IF YOU WANT TO UNDERSTAND THE FOOD SYSTEM, YOU HAVE TO UNDERSTAND BORNHOLM
Ahead of the Food Festival and the Cooking Competition, Sol over Gudhjem, researchers from the University of Lund & Copenhagen together with Gourmet Bornholm are hosting a large EU meeting in the Food Culture House in Melsted. Here, experts from 15 different organisations in 10 different EU countries will discuss how tourists can contribute to more sustainable and circular thinking in tourist destinations as part of the VERNE project.
There is a long tradition of researchers using field studies to develop theories, models and knowledge. Bornholm is a strong and at the same time manageable example. And it is not just energy that researchers are interested in. Tourism, food, gastronomy and health are also high on the list. For many years, Professor Bent Egberg Mikkelsen has used Bornholm as an example when it comes to understanding why we eat the way we do.
“We started on Bornholm almost 20 years ago, greatly helped by local forces including TV2 Bornholm, local shops, schools, institutions and the municipality with the project’s SoL – Sol (Health & Communities). We established a team with AAU, the Steno Center for Health Promotion and the Research Center for Prevention and Health, and raised the money for a project that would look at how local community actors could do when it comes to helping families and not least young people to live healthier.”
One of the examples of something that came out of the project is the Food School at Paradisbakkeskolen in Nexø, where the researchers, together with committed school professionals and students, began to develop sketches for what later became a nationally known as a “Madskole” – af foodschool.
“Later, together with Gaarden in Melsted and Gourmet Bornholm, we established an annual summer school, where research students from all over the world attend a course every year in late summer to understand healthy and sustainable systems,” concludes Bent Egberg Mikkelsen, who has professorships at AAU, UCPH and most recently at Lund as a background.
Sustainable tourism
An important task for the Verne project is to act proactively against overtourism and promote circular thinking, says project coordinator Edgar Valverde from the institute PNO based on the northern coast of Barcelona, who is the project’s coordinator.
“I myself come from a city that is in full swing discussing a new and more regenerative approach to tourism. Therefore, I am also pleased that Bornholm is proactive and is addressing this discussion about a new circular way of thinking about tourism when it comes to the gastronomic”
One of the areas of work in the VERNE project is to support the work of making it easier to make the circular choice as a tourist. This will be done with digital support and by building on already existing infrastructure – including in collaboration with Gourmet Bornholm:
“Our digital food platform and new website make it easier to find local foods and food experiences. Together with Verne, we will look at how we can expand and strengthen the digital tools.” explains Pelle Nybirk, Head of Secretariat at Gourmet Bornholm. He is looking forward to, together with the researchers from Lund and the University of Copenhagen, hosting the international guests; who, in addition to activities in the Food Culture House, will visit local producers and experience the food island of Bornholm.
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Background Information
EU Verne is the EU’s contribution to getting started with new, more circular and gentler ways of thinking about tourism. It runs in the period 2024 – 2027 and Bornholm has been selected as one of 5 pilot examples. Here, the researchers from Lund and Copenhagen, together with local actors, will develop proposals for solutions that should be more gentle and circular. At the moment, three solutions are being worked on. One where you want to make it easier for tourists to make the right choices with digital support, one where you want to make it easier for tourists to choose local food in the shop and at the restaurant, and one where you want to give local actors and tourists easier access to local gastro experience places while solving specific tasks for the local actors.
The meeting in Gudhjem ends with a panel debate at Gudhjem Smokehouse on Friday 19. June and as a prelude to Sol Over Gudhjem. The debate will take place in English under the title “Food for circular thoughts – how do we cater for the sustainable tourists and travelers of tomorrow”.