Stakeholders Forum was held in Brno on the involvement of local actors in the promotion of gastronomic heritage

Within the Slow Food Central Europe project financed by Interreg Central Europe, a seminar was held in Brno, Czech Republic on the topic of involving local actors in the promotion of gastronomic heritage.

The city of Krakow (Poland), Dubrovnik (Croatia), Kecskemét (Hungary), Venice (Italy) and Brno (Czech Republic) are involved in the Slow Food Central Europe project. Throughout 2019, each city is set to test innovative and socially-oriented solutions that promote the gastronomic heritage in public space by implementing five so-called pilot actions. Actions mean a specific activity in line with the philosophy of Slow Food, which aims to support the specific characteristics of local gastronomy, its roots and cultural heritage.

At the Stakeholders Forum titled "Involvement of local actors in the promotion of gastronomic heritage: Critical issues and solutions for the development of a transnational strategy", pilot actions of all participating cities were presented, as well as discussion on how food and gastronomy can be important tools for local sustainable development strategies.

Ivo Kara-Pešić from the Croatian Kinookus Society presented planned activities in Dubrovnik entitled "Food as a bridge between tangible and intangible heritage." "Taste and gastronomic experiences at the Green market in Kecskemét" was presented by Beáta Borbéla, a representative of the town of Kecskemét. The activities that will take place in Brno under the title "Learn to taste the diversity of South Moravia" was presented by Tom Václavík from Slow Food Brno. Szymon Gatlik, a representative of the city of Krakow, reflected on the possibilities of gastronomy in tourism in his presentation entitled "Gastronomic heritage: a chance to balance the negative consequences of modern tourism". The possibilities of using gastronomy in regional development were presented by Isabella Marangoni from Italian Venice in her lecture "Food and Gastronomy as Key Drivers for Sustainable Local Development Strategies". Vít Hrdoušek of the Strážnicko LAG in his lecture "Short supply chains, local products and the development of South Moravian territory from the perspective of the LAG" also addressed this topic. The lecture program was closed by Linda Jelínková, Head of the Marketing and Tourism Department of the City of Brno.