Emanuela Panke

President – Iter Vitis Les Chemins de la Vigne en Europe (Cultural Route of the Council of Europe)

Emanuela Panke is a specialist in cultural tourism, gastronomic heritage valorisation, and international cooperation, with more than twenty-five years of experience in the design, management, and promotion of initiatives related to culture, wine, sustainable tourism, and territorial development.

She holds a degree in Communication Sciences from Sapienza University of Rome and a specialization in Agri-Food Product Marketing from the University of Siena. She gained her first professional experience between Rome and Paris, collaborating with event agencies and the Italian Cultural Institute. Since 2001, she has worked as an independent consultant in place marketing, agri-food heritage enhancement, and sustainable tourism development.

Throughout her career, she has held key positions within the Italian National Association of Wine Cities, where she served as Deputy Director, and within the Italian Wine Union (Unione Italiana Vini), where she coordinated international promotion programmes for Italian wines in foreign markets, with a particular focus on the United States, India, China, and Russia.

Since 2007, she has been actively involved in Iter Vitis – Cultural Route of the Council of Europe, an international network dedicated to safeguarding and promoting Europe’s viticultural heritage. After serving as Secretary General from 2007 to 2016, she became President of the European Federation in 2016. Under her leadership, Iter Vitis has become one of Europe’s leading platforms for the promotion of wine culture, fostering cooperation among public institutions, universities, museums, associations, wine-producing territories, and tourism stakeholders across more than twenty-five countries.

Since 2020, she is recognised as an Expert for IGCAT (International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts, and Tourism).

She has coordinated and participated in numerous European and international projects funded through programmes such as Interreg, Horizon Europe, ENI CBC, Erasmus+, and COSME. Her work focuses on cultural routes, regenerative tourism, digital innovation applied to cultural heritage, wine tourism, gastronomy, and rural development. Her core areas of expertise include European project design and management, international network coordination, strategic communication, place branding, and the valorisation of agri-food value chains as drivers of local development.

She regularly collaborates with international organisations, universities, development agencies, and public institutions. She has provided consultancy services for programmes supported by organisations such as USAID, CISP, Italian regional authorities, local governments, and institutions across the Mediterranean and Eastern Europe, contributing to the development of strategies for sustainable tourism, heritage-led development, and the integration of agri-food cultures into broader socio-economic growth processes.

Over the years, she has conceived and curated exhibitions, conferences, training programmes, educational initiatives, and cultural diplomacy projects throughout Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Latin America. Her work has explored themes such as wine culture, olive oil heritage, coffee culture, rice traditions, truffles, and gastronomy as tools for intercultural dialogue, social innovation, and the construction of territorial identities.

Particular attention has been devoted to the relationship between historical heritage and technological innovation through initiatives that integrate heritage digitalisation, territorial storytelling, augmented reality, experiential tourism, and youth education. Among her most recent projects are Roma Mater Vinorum, dedicated to rediscovering Rome’s historic viticultural heritage, the research and communication activities of the European project CROCUS – Cross-Border Cultural and Creative Tourism in Rural and Remote Areas, and numerous initiatives aimed at promoting Italian cultural and gastronomic heritage internationally.

A writer, curator, and international speaker, Emanuela Panke is the author of numerous articles, scientific contributions, and outreach publications dedicated to wine culture, wine tourism, gastronomic tourism, and cultural routes. Her work focuses on the dialogue between tradition and innovation, demonstrating how cultural and agri-food heritage can become a driver of sustainable development, social cohesion, cultural diplomacy, and economic growth for local communities.