D1.2 – Interim report
The Interim Report is the progress report submitted by the coordinator to the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) at month 18. It covers the period from 24 November 2023, when the Grant Agreement was signed, to 31 May 2025, and describes the state of every work package, the deliverables produced, the quality-assurance approach, sustainability and the next steps.
Project identification
SOHO – Smart, Optimized, High-quality and On-demand Tourism Innovative Education for Sustainable and Green Development (project n° 101129336) addresses smart sustainable tourism: the use of smart technologies, renewable energy and digital tools to make transportation, accommodation and visitor management more sustainable, efficient and personalised. The consortium has nine partners: UNSTPB (coordinator, Romania), Université Lumière Lyon 2 (France), Politecnico di Milano (Italy), Universiti Sains Malaysia and UTAR Education Foundation (Malaysia), University of Technology and Education – University of Da Nang and University of Da Nang (Vietnam), American International University-Bangladesh and Jahangirnagar University (Bangladesh).
Overview of the work packages
| Work package | Implementation period | Status at 31 May 2025 |
|---|---|---|
| WP1 – Project management and coordination | 24 Nov 2023 – 23 Nov 2026 | Ongoing |
| WP2 – Deploying LMS and innovative curriculum design | 24 Nov 2023 – 30 Nov 2024 | Completed |
| WP3 – Development of training materials and curriculum for tourism industry learners | 1 Dec 2024 – 31 Aug 2026 | In progress |
| WP4 – Intensive training sessions and assessment | 1 Sep 2025 – 31 May 2026 | Planned |
| WP5 – Enhanced Knowledge & Competence Centres and recommendations for policy makers | 1 Mar 2025 – 31 Aug 2026 | Started |
| WP6 – Impact analysis and dissemination | 1 Jan 2024 – 23 Nov 2026 | Ongoing |
Key activities implemented
WP1. Coordination ran through four transnational project meetings: the kick-off in Milan (26–27 February 2024), the curriculum-development meeting in Da Nang (18–19 July 2024), the implementation and LMS meeting in Penang (5–6 December 2024) and the pre-interim-report meeting in Bucharest (19–20 May 2025). They served as planning, monitoring and alignment milestones for all partners.
WP2 was completed with its three deliverables. D2.1 – Training Needs Analysis identified the skills gaps in the tourism sector across the partner countries, with input from academia, industry and learners. D2.2 – Training Curriculum defined a competency-based programme in three thematic modules – Smart Transportation, Smart Sustainable Accommodation and Smart Renewable Energy – suitable for both higher-education and vocational learners. D2.3 – LMS Set-up and Configuration selected and fully configured Moodle as the project platform, with gamification, badges, micro-credentials, accessibility and multilingual support, and started user training.
WP3 is in full development: the partners are producing the training materials for the three modules – presentations, handbooks, videos and interactive activities – aligned with the learning outcomes and competency levels of the curriculum and intended for integration into the Moodle platform.
WP5. At the Bucharest meeting the consortium discussed the structure, roles and operating models of the Knowledge and Competence Centres to be set up in the Southeast-Asian partner institutions, including staffing, integration with existing structures and local partnerships.
WP6. Dissemination has been continuous: the project website sohoproject.eu online since December 2023 and dedicated pages at AIUB, JU and UTE; SOHO presented as a best practice at the Erasmus+ National Seminar in Bucharest (October 2024) to representatives of more than 70 Romanian universities; regular social-media promotion by ULL, AIUB and JU; national media coverage in Bangladesh and Vietnam (TV1 Da Nang, TBS News, Bonik Barta, Dhaka Tribune); and, on 5 June 2025, the decision to prepare two academic volumes on smart and sustainable tourism with a reputable publisher.
Quality assurance
Quality follows the approach of the approved proposal: every key document and deliverable is circulated among all partners for review, feedback is collected at coordination meetings or by e-mail, and progress is monitored with common tools and templates. Lessons learned so far concern content harmonisation, clarity in task distribution and flexibility in communication across time zones and institutional cultures, addressed through early consultation, concise internal guidelines and shared templates.
Sustainability and exploitation
The consortium has already submitted a new project proposal with the Bangladeshi partners building on SOHO, and has laid the groundwork for a further CBHE proposal involving several current partners. Beyond proposals, the training modules, digital content and methodological tools will be integrated into the institutional competence centres, and results will be exploited through academic publications, conference contributions and inter-institutional cooperation.
Conclusions and next steps
At month 18 the project is on schedule: the training needs analysis is done, the curriculum for the three modules is finalised, the Moodle LMS is installed and configured, four transnational meetings have been held and dissemination is consistent and visible. The second half of the project focuses on completing the training materials and loading them into the LMS, a five-day training session for academic staff at Politecnico di Milano, the establishment of the Knowledge and Competence Centres in Southeast Asia, closer collaboration with the tourism industry, and the pilot sessions with learners and professionals.
About this deliverable
| Deliverable | D1.2 – Progress (interim) report to EACEA |
| Work package | WP1 – Project management |
| Lead partner | UNSTPB – National University of Science and Technology POLITEHNICA Bucharest |
| Reporting period | 24 November 2023 – 31 May 2025 (months 1–18) |
| Submitted | June 2025 |
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them. Project n° 101129336.