The Food Hub

18/06/2026

If there is one thing we know about hospitality, it is that standing still is never an option.

At The Food Hub, we are proud to be working alongside Atlantic Technological University (ATU) as part of the EcoSmart Hospitality partnership. The resources developed through this collaboration will directly benefit our Taste Leitrim food and hospitality network, while also supporting the continued development of hospitality and tourism training programmes delivered on-site at The Food Hub in partnership with Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLETB), Leitrim Partnership and others.

One thing is for sure. As the sector responds to growing sustainability demands, digital transformation, workforce pressures and changing customer expectations, it faces significant challenges but also exciting opportunities to innovate, adapt and thrive.

Over the past 18 months, the EcoSmart Hospitality partnership, supported by Erasmus+, has been developing a suite of practical learning resources to support hospitality businesses, educators and trainers in navigating these changes. We are now entering the final pilot testing phase and would greatly value your expertise and feedback.

Whether you operate a hotel, guesthouse, restaurant, café, visitor attraction or hospitality training programme, your experience can help shape the final resources before they are released across Europe.

The survey takes approximately 10–15 minutes to complete and pilot testing remains open until 22 June 2026.

You can find all the resources here: https://ecosmartproject.eu/open-educational-resources/

And take part in the survey here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EcoSmartOERs

17/06/2026

The second workshop for the DOT.Rural Tourism: Digital Marketing and Storytelling workshop takes place online this Friday, from 11am - 1pm.
All welcome to attend. Please email [email protected] to register.

11/06/2026

Come and join us tomorrow for the DOT.Rural workshop at The Building Block Sligo - no need to register, just come along at 11am.

Sligo Life, Visit Sligo

Come and join us on Friday June 12th at 11am in The Building Block, Sligo, for the DOT.Rural co-design workshop. The workshop will focus on Digital Marketing and Storytelling. Through this event, we want to hear the opinion of experts in tourism or businesses in the industry about this topic and how they feel our work on the subject can be improved. We hope this module - part of the curriculum we're developing for D.O.T. Rural will help educate DMOs on digital ways to improve their services.

Your opinion will be valuable towards improving our training. We hope you can join us on the day. Refreshments and nibbles will be served on the day.

05/06/2026

If there is one thing we know about hospitality, it is that standing still is never an option.

At The Food Hub, we are proud to be working alongside Atlantic Technological University (ATU) as part of the EcoSmart Hospitality partnership. The resources developed through this collaboration will directly benefit our Taste Leitrim food and hospitality network, while also supporting the continued development of hospitality and tourism training programmes delivered on-site at The Food Hub in partnership with Mayo, Sligo and Leitrim Education and Training Board (MSLETB), Leitrim Partnership and others.

One thing is for sure. As the sector responds to growing sustainability demands, digital transformation, workforce pressures and changing customer expectations, it faces significant challenges but also exciting opportunities to innovate, adapt and thrive.

Over the past 18 months, the EcoSmart Hospitality partnership, supported by Erasmus+, has been developing a suite of practical learning resources to support hospitality businesses, educators and trainers in navigating these changes. We are now entering the final pilot testing phase and would greatly value your expertise and feedback.

Whether you operate a hotel, guesthouse, restaurant, café, visitor attraction or hospitality training programme, your experience can help shape the final resources before they are released across Europe.

The survey takes approximately 10–15 minutes to complete and pilot testing remains open until 22 June 2026.

📋 Take part here:
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/EcoSmartOER

03/06/2026

Come and join us on Friday June 12th at 11am in The Building Block, Sligo, for the DOT.Rural co-design workshop. The workshop will focus on Digital Marketing and Storytelling. Through this event, we want to hear the opinion of experts in tourism or businesses in the industry about this topic and how they feel our work on the subject can be improved. We hope this module - part of the curriculum we're developing for D.O.T. Rural will help educate DMOs on digital ways to improve their services.

Your opinion will be valuable towards improving our training. We hope you can join us on the day. Refreshments and nibbles will be served on the day.

29/05/2026

We were delighted to be in beautiful Ancona in Italy for the transnational partner meeting of The SUSTaiN project.

SUSTaiN is dedicated to integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) with sustainability in key European sectors, including Agriculture, Energy, Water Management, and Transport. Our goal is to equip VET educators, students, and industry stakeholders with the knowledge and tools needed to drive sustainable innovation through AI technologies.

Please visit the website to find out more: https://sustainvet.eu/

26/05/2026

FUSE – Food Unity and Skills Empowerment is a European ESF+ Social Innovation project creating inclusive employment pathways in the food sector.
Together, we show that with the right skills and support, long-term unemployment can be effectively addressed. 🌱

Project: Project FUSE

Project partners:
🇮🇪 Roscommon Leader Partnership / Drumshanbo Community Council
🇪🇸 Asociación de Empresarios de Hostelería de Gipuzkoa CEBANC;
🇮🇹 Fondazione Luigi Clerici; Università degli Studi Guglielmo Marconi Gi Group Spa
🇸🇰 New Edu, n.o.; OZ Vidiecky parlament mladých na Slovensku

22/05/2026

Interesting reading from the DOT.Rural project.

DOT.Rural is designed to achieve a series of interconnected objectives aimed at revitalizing and future-proofing the rural tourism sector through the application of digital and sustainable innovations.

Read more on the website: https://dotrural.eu/

📊 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 | 𝗨𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆

🔍 The stakeholder questionnaire highlighted different levels of digital maturity across the rural tourism ecosystems involved in D.O.T. Rural.

Stakeholder inputs suggest different digital starting points across the rural tourism ecosystems involved. In some contexts, websites, social media and booking platforms appear to be used more regularly, while in others digital tools are still less integrated into everyday tourism practices.

🌍 These differences matter. Rural destinations have diverse needs, capacities and ways of working, and future training should reflect this variety.

Across the countries involved, social media remains the most commonly used digital tool, while more advanced tools and strategic digital approaches are still less widespread.

✔️ This insight will help shape a training pathway that is flexible, practical and responsive to different levels of digital readiness.

➡️ The challenge is not only to introduce digital tools, but to make them useful, accessible and relevant to each rural context.

11/05/2026

Have you heard about the DOT.Rural project?
DOT.Rural is designed to achieve a series of interconnected objectives aimed at revitalizing and future-proofing the rural tourism sector through the application of digital and sustainable innovations. It aims to develop new skills and competencies among DMOs operators, to effectively address the evolving challenges in the tourism sector, also encouraging the adoption of digital technologies that enhance the visitor experience while preserving the natural and cultural heritage of rural areas.

Find out more on the website: https://dotrural.eu/

📊 𝗙𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝘁𝗼 𝗜𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁 | 𝗨𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗺𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆

🔍 The stakeholder questionnaire highlighted different levels of digital maturity across the rural tourism ecosystems involved in D.O.T. Rural.

Stakeholder inputs suggest different digital starting points across the rural tourism ecosystems involved. In some contexts, websites, social media and booking platforms appear to be used more regularly, while in others digital tools are still less integrated into everyday tourism practices.

🌍 These differences matter. Rural destinations have diverse needs, capacities and ways of working, and future training should reflect this variety.

Across the countries involved, social media remains the most commonly used digital tool, while more advanced tools and strategic digital approaches are still less widespread.

✔️ This insight will help shape a training pathway that is flexible, practical and responsive to different levels of digital readiness.

➡️ The challenge is not only to introduce digital tools, but to make them useful, accessible and relevant to each rural context.

05/05/2026

Europe’s hospitality sector - especially small and medium-sized enterprises -is facing unprecedented challenges:

Rising energy costs and inflation
Post-pandemic recovery pressures
Digital transformation demands
Climate change and sustainability imperatives

EcoSmart Hospitality Project responds with a practical, inclusive, and future-proof solution that integrates ESG principles, AI and digital tools, and sustainable business practices into vocational education and training (VET).

Download the competence framework here: https://ecosmartproject.eu/competence-framework/