The event was held at Columbus Sea Hotel, in Genoa city centre and it was widely promoted by the project staff as well as local mass media .

The session started at 3 p.m and was introduced by Angelo Capizzi, Nino Bergese's headmaster who highlighted the key -role that the project played in the updating of the foreign language curriculum and syllabus design;the deep impact that the materials produced had on the students' learning strategies was also mentioned.

After the headmaster's welcome speech, Mrs Manuela Menolascina introduced the theoretical basis and implications of the project drawing the participants' attention to the challenges that teachers and students experience in vocational contexts, due to the lack of “tailored”learning materials. She also illustrated the importance of encouraging vocational students to become familiar with the intercultural aspects of their future career to make the learning process more interesting and motivating.

Mrs Rossella Canepa projected a power point presentation whose aim was to outline the project's contents and purposes and commented on the result achieved making reference to her direct experience as a vocational school teacher and to her students'progresses after using the e-learning platform.

Mr Franco Ganino, an industry representative, who contributed to the conference as a stake-holder,made some enthusiastic remarks about the learning materials produced and insisted on the necessity to create an increasingly strong connection between educational institutions and the labour market.

After the coffee break, professor David Sephton presented his work on the digital maps and smartphone apps pointing out their extreme usefulness in all hospitality sectors. He also provided detailed instructions on how to access the digital maps' website and download the apps.

The people who attended the events were mainly language teachers ( from middle and secondary schools), students and industry representatives. They showed great interest in the conference and praised the contents provided as innovative and extremely well presented.

Simona Pellizzari

Italian project manager