Last week, Dr Tony Johnston and Dr Noëlle O’Connor from the Technological University of the Shannon (Ireland) travelled to Sofia, Bulgaria, to participate in the annual Businet Network Conference, one of Europe’s leading gatherings for higher education institutions engaged in international collaboration, teaching innovation, and industry partnerships.
A key highlight of the Tourism Working Group session was the presentation of the Erasmus+ KA2 Project Food Eco-Culture Edu, an initiative dedicated to integrating sustainability, food heritage, and cultural identity into tourism and hospitality education. The project aims to equip students, educators, and industry partners with the tools and knowledge needed to promote more sustainable approaches to food tourism across Europe.
During the Tourism Working Group session, Tony and Noëlle outlined the project’s goals, current progress, and upcoming outputs, including digital learning resources, community–university collaborations, and best practice frameworks for embedding sustainable food cultures into curricula. The presentation sparked excellent discussions among Businet members, many of whom expressed interest in future collaboration and knowledge exchange.