CheeseCulT Info Day
A driving force for rural tourism development
Press Release
The online Info Day of the Hellenic Agricultural Organization – DIMITRA for the CheeseCulT Project was successfully held on Thursday 08/07/2021. The Info Day was also broadcasted live via the CheeseCulT Project Facebook page.
The Info Day started with the Managing Director of ELGO – DIMITRA, Mr. Panagiotis I. Chatzinikolaou greeting the participants. Mr. Chatzinikolaou stressed the importance of the CheeseCulT Project for the organization and how complementary is in the organization’s strategic role. The Director of the Dairy School of Ioannina of ELGO – DIMITRA, Ms. Alexandra Mega also extended a greeting to the participants, referring to the role of the Dairy School, and also to the degree of response to the modern challenges of the cheese production industry sector, especially at local level.
The general overview of the Project, its structure and the meaning of the “Cheese Route” were developed by the Professor of the Department of Agriculture, University of Ioannina and scientific coordinator of the Project Mr. Ioannis Skoufos. Then, Ms. Loulouda Bosnea, Researcher of ELGO – DIMITRA and Mr. Ioannis Skoufos presented the main conclusions of the Diagnosis Study of dairy value chains for the Greek cross border area, as well as the data that resulted from the analysis of local cheeses, which demonstrate their high nutritional value, especially when they are produced using local breeds’ milk.
In the context of the Info Day, Mr. Vaios Kotsios, associate of the Lead Partner, presented with interactive applications the visualization of the geographical and descriptive information of elements that compose the “Cheese Route” at cross-border level. Then, Mr. Tilemachos Bourtzis, associate of the Lead Partner, presented the training seminars that will take place in the context of the CheeseCulT Project, which are addressed mainly to producers / tourism companies, in order to acquire the know-how for their active participation and two-way contribution to the development of the “Cheese Route”. These seminars regard agritourism, cheese production, quality, marketing and culinary innovation.
After the open discussion session, the Info Day was concluded, emphasizing the importance of the participation of directly involved parties in the development process of the “Cheese Route”, as the potential of agri-food is huge and can contribute to the business recovery of the Greece – Albania cross-border area.
For more information on the project and on how to participate in the project activities, you can visit the Project website: https://cheesecult.eu/.