Abstract:

Since the start of the 2017-2018 academic year, second-year students on the degree programme in Sociocultural Animation at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD) have been engaged in an innovative educational activity as part of the "Recreation, Leisure and Tourism" and "Education for Sustainability" curricular units. This initiative has been developed through a collaborative effort between the professors responsible for both units. The principal aim of the activity is to provide a practical experience that integrates creative tourism and the objectives of sustainable development in a meaningful way. At the beginning of the academic semester, the class is divided into groups comprising three to five students. Each group is tasked with devising an interactive activity to be conducted by the remaining classmates in one of the environmental education facilities located within the city of Vila Real (north of Portugal). The preparation of the activity entails a range of activities, including online research, creative brainstorming, and site visits to the selected facility. On the designated day, between the hours of 9am and 7pm, the groups undertake a series of activities, each lasting one hour, and walk from one place to another, including, among others, UTAD's Geology Museum, the headquarters of the Alvão Natural Park, and the Vila Real Science Centre. All the activities promote the actual participation of students as visitors, reinforcing the current trend of creative tourism, where tourists are not mere spectators, but active participants. This project is noteworthy for its integration of innovative techniques and content in environmental education with the development of socio-cultural animation skills. The application of theoretical knowledge (hard skills) in practical situations enables students to develop a range of skills concurrently, including those related to organisation, communication, problem-solving, critical thinking and creativity (soft skills). This experiential and transdisciplinary learning format not only prepares students for future professional challenges but also fosters their critical awareness of the environment and encourages them to play an active role in its preservation and care. The experiences created and lived through during the course of a single day serve to reinforce the importance of sustainable practices and environmental awareness for these future socio-cultural animation professionals.

Acknowledgement:
This work was supported by national funds through the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT – Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, I.P.), under the projects UIDB/04011/2020 (CETRAD; https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04011/2020) and UIDB/04033/2020 (CITAB; https://doi.org/10.54499/UIDB/04033/2020).

Keywords:

Critical thinking, pedagogical innovation, sustainable development goals, hard skills, soft skills, undergraduate education.