SlowFood- living Europe, encouranging the regions Erasmus Project

Project Title

SlowFood- living Europe, encouranging the regions

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 vocational education and training

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2018

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Cultural heritage/European Year of Cultural Heritage; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Key Competences (incl. mathematics and literacy) – basic skills

Project Summary

We carried out our 3-year project with students (17 to ~ 25 years) at 3 vocational schools in the field of nutrition/supply in Germany, Italy and Spain. German and Spanish students qualified in a further training course to become business economists, building on their initial training in gastronomy/housekeeping; the Italian students were in full-time school-based initial training in a gastronomy profession. The project language was English.
Altogether, about 200 students worked actively on the project. For the face-to-face events (LTTA1-4), 10 students from the partner schools travelled to the host school, where all students from the department were involved. At the virtual events, all students of the respective subject area took part. In addition, we were able to get about 1000 more people involved in the project topic at events/through the refectories.
The aim of the project was to teach curriculum contents and to enable first professional experiences – both in an international context. international context. Based on cultural assets in the field of food (traditionally produced food), we raised awareness for the European cultural heritage in general and the need to preserve it.
By making English the language of the project, we developed the students’ foreign language skills (oral/written expression) as well as their personal and social competences. We formed the students into cosmopolitan Europeans who treat each other without prejudice and recognise stereotypes as such. Finally, the students and partner institutions laid the foundation for or expanded their international network. Finally, the students and partner institutions laid the foundation for or expanded their international network, which they can also use in the future privately/professionally.
During the project, the students approached the topic of sustainability in different contexts.They got to know typical sustainable foods of the 3 regions, typical local processing methods and recipes and developed new menu sequences from the traditional products, always with a focus on sustainability and the resulting benefits for people, the environment and nature. This encouraged them to think about their own consumption behaviour.
From the beginning, students and teacher teams regularly exchanged information in video conferences, e-mails or international chats.
Before LTTA1 and 4, subject teachers from the three schools jointly fixed a total of 6 learning areas to be worked on at a project management meeting. We dealt with each topic independently in regular lessons and exchanged experiences virtually internally. Finally, we deepened each topic in LTTAs, put knowledge into practice and expanded it. 4 LTTA took place in presence:
– Getting to know Slow Food and traditional foods of the partner regions
– Planning/implementation of an open day on the topic of sustainability (incl. preparation of suitable menus and information for visitors)
– Comparison of conventional food with comparable sustainable food (raw and end product) in terms of production, consistency and taste as well as their impact on people and nature
– Culinary design of a campaign week on the topic of “international sustainability” in a canteen kitchen (incl. marketing)
We worked on 2 topics exclusively virtually due to covid:
– Planning/implementation of a catering (incl. price calculation/presentation of goods focussing on special groups of people (vegans, coeliacs, etc.)
– Consideration of sustainable food (production) on a global level including the worldwide effects of conventional food production.
In addition, the students got to know cultural goods of the non-food sector during company visits and later virtually.
We observed a positive development in the students towards a more professional, social, language and intercultural competence. They are more tolerant of differences in mentality and reflect critically on their own consumer behaviour and that of their environment. They adapt to new working environments increasingly quickly. They are more interested in our cultural heritage and Europe (also as a labour market).
We made event participants/ kanteen guests more aware of sustainable food. Sustainably producing companies got better known.
Teachers/students want to participate in similar projects; students and institutions have created/expanded their international network, which they can also use professionally in the long term. Through the project, the coordinating school has qualified itself as a global school and established contacts outside Europe, which will be further expanded in the coming years. The topic of sustainability will continue to play a major role here. The Italian school has also committed itself to more sustainability in the long term through a cooperation agreement with Slow Food Italy; the school canteens of all partners are striving – where possible in terms of quantity/price – to continue to use sustainable products in the future.

Project Website

https://slowmus.klaraentdeckt.de/

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 90179,8 Eur

Project Coordinator

Klara Oppenheimer Schule Würzburg & Country: DE

Project Partners

• IES Gregorio Prieto
• Scuola Alberghiera “Cesare Ritz”