Cross-Border Exchange in Trieste
Sustainable Tourism and Cross-Border Exchange in Trieste: CIVIFORM hosts young Italian and Croatian students
Scuola Centrale Formazione (SCF) and CIVIFORM are delighted to announce the successful conclusion of a Cross-Border Exchange program for young students in the tourism sector. Held at the CIVIFORM headquarters in Trieste from September 29th to October 3rd, 2025, the initiative brought together 25 students and their accompanying persons from three training institutions: Fondazione Lepido Rocco (Veneto), CIVIFORM (FVG), and the hotel school of DURA (Dubrovnik Development Agency).
The immersive week combined practical training, cultural exchange, and a strong focus on key themes like sustainable cooking and zero waste. The program featured days of intensive training, practical laboratories, and cooking classes coordinated by Chef Davide Zuliani. A central highlight was a cooking competition where students were deliberately placed in mixed Italian and Croatian teams to foster collaboration and break down geographical and linguistic barriers. The initiative also encouraged the use of innovative tools, such as Artificial Intelligence, for support and translation during the activities.
"Experiences like this are fundamental for the growth of young people and the development of a territory with a strong tourist vocation like ours," commented Chiara Franceschini, CIVIFORM General Director. She added that CIVIFORM, in partnership with SCF, is committed to developing skills and social responsibility for a more sustainable and innovative tourism sector.
Lorena Sassi, SCF affirmed SCF's belief in the value of international mobility, stating: "In this instance, we decided to include a mixed-team competition for young Italians and Croats to promote collaboration and teamwork, overcoming geographical boundaries and language barriers."
This exchange represents a significant step towards achieving the TESTEAT project's goals of training young people as future tourism resources. The project seeks to enhance the sector, making it more competitive, sustainable, and respectful of local communities by integrating principles of sustainability, circular economy, inclusivity, and digitalization.
Feedback
Thanks to the final questionnaire, we were able to gather some interesting feedback from the participants, which were extremely positive, with a high level of overall satisfaction and strong appreciation for the collaboration and practical activities:
Overall Satisfaction and Recommendation
- 73.3% of students expressed the highest level of satisfaction (with the overall exchange experience
- Almost all (93.3%) would recommend the experience to other students, with 60% saying ‘Definitely yes’ and 33.3% saying ‘Probably’.
- The words most used to describe the experience were “interesting” and “fun”, along with terms such as “satisfying”, “perfect” and “educational”.
Atmosphere and Inclusion
- The atmosphere within the group (collaboration, friendship, peer support) was rated highly, with 73.3% of students giving a rating of 4 or 5.
- The majority felt included and able to contribute to the group's activities ‘Always’ (73.3%) or ‘Often’ (20%).
Activities and Learning
- The most memorable or enjoyable aspects of the programme were ‘Cooking’, ‘The final challenge’, ‘The award ceremony’ and the opportunity to ‘Meet other friends who cook and work with them’.
- 60% of students said that the activities helped them learn something new about food, culture and/or collaboration.
- Students mainly felt ‘Interested,’ “Confident” and ‘Excited’ during the activities.
