National courses on “Mediterranean Diet”
The Association of Albanian Municipalities within the project “Mediterranean Diet” organized the first of national courses on the Mediterranean Diet – an opportunity for local development. The first meeting was held on 17 July 2020 in the pilot area of Zadrima, Lezhe.
The aim was to provide participants with knowledge on the “Mediterranean Diet”, as well as the promotion of tradition, gastronomy, natural landscape, cultural heritage, tourism; where sustainable agricultural, livestock, fisheries and gastronomy patterns are linked to regional development, which increases socio-economic opportunities, especially in rural areas. Participants came from local public authorities (Lezha Municipality), academia (professional schools), tourism organizations and business operators.
The Mediterranean Diet is an integral part of the Mediterranean identity. The Mediterranean Diet is part of the list “Representatives of the Cultural Heritage of Humanity”. It includes a range of skills, knowledge, rituals, symbols and traditions related to cultural identity, natural landscape, heritage and lifestyle and ways of promoting to characterize a strong economy.
But many rural Mediterranean regions seem to underestimate these values and suffer the natural and demographic handicaps caused by a lack of awareness of the economic potential of the Mediterranean Diet.
The main goal of the project is to explore the Mediterranean Diet according to the UNESCO Mediterranean Diet Convention, by preserving the unique tradition and promoting innovations in the Mediterranean diet. The project promotes two measures: traditional and creative, to start the quadruple stakeholder cooperation of Mediterranean collaborators to raise the Mediterranean diet economy to new quality levels.
