Italia-Croatia

Introduction

In this section you can find all the deliverables produced by TESTEAT project.

The TESTEAT project collaborates across the Italy-Croatia border to transform regional Eno-gastronomic heritage into a key driver for sustainable and inclusive tourism. It modernizes hospitality training by equipping students and professionals with essential skills in digitalization, circular economy, and food waste reduction and inclusive cuisine. By adapting traditional regional recipes for special dietary needs like gluten-free, lactose-free, added sugar-free, vegetarian or vegan diets, it ensures local food culture is accessible to all travellers.

TESTEAT at a glance: watch the Video 

Enogastronomy heritage and food&wine behavior patterns in tourism (WP1)

TESTEAT studied the eno-gastronomy heritage of Veneto, Friuli Venezia Giulia, Istria and Durbovnik-Neretva County, identifying key, emblematic, traditional dishes and beverages. After analysing the trends in travellers’ preferences about dietary styles and consumptions of food & beverage, created a set of variations of the traditional recipes, that are suitable for the most frequent “free-from” diets.
The TESTEAT online tool guides restaurants and travellers in discovering alternative versions of traditional regional recipes adapted for different consumption habits or needs. 

• Mapping of traditional food & beverage 
• Survey about food&wine tourism
• Tourism behavious patterns
• Inclusive versions of traditional food&beverage: https://testeat.eu/en/testeatools/ and PODCAST
• Blueprint of inclusive traditional food&wine offer
• TESTEAT online tool: https://testeat.eu/en/recipes 
• Inclusive recipes framework
• Scientific publications

TESTEAT online tool

With the support of UNIPU and UNIVE, AZRRI has developed an online tool designed to boost the creation of an innovative range of tourist offerings, tailored to the needs of today’s consumers and tourists. This online tool features a selection of traditional recipes from the regions involved, adapted to specific dietary requirements or habits such as: gluten-free, lactose-free, low glycaemic index, vegetarian and vegan, whilst preserving the local culinary culture.

Capacity building (WP2)

TESTEAT created two sets of guidelines and didactic materials for improving skills in Vocational Training Schools and workforces in the Hospitality and Restaurant sector about sustainability, digitalisation and inclusiveness of food&beverage offer through the adaptation of menus to special dietary styles. 
TESTEAT trained trainers and facilitators and then organised workshops with students and workforces. Some participants were interviewed to bring their point of view on the experience.
Students shared a joint learning experience by participating to three cross-border exchange camps: one in Pula, one in Venice and one in Trieste. The cross-border exchange camp in Trieste ended with a student competition.

(D.2.1.1.) Guidelines and didactic materials for secondary vocational schools 
Set of guidelines and didactic materials dedicated to teachers, trainers and students from Vocational Education and Training Schools in the sector of Hospitality, Restaurants and Catering.

(D2.1.2) Virtual/hybrid training for trainers
Videos of the joint training sessions, didactic materials and self-learning materials. 

• Zero waste and sustainable menus representing gastronomy heritage (Mod.1-Sess.1)
• Prevention of food waste and menus enhancing fermented food (Mod. 1 – Sess. 2)
• Welcoming clients with special dietary requirements (Mod.2 – Sess.1)
• Tasty for everyone: how to manage gluten free offer and smart options suitable for most frequent special dietary styles (Mod.2 – Sess.2)
• Digital marketing and food photography: light as main ingredient of a food picture (Mod. 3 – Sess.1)
• Digital marketing and food photography: food picture editing (Mod. 3 – Sess.2)

Self learning materials:

• Theme 1 – Digitalisation
• Theme 2 – Special food choices
• Theme 3 – Sustainability and zero waste

(D2.1.4) Video interviews with students from secondary vocational schools 

• Video interviews with students from Caorle (VE) - Italy
• Video interviews with students from Cividale del Friuli (UD) - Italy
• Video interviews with students from Dubrovnik - Croatia

(D.2.2.1.) Guidelines and didactic materials for university and tourism workforce education
Set of guidelines and didactic materials dedicated to facilitators, professionals and Higher education students in the sector of Hospitality, Restaurants and Catering.

(D.2.2.4) Video interviews with tourism workforce

• Video interviews with workforces from Venice - Italy
• Video interviews with workforces from Pula - Croatia
• Video interviews with workforces from Ston - Croatia

O.2.1 Students exchange camps
O.2.1 Joint training and vocational activities

Cross-border exchange camps for higher education students to visit relevant experiences in sustainable tourism and attend joint training sessions in Pula and Venice

Cross-border exchange camp for students in Vocational Education and Training in the Hospitality and Restaurant sector to attend hands-on cooking classes and participate in a zero waste competition Trieste.

Virtual/hybrid course for the teachers’ trainers

(D.2.1.2 ) 3 training modules for teachers (10) organised in Italy and online participation of other responsible PPs. Module 1. Sustainability, Circular Economy & Zero Waste; Module 2. Adapting Restaurant Offerings to Consumer Needs; Module 3. Digitalization in the Food Sector

Video interviews with students from secondary vocational schools

(D2.1.4) Video interviews with students from secondary vocational schools:  interviews with students from Cividale del Friuli (UD) - Italy;  from Caorle (VE) - Italy and from students from Dubrovnik - Croatia

Video interviews with tourism workforce

(D.2.2.4) Video interviews with tourism workforce: conversations and interviews with tourism workforces  from Venice - Italy; from Pula - Croatia and from Ston - Croatia

Cross-border exchange camps

(D.2.3.2) Cross-border exchange camps were organised in each country (Croatia and Italy) in Venice, Trieste and Pula. Designed to bridge cultural heritage, modern education, and digital innovation, two of these camps were dedicated to university students, while one focused on vocational education and training (VET) schools. These interactive sessions provided future hospitality, agri-food, and tourism professionals with unique insights into sustainable practices, local culinary heritage preservation, and circular economy principles.

Discover the detailed highlights of these three extraordinary exchange programmes below:

• TRIESTE: Organized by: Scuola Centrale Formazione (SCF) & CIVIFORM Date: September 29 – October 3, 2025

• PULA: Organized by: Juraj Dobrila University of Pula – Faculty of Economics and Tourism “Dr. Mijo Mirković” Date: May 26 – 30, 2025

• VENICE: Organized by: Venice School of Management, Ca' Foscari University of Venice 

Pilot actions (WP3)

The TESTEAT model has been put into practice and tested through five off-season cross-border pilot events to bring together food and wine, culture and sustainability. The piloting has been prepared with the production of guidelines. Lessons learnt from the piloting have been analysed and described in a roadmap that other regions can easily use to build their own green tourism based on the valosiation of local food culture.

(D.3.1.1) Guidelines
TESTEAT developed guidelines to set up public food and drink festivals that are green, welcoming, and celebrate local traditions and make local food culture a strategic tool for sustainable socio-economic development.

(O.3.1.) Integrated Tourism Action
Lessons learnt from organizing local food festivals, itineraries, and workshops across Italy and Croatia presented in a step-by-step guide to help other communities design their own sustainable, green, and welcoming food tourism experiences.
Local heritage is blended with 6 key ingredients:

1. Inclusive Gastronomy with traditional local dishes adapted to travelers with special food needs (like gluten-free, lactose-free, or vegan diets) 
2. Local Value Chains between local restaurants/events with family farms, fishers, and artisan food makers
3. Zero-Waste & Eco-Friendly, Circular Design by removing single-use plastics, sorting trash carefully, minimizing food waste during cooking, and promoting eco-friendly travel options like walking or cycling
4. Teamwork with schools, business owners, local authorities, and community groups to plan and run activities hand-in-hand
5. Sharing Skills and passing the torch to students, that are next generation of culinary and hospitality workers 
6. Connecting Farms to Towns by designing trails and food experiences that encourage tourists to step away from busy, crowded hotspots and discover beautiful, lesser-known farming villages inland.
    

Consolidation and long term plans (WP4)

The last phase of the TESTEAT project looked at the future and legacy of the project.
Its main goal was to ensure that all the sustainable food practices, training programs, and digital tools developed during the project become a permanent, long-lasting part of local tourism in Italy and Croatia. To achieve this goal, partners have jointly designed Guidelines and recommendations, a Strategy and Action plans, a Manifesto and a Transferability plan.

(D.4.1.2) Guidelines and recommendations
These guidelines resume lessons learnt from the research, training, and pilot festivals carried out in the TESTEAT project —along with feedback from local businesses and communities—to help Italy and Croatia build a greener, more welcoming food tourism offer.

(D.4.3.1) – TESTEAT Manifesto
The TESTEAT Manifesto encapsulates key messages, recommendations, and a shared vision to protect and enhance the Adriatic intangible enogastronomic heritage.

(D.4.3.2) – Transferability Plan
The TESTEAT Transferability Plan promotes the long-term dissemination, transfer and replication of the TESTEAT Manifesto by mobilising stakeholders and networks to share good practices, foster policy dialogue and support the adoption of sustainable enogastronomic tourism models across Europe.

O4.1 TESTEAT Strategy and Action Plan, developed, shared and approved by Partners to ensure that the knowledge, methodologies and collaborative experience generated throughout the project continue to create value beyond the project’s lifetime. This document marks the transition from experimentation to long-term implementation by providing a common strategic framework for the future development of sustainable and inclusive enogastronomic tourism in the Italy–Croatia cooperation area.