Enhancement of gastronomy tourism potential of small traditional food producers & increasing cultural awareness of EU & national gastronomic heritage

The aim of the project was to design an accessible, free, multimodal European training course to enable small-scale producers, entrepreneurs, trainers and students to acquire the key skills needed...

The aim of the project was to design an accessible, free, multimodal European training course to enable small-scale producers, entrepreneurs, trainers and students to acquire the key skills needed to create sustainable tourist offers based on local gastronomic heritage. The idea was to : - Strengthen the key skills of local farmers, family producers of traditional food and drink and small tourism stakeholders in gastronomic tourism, entrepreneurship and digital marketing, - increase cultural awareness among local communities and businesses of the importance and value of intangible gastronomic heritage for the benefit of the whole community - develop lasting partnerships between local players in order to establish operational and sustainable tourism networks.

The project has resulted in the creation of a complete, innovative training pathway available in 6 languages, adapted to the needs of the regions and tested by over 80 users on the basis of a survey carried out at the start of the project, a review of the curriculum to be adopted, the writing and development of content (courses in 10 modules), the development of a guide to gastronomy and cultural heritage to raise awareness of the link between local and regional intangible gastronomic heritage and regional development, and the development of a trainer's manual (including targeted advice and examples of activities). 2 pilot phases (national and international) were implemented, as well as numerous dissemination actions and 5 multiplier events. The partners led 5 transnational project meetings and held numerous online meetings to monitor the progress of the project and its indicators. The content is freely accessible on the project platform and integrated into the future activities of the structures involved. The content developed increases the capacity of target groups to develop their commercial potential through gastronomic tourism.

The project has developed : - a training methodology & a complete curriculum, - a course of 10 theoretical and practical modules (content, case studies, testimonials, activities, quizzes), - a guide to gastronomy and cultural heritage, - a manual for trainers, - an e-learning platform, - a resource repository. A test phase was used to gather feedback from users and improve the tools by bringing together target groups in Spain and at national level in each of the countries. Local and European dissemination activities have also been developed, as well as management activities, in particular the qualitative monitoring of indicators.