Staff in Atlantic Technological University (ATU ) recently hosted the inaugural gathering of a new EU-funded research team tasked with educating and training students and staff in 'Sustainability in culinary practices: tradition and innovation towards a sustainable future' – called the SCOOK Project.
The first in-person gathering, which took place in Galway last month, was attended by academics from ATU’s Galway International Hotel School; Mediterráneo Culinary Center, Valencia, Spain; Lycée Jesse de Forest, Avesnes sur Helpe, France; and University St Kliment Ohridski Bitola, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality, Ohrid, North Macedonia.
Co-funded by the EU's Erasmus+ programme, the three-year SCOOK Project aims to increase awareness of sustainability in culinary education and training in the partner institutions and their regions, as well as nationally and internationally. The team will conduct cross-sectional survey 'snapshots' to assess sustainability awareness among students, staff, and external stakeholders from the hospitality, restaurant and catering sector; they will develop a multilingual, interactive teaching and learning resources supported by a handbook, host transnational webinars to discuss traditional and innovative cooking methods and sustainability, and disseminate their findings to their communities in the culinary and hospitality sector in the partner universities and European regions.
The project is led by the Irish team from ATU – Dr Sarah Berthaud, lecturer in French (project lead ), Dr Francesco Noci, Mary Reid, Eamonn Hoult and Ulrich Hoeche. It is part of the KA202 Erasmus SCOOK project which has been awarded €250,000 for the period 2022 to 2025.
Workshops and presentations were held throughout the five-day gathering in Galway city. These included sustainability approaches in the context of seafood and meat production; sustainable marine resources and plastic pollution in the ocean; and the integration of sustainability into all aspects at ATU including the new strategic plan. Other workshops focused on survey design, interactive teaching and learning resources, multilingual resource development and communications to support the delivery of the project.
The week concluded with a visit to sustainable local producers including Teresa Roche of Kylemore Farmhouse Cheese, who produces premium Swiss-style cheese made from the milk of her grass-fed pedigree dairy herd, and Diarmuid Kelly of Kelly Oysters, a family business farming oysters in the pristine waters off Galway Bay for more than 60 years, and exporting their produce around the globe.
“This innovative project is a great way to produce teaching materials that will help increase sustainability in culinary education and beyond," said Dr Sarah Berthaud of ATU. "Too often people want to be sustainable but are not sure on how to proceed. SCOOK will address this.”
For further information on this initiative, contact Dr Sarah Berthaud, lecturer in French, Galway International Hotel School, ATU Galway city, via email at [email protected].
For further information on the SCOOK project see scookerasmusplus.weebly.com
For further information about ATU’s Galway International Hotel School, see www.gmit.ie/hotel/galway-international-hotel-school
