Coming Soon! 3rd IGCAT Experts Meeting on Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The 3rd IGCAT Experts’ meeting will take place in the framework of Catalonia, European Region of Gastronomy 2016, with three hot topics on the agenda: 1) Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP), 2) new interdisciplinary training opportunities and 3) innovation/entrepreneurship for local development.

IGCAT is a global network of experts interested in the convergence between gastronomy, arts, culture and tourism with the common aim of empowering local communities through guiding, facilitating and supporting cities and regions to recognize and develop their unique potential.

This network, from different countries and disciplines (cultural and tourism managers, professors, researchers, consultants, chefs, local authorities) contributes to the enrichment and further development of dialogue, investigation and activities in this expanding interdisciplinary sector. The annual meetings of IGCAT bring together its members to explore particular concerns, as well as to share and exchange knowledge, expertise, and ideas revolving around these fields of interest.

This year, the IGCAT Meeting will take place in two beautiful locations.

On May 31, the meeting will have its official start in Sant Pol de Mar, home to IGCAT’s secretariat offices, a 3-star Michelin restaurant headed by Carme Ruscalleda, and EUHT StPol, the oldest University School of Hospitality in Spain. During the morning session, the discussion will focus on the highly debated TTIP between Europe and the United States, featuring Mark Jeffery, Analyst and Advisor in Communications and EU Affairs at the European Commission office in Barcelona, that will present arguments in favour of TTIP, and Estefanía Coral, IGCAT Researcher from Colombia, who will make the case against it, presenting the consequences of an analogous agreement between Colombia and the USA. The afternoon will be dedicated to a roundtable session about the convergence of sectors in professional training, capacity building and skills development followed by the IGCAT Annual General Assembly.

On June 1st, IGCAT activities will move to Tossa de Mar, hosting the Euro-Mediterranean Food Tourism Congress; during the first half of the day the experts will explore the theme ‘Innovation and Entrepreneurship in the arts, culture and tourism sectors’, introduced by Lidia Varbanova, author of International Entrepreneurship in the Arts. In the afternoon, Jordi Tresserras, Director of LABPATC - Lab of Heritage and Cultural Tourism at the University of Barcelona, will offer participants a guided visit to the Catalan Cuisine Museum Project where we will also discuss plans to launch an IGCAT Sustainable Food Products Award.