What an incredible week for the RESKILL team! Our international partnership came together for our third onsite meeting — and for the very first time, we had the pleasure of hosting everyone here in Finland. We couldn’t be more grateful for how it all came together — from productive partner discussions to the excitement of running our first-ever pilot trainings with real learners.
Two Days of Sharing and Planning Together
The week started on Monday and Tuesday at Laurea’s Leppävaara campus, where the project partners came together for our partner meeting. We reviewed our progress, discussed the way forward, and had plenty of great conversations along the way. It’s always energising to sit around the same table with colleagues from across Europe and feel the shared enthusiasm for what we’re building together.
Pilot Trainings — Fully Booked and Full of Energy
From Wednesday to Friday, the action moved to Laurea’s Tikkurila campus, where we delivered three days of intensive, hands-on pilot training for unemployed immigrants looking to enter the hospitality and tourism sector. Participants could take part in all three training tracks or choose the ones most relevant to them.
The demand was clear — all spots were booked well before the training even began, with close to 60 enthusiastic learners signing up! The three tracks covered Soft Skills for the hospitality sector, a beginner-level Finnish language course tailored to the restaurant context, and Hygiene Pass preparation. The energy in the classrooms was truly something special.
First Users of the RESKILL
One of the week’s biggest highlights came when the training participants became the very first people to try out the RESKILL Skills Test and create their profiles in the upcoming RESKILL application. Watching them interact with the tools we’ve been building gave us invaluable feedback — and a real sense of pride in how far we’ve come.
Looking Ahead with Confidence
This week confirmed what we’ve believed from the start: the demand for accessible, practical training pathways into the hospitality sector is very real, and the people joining our programmes are motivated, brave, and ready to learn. We now carry fresh insights and feedback that will help us continue refining the RESKILL training modules and digital tools.
A warm thank you to everyone who made this week so memorable — our wonderful project partners from Laurea: Kristina Henriksson, Päivi Mantere, Heidi Vähänikkilä, Jami Riihihuhta, Marjukka Turunen, Saara Laakso, and Kati Pohjanmaa; Eppu Ylälahti, Tuukka Ylälahti, and Aino Vuokola from Mesensei; Daiva Labanauskaitė, Zita Krukonyte-Tery, Britta Thege, Marike Schmeck, Maria del Pilar Leal Londoño, Ekaterina Shebanova, Maria Chiara De Angelis, Nadia Cipullo, Magdalena Bergmann, and Dominika Soboczynska-Szpiczynska, and our partner the City of Vantaa.
And a very special thank you goes to all the wonderful learners who joined our pilot trainings. Your openness, enthusiasm, and courage to step into something new truly made this week unforgettable. You are the reason this project exists, and we are so grateful to have you on this journey with us.
This is just the beginning!
The RESKILL project addresses the labour shortage in the EU hospitality and tourism sector by identifying skill gaps and bridging them through micro-training and international matchmaking between job seekers and employers.
