IGCAT is back after the Christmas holidays and in full expectation that it will be an exciting new year for everyone! This year is an exciting one – it is the first year that regions host the title European Region of Gastronomy, with a whole range of events taking place for the first time in 2016 in Catalonia, Spain, and Minho, Portugal. This year will also see the competitions for regions hoping to host the title in 2018 and 2019. If you are interested in the European Region of Gastronomy project please visit www.europeanregionofgastronomy.org and/or download our Information Guide. This year we will be hosted in North Brabant, the Netherlands, Aarhus/Central Denmark region and Sibui in Romania.
We also have many other projects and events lined up for this year including seminars on European Capitals of Culture and European Region of Gastronomy plus training courses on local and regional development, cultural and food events management, destination management and sustainable tourism.
We are also pleased to introduce the new interns that will make an important addition to the members of the team, Estefanía Coral Andrade, from Colombia, and Pamela Ferrando, from Italy.
Our current international team now includes:
Diane Dodd
Director – IGCAT, Spain
Diane Dodd is Director of IGCAT and the European Region of Gastronomy Platform and Award. She is also European coordinator for the global network IFACCA (International Federation of Arts Councils and Cultural Agencies). She leads an MA course in Cultural Institutions and Policies for the International University of Catalonia in Barcelona, and an MA course on Events and Destination management for EUHTSTPol. She is an independent evaluator for the Cultural Routes programme of the Council of Europe and editor of a number of Cultural Policy and Cultural Management publications for the European Cultural Foundation (ECF). She is co-author of the third, fourth, fifth and sixth European Capitals of Culture Reports (published by ATLAS in 2015, 2014, 2012 and 2011). She has provided expert advice to Arad 2021, Plovdiv 2019, Fundación Valletta 2018 and Fundación Burgos 2016 in preparation for their respective bids to be European Capital of Culture and is currently engaged as a consultant with Rhodes 2021, Greece. Diane has worked in the cultural policy and management field for over 20 years and maintains relations with a number of important Global and European Institutions. SEE FULL PROFILE
Davinia Galea
Deputy Director – IGCAT, Malta
Davinia Galea has recently been appointed Deputy Director of IGCAT (International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism) after working in the cultural sector for more than thirty years in various roles including musician, cultural event producer, policy maker and CEO. In 2014 she set up a company, ARC Research and Consultancy, which has been appointed as the Malta Hub, the local contact point for the European Festivals Association (EFA) project Europe for Festivals, Festivals for Europe (EFFE). She was one of the leading authors and drivers behind the cultural policy for Malta and major contributor to the bid for Malta hosting the World Summit on Arts and Culture and Valletta’s successful bid to be European Capital of Culture 2018. She is also the former Executive Director of the Malta Council for Arts and Culture. SEE FULL PROFILE
Jordi Vegas
Office and Projects Manager – IGCAT, Spain
Jordi Vegas is the Office and Projects Manager at IGCAT. He is finishing his Bachelor in Tourism (Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Barcelona) and has focused his interests in Local development and Sustainable Tourism.
His joining IGCAT’s team to contribute, support and improve the European Region of Gastronomy project as he believes that Gastronomy is a way to preserve local culture and develop a prosper region as well as a way to approach different regions in Europe.
Estefanía Coral Andrade
Research Officer – IGCAT, Colombia
Estefanía Coral Andrade is a the new Research Officer at IGCAT. She has a bachelor in gastronomy at Universidad de La Sábana in Bogotá, Colombia. After this, she worked with Leo Espinosa’s Foundation where her passion on sustainable development, food culture and favor trade were born. Right now she is carrying out a Master in Cultural Management at International University of Catalonia in Barcelona.
Pamela Ferrando
Research and Projects Officer – IGCAT, Italy
Pamela Ferrando is the new Researcher and Projects Officer at IGCAT. After graduating at the University of Genova in Foreign Languages applied to Cultural Services, she is currently studying International Tourism and Local Governance at the University of Bergamo. Her interests revolve around the connections between local cultures (including traditions, events, arts, gastronomy) and tourism.