more employable young population.

The project is expected to have a profound and lasting impact. Food Routes has two Public Agencies involved, involving virtually 90 percent of all vocational education and training providers in Morocco and Tunisia, 526 schools, more than 30 involved specifically in the tourism sector.

The partnership of Food Routes can count on 4 European partners and 5 partners between Morocco and Tunisia. In particular:

• 1 University of Applied Science - Hochschule der Wirtschaft für Management (HMDW),
• 2 VET Providers AKMI, APRO FORMAZIONE
• 1 Umbrella organization for VET – European Association of Institutes for Vocational Training (EVBB)
• 2 Public Agencies for Vocational Education asn Training– Agency for Vocational Education of Tunisia and the Office de la Formation Professionelle et de la Promotion du Travail (OFPPT)
• 1 Chamber of Commerce –La Chambre de Commerce et d’Idustrie de Tunis (CCIT)
• 2 NGO for the empowerment of youth – WeYouth and the Association Jeunesse Tamdoult pour la Culture et le Développement (AJTCD)