IGCAT President Greg Richards and Director Diane Dodd visited UNESCO in Paris this week to discuss the role of gastronomy as intangible heritage and UNESCO support of IGCAT activities. The conversation with Cécile Duvelle, Chief of Section, Intangible Cultural Heritage Section and Giovanni Scepi, explored areas of mutual interest between
On 13th May i2CAT Foundation, in collaboration with the Universitat Internacional de Catalunya (UIC), organised the first RICHES activity in Barcelona. The workshop brought together representatives of the RICHES project, academics and students from the UIC, representatives of the Network of Common Interest affiliated in the project and several external
The rising profile of local fairs as vehicles for developing cultural identity and generating economic leverage is clear everywhere and this is also the case in Catalonia. According to the latest newsletter for Catalan Fairs “ During 2014, a total of 449 trade fairs are planned in Catalonia. Of these, just
The European Region of Gastronomy title is a new European award that will recognize innovation and integration in gastronomy, culture, arts and tourism. The regions awarded the title should demonstrate their uniqueness through food, drink and hospitality with innovative development of culture, gastronomic experiences, and art or artistic expressions. The
The fifth European Cultural Capital Report adds to and compliments a whole set of previous reports that began with an evaluation report produced for the European Commission (Palmer Report, 2004) and then subsequent European Cultural Capital Reports, volumes I (2007) II (2009), III (2011) and IV (2012). The fact that
IGCAT is pleased to inform you of our new collaboration in the EUHeritage Tour project. The EUHeritage Tour is a project focused on the UNESCO World Heritages site tourism and was created on September 2013. The aim of the project is to contribute to the differentiation of the European tourism
The Assistant Director-General for Culture of UNESCO, Francesco Bandarin, has congratulated IGCAT on its recent creation. IGCAT aims to promote food experiences as a component of living heritage. In a letter addressed to IGCAT, both the Director and President are invited to a meeting with the Chief of Intangible Culture
IGCAT fully endorses that the European Parliament’s Committee on Culture and Education has adopted an own-initiative report by Santiago FISAS AYXELA (EPP, ES) on European gastronomic heritage: cultural and educational aspects. The report outlines both educational aspects and cultural aspects. This is a timely initiative and one that signals the
The conference Città ri-visitate. Nuove idee e forme del turismo culturale (The city re-visited: New concepts and forms of cultural tourism) held in Bergamo, Italy on March 13th and 14th examined the rapidly changing nature of cultural tourism in Italy and the rest of Europe. A particular focus of attention
Prof. Greg Richards, President of IGCAT, attended the recent ITB tourism fair in Berlin where there was plenty of evidence of the growing convergence between gastronomy, culture and tourism. A vast number of national and regional tourism stands were offering gastronomy-related tourism products (and many were of course also handing
David Simon and Eva Rico Pachón visited IGCAT’s newly establish offices in Sant Pol de Mar to discuss the challenges of developing micro-businesses with new food markets. David and Eva have been producing high quality beer for several years and would like to expand however the costs are prohibitive for
IGCAT experts, Robert Palmer and Mary Miller paid a visit to Plovdiv last week to support their bid for European Capital of Culture 2019. During the visit in Bulgaria they provided advice, help and support to thePlovdiv 2019 Foundation and City stakeholders, in order bring our the best in the bid
IGCAT experts, Robert Palmer and Mary Miller paid a visit to Plovdiv last week to support their bid for European Capital of Culture 2019. During the visit in Bulgaria they provided advice, help and support to the Plovdiv 2019 Foundation and City stakeholders, in order bring our the best in
IGCAT expert, Diane Dodd was invited as part of a small circle of experts engaged with exploring new co-operation models for integrating culture in external relations, hosted by the ifa (Institut für Auslandsbeziehungen) and More Europe, at the Goethe-Institut in Brussels. With the premise that Europe must not be seen merely
The Destination Europe 2020 Conference, convened by the European Travel Commission (ETC), gathered over 100 delegates from all over Europe to consider the future of tourism in Europe towards 2020. An important element of these deliberations was gastronomy – identified by the ETC as a major pan-European theme for tourism
A meeting organised by the ATLAS Tourism and Gastronomy Group with the support of the International Institute for Gastronomy, Culture, Art and Tourism (IGCAT) in Ponte de Lima, Alto Minho, Portugal, 29-30 May 2014 In recent years the relationship between food and tourism has grown ever closer: food has become one of the
