From local skills needs to practical reskilling pathways in agrotourism and digital accessibility
The Cyprus COOPSKILLS Reskilling Lab is moving from local needs analysis to practical implementation. Work completed so far includes stakeholder coordination, the definition of three skills profiles and the development of six-module training pathways for agrotourism and digital accessibility. The Lab now enters the next phase of validation, outreach and preparation for pilot training with rural SMEs and learners in Cyprus.
Why the Cyprus Reskilling Lab is needed
Across Cyprus, rural and agrotourism businesses are being asked to adapt to digitalisation, changing visitor expectations, accessibility requirements and the green transition. For many small and family-run enterprises, these changes create opportunities, but they also expose practical skills gaps. The Cyprus COOPSKILLS Reskilling Lab Local Roots has been developed to respond to this challenge by connecting local businesses, training actors and public stakeholders around practical reskilling pathways that reflect the realities of rural work.
The Local Roots Lab is coordinated by Eurosuccess Consulting and the Nicosia Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NCCI), with the Cyprus Agrotourism Company contributing sector knowledge and outreach to rural enterprises. The wider local ecosystem also involves public authorities, business organisations, training providers and other stakeholders that can support mobilisation, training, validation and longer-term cooperation. Rather than functioning only as a training programme, the Lab is designed as a local support structure where skills needs can be identified, translated into learning content and tested with the people who will use it.
The starting point was a needs analysis with rural and agrotourism SMEs. The businesses consulted were mainly small, locally rooted enterprises, many of them family-run and operating with limited staff. The analysis highlighted barriers such as limited financial resources, lack of technical knowledge, restricted access to training and insufficient guidance on digital and accessibility standards. This helped frame the challenge in Cyprus not simply as sectoral decline, but as a competitiveness and adaptation gap. Agrotourism was identified as an area with potential to connect traditional rural activity with tourism, hospitality, local food, cultural heritage and experience-based services.
This evidence has shaped the direction of the Reskilling Lab. Its mission is to support rural and agrotourism businesses in becoming more competitive, inclusive and digitally capable while preserving local identity and sustainable tourism practices. Training priorities were therefore linked directly to the needs identified through the local research: digital readiness for day-to-day operations, digital marketing and online visibility, the use of booking and communication platforms, accessibility and inclusive tourism, customer service, website and user experience, and practical green skills for rural tourism businesses.
From planning to implementation
An important step in moving from research to implementation took place in July 2026, when Eurosuccess Consulting and NCCI held a dedicated coordination meeting to review the Cyprus Reskilling Lab report, the mobilisation and awareness-raising materials, the presentation of the Lab and the proposed skills profiles. The meeting also clarified NCCI’s role in stakeholder outreach, promotion and participation in the Lab activities, while preparing the first formal meeting of the local operating structure. Later in July, the first Cyprus Reskilling Lab meeting brought the local partners together to discuss governance, roles, target groups, training priorities, communication and the immediate steps required for implementation.
Turning needs into skills profiles and training
One of the most concrete outputs so far is the development of three skills profiles for the Cyprus pathway: Agrotourism Services Coordinator, Digital Accessibility Assistant and Digital Accessibility Coordinator. These profiles respond to different levels of responsibility while sharing a common focus on digital readiness, accessibility, inclusive visitor experience and cooperation with local stakeholders. The profiles also include transversal competences such as communication, problem-solving, adaptability and the ability to work with SMEs, municipalities, trainers and tourism actors.
The next stage has been to translate these profiles into structured training content. Six-module learning pathways have been prepared for each of the three profiles. For the Agrotourism Services Coordinator, the modules address Cyprus agrotourism, visitor experience, business operations, digital promotion, accessibility, sustainability and an integrated workplace scenario. The Digital Accessibility Assistant pathway focuses on practical support tasks such as identifying common barriers, preparing accessible content, using checklists and reporting findings. The Digital Accessibility Coordinator pathway goes further into planning, testing, coordination and the management of accessibility improvements within small tourism businesses.
The training approach is intentionally practical. For example, the Agrotourism Services Coordinator pathway includes an integrated scenario based on a fictional small rural tourism business in the Troodos area. Learners may need to respond to inconsistent booking information, unclear accessibility details, limited staff capacity or sustainability-related operational decisions. Instead of only recalling theory, they are asked to verify information, identify who is affected, communicate accurately, assign responsibility and consider the operational, digital, accessibility, sustainability and ethical implications of their choices. This type of scenario-based learning is intended to make the training more transferable to real SME environments.
Participation and next steps
The work completed so far also shows that successful reskilling depends on more than the quality of the curriculum. Participation by small employers, workers in transition, unemployed adults and lower-skilled groups requires trusted local communication and practical incentives. For this reason, the Cyprus Lab is also developing an outreach approach based on existing SME networks, local contacts, targeted invitations and feedback on preferred training formats. The aim is to make participation relevant to real business and employment needs rather than relying only on broad awareness campaigns.
The Cyprus COOPSKILLS Local Roots Lab is still moving towards its pilot implementation phase. The immediate priorities are to continue reviewing and validating the training material, strengthen stakeholder participation, prepare outreach to SMEs and learners, and organise the delivery and piloting of the reskilling pathways. The progress to date provides a practical foundation: local needs have been mapped, an operating structure has been established, three skills profiles have been defined and the corresponding training pathways are being prepared for use. The next phase will test how effectively this local cooperation can translate into measurable skills development for rural businesses and workers in Cyprus.
