Culture and Communication of Taste Erasmus Project

Project Title

Culture and Communication of Taste

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for school education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2017

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; Creativity and culture; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation

Project Summary

BACKGROUND:
The main theme of the project is Food and Culture. Food must be seen and considered in all its aspects as a form of cultural heritage, a living and dynamic product typical of the contemporary world. Food is one of the key element of culture and economy, a driving factor of the international economy.
Although there are multiple scientific and educational supports on nutrition, few are the contributions addressed to secondary schools aimed at spreading the culture and communication of taste, not simply understood as education to eat well, but as awareness of the linguistic value of nutrition, mirror and at the same time a reflection of society. From the detection of this shortage, transversal to the countries involved, this project idea was born.

PARTNERSHIP COMPOSITION:
3 Universities:
– Italy (University of Palermo)
– Bulgaria (New Bulgarian University – Sofia)
– Lithuania (Kaunas University)
3 Secondary schools of food and wine sector:
– Italy (Ipseoa “I. e V. Florio” Erice) – project coordinator
– Bulgaria (Secondary School of Bread Making and Confectionery – Sofia)
– Lithuania (Food Industry and Trade Training Center – Kaunas)
Gal Elimos: (Calatafimi Segesta – Trapani)
– a local action group committed to the promotion, organization and dissemination of the project’s results.
All the partners had in common a consistent know how in managing project like this, as well as an interest for innovation in didactics and research in the field of food.

GOALS:
– Promoting and spreading the culture and communication of taste in secondary schools specialised in enogastronomy;
– Fostering transnational cooperation between different levels of education and different countries;
– Promoting research in an innovative field such as that of semiotics of food;
– Encouraging international cooperation between the countries involved by putting in contact their educational systems;
– Improving internalization of the involved institutions.

ACTIVITIES:
Several activities were carried out during the project:
– 6 TRANSATIONAL MEETINGS) during which university teachers and schools met each other to plan the project works, researches and analysis, to review and share the project results.
Kick-off meeting in Italy – Erice – (TRAPANI)
Review meeting in Lithuania (KAUNAS)
Analysis Monitoring Meeting in Lithuania (KAUNAS)
Feedback meeting in Bulgaria (SOFIA)
Monitoring meeting in Bulgaria (SOZOPOL)
Research meeting in Italy (PALERMO)

– 3 LTTA (Palermo – Kaunas – Sofia) in which school teachers were instructed on how to test partial results on students.

– 2 MULTIPLIER EVENTS (Sozopol and Erice) during which other schools, experts, academics and entrepreneurs were informed about the results of the project and received ideas for further information.

RESULTS AND IMPACT:
The project had a strong impact and it will have further effects beyond its time limits of the planned actions. The activities carried out made it possible to achieve the expected results, contributing to the achievement of the main priorities of the project and the achievement of further goals not previously planned. Thanks to the Cucota project, the good practices tested and the deepening of the link between semiotic studies and enogastronomy have made it possible to achieve an objective that has added value and quality to the curricula of the coordinator school – IPSEOA of Erice: the birth of a new high school, the Liceo della Comunicazione e della Cultura Enogastronomica, with new innovative curricula, able to train new “practitioners of taste” capable of dissaminate Sicilian food and wine culture around the world.
2021/2022 will be the first school year of the new high school which will help students to develop skills and knowledge to better manage the world of food and wine journalism, food and beverage management and hotel hospitality. The birth of this new high school will also have important results on the town of Erice that coould be considered as a real area of ​​excellence in the field of culture of taste education system. Moreover, there will be a new degree courses on Culture and Communication of Taste at the University of Palermo which could start as early as next year. The other foreign universities involved in the project are already moving in the same direction.

DISSEMINATION:
A detailed dissemination campaign has been activated to increase the public visibility of the project and its results throughout the project lifetime. Press releases and media coverage in Newspapers, TV, radio, social media and specialized magazines have been used to inform on the project activities, milestones and results in order to get the attention at national, regional and local level.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 418214 Eur

Project Coordinator

Istituto Professionale Servizi per l’enogastronomia e l’ospitalità alberghiera & Country: IT

Project Partners

• UNIVERSITA DEGLI STUDI DI PALERMO
• Kauno maisto pramones ir prekybos mokymo centras
• G.A.L Elimos Società Consortile a responsabilità limitata
• Sofia Secondary School of bread making and confectionery
• NEW BULGARIAN UNIVERSITY
• KAUNO TECHNOLOGIJOS UNIVERSITETAS