From Hospitality to Sustainability: GreenHost Interns’ Experiences in Italy

From the Apennines near Reggio Emilia to the island of Elba and the Ligurian Riviera, training experiences within the European GreenHost project show how hospitality can offer opportunities to learn, share knowledge and build a tourism sector that is more mindful of local communities and places.

What do a recipe book devoted to the cuisine of the island of Elba, a reused water bottle and the preparation of a traditional dish in an Apennine kitchen have in common?

At first glance, very little. Yet each of these activities illustrates a practical way of putting sustainability into practice in tourism.

Through experiences like these, Katia, Ilaria, Gabriele, Fatima and Vladimir, five young people involved in the European GreenHost project, discovered what it means to work in a more responsible tourism sector.

They were hosted in Italy by three organisations that are part of the Fondazione di Partecipazione Turismo Responsabile AITR ETS: Case Valdesi, Sassi Turchini and Valle dei Cavalieri. Three different experiences, united by a vision of tourism that puts people first, values local places and considers the impact of its activities on the environment and communities.

Hospitality begins with people, sustainability with small actions

At Casa Valdese in Vallecrosia al Mare, Liguria, Katia and Ilaria discovered that well-organised hospitality involves much more than setting up a dining room or managing tables.

It requires the ability to communicate with guests, work with colleagues, adapt to a new environment and contribute, through one’s own actions, to the quality of each guest’s stay.

The property is part of Case Valdesi, a network of non-profit accommodation facilities run by Diaconia Valdese that promotes inclusive, solidarity-based tourism and uses the proceeds from its hospitality activities to support social initiatives.

For Katia, this experience was above all an opportunity to gain confidence in her interactions with others and understand the importance of attentive, responsible service.

As well as improving her teamwork skills, Ilaria observed some of the practices the property uses to reduce waste, such as collecting and reusing water bottles.

A simple yet meaningful action.

One of the most interesting lessons to emerge from their experiences is precisely this: sustainability is measured not only through major initiatives, but also through the combined effect of many small, everyday decisions.

When traditions become an opportunity to innovate

On the island of Elba, Gabriele and Fatima gained their experience in a different setting: Sassi Turchini.

Sassi Turchini is dedicated to social and accessible tourism, offering a model of hospitality that takes both inclusion and the environment into account. The property stands out for its focus on accessibility and its adoption of solutions designed to use resources responsibly.

Here, Gabriele’s training took a distinctive direction: creating a recipe book devoted to the cuisine of the island of Elba.

An activity that brings together two seemingly distant areas: tradition and digitalisation.

By collecting recipes, ingredients and information about local food customs, Gabriele deepened his knowledge of Elba’s culinary heritage while learning to organise and present content using digital tools.

The result of his work shows how technological skills can serve local culture, helping to tell its story and make it more readily accessible.

For Fatima, meanwhile, the experience meant immersing herself in the day-to-day work of hospitality and food service.

Interacting with guests, organising the dining room and working with staff enabled her to improve her professional and interpersonal skills. Above all, these activities gave her an opportunity to understand how environmental awareness can be integrated into service, from reducing waste to using resources more thoughtfully.

Two different learning experiences, then, with a shared insight: innovation, the promotion of local traditions and quality hospitality can reinforce one another.

A kitchen can tell the story of a community’s future

In Succiso, a small village in the Apennines near Reggio Emilia, responsible tourism also means keeping a community alive.

This is where the Valle dei Cavalieri cooperative operates. Founded in 1991 by a group of local residents determined to respond to depopulation, it creates new opportunities through services, production activities, food service and accommodation.

Its story shows how tourism can support local development and help sustain communities in inland areas.

In this setting, Vladimir completed his training in the kitchen, learning to handle food preparation tasks and the pace of a professional service.

He learned to organise his work, manage priorities, collaborate with the team and refine his techniques for preparing traditional dishes, from making gnocchi to preparing meat.

It was an intensive experience that tested his adaptability and helped him gain greater confidence in his skills.

Here too, amid ingredients, food preparation and service organisation, sustainability took a very practical form: reducing food waste through careful planning of quantities and more efficient use of ingredients.

An important skill in a sector where the relationship between quality food service and responsible resource use is becoming increasingly central.

Perhaps this is the most interesting aspect of Vladimir’s experience: discovering sustainable cooking practices within an organisation whose work also contributes to the economic and social vitality of a mountain community.

The value of learning from those who practise sustainable tourism every day

Five young people, three locations, different activities and skills.

Some learned to interact with guests more confidently, others discovered the value of teamwork, used digital tools to share local traditions or developed techniques to reduce kitchen waste.

Beyond these individual professional skills, however, the experiences share an equally important outcome: giving participants the chance to see how sustainability principles can become part of the everyday practices of a tourism business.

This is where the value of the GreenHost project becomes clear: connecting training with working organisations, enabling young people to develop skills through direct experience of different models of hospitality.

For the Fondazione di Partecipazione Turismo Responsabile AITR ETS, a project partner, the involvement of Case Valdesi, Sassi Turchini and Valle dei Cavalieri also demonstrates the role its participating organisations can play in sharing good practices, passing on knowledge and supporting younger generations as they move towards more responsible forms of tourism.

Because building a more responsible tourism sector also means passing on knowledge, sharing good practices and giving young people practical opportunities to drive change.