The European Region of Gastronomy 2017 award ceremony took place during the European Commission’s Food Tourism Week at Expo Milan 2015. The ceremony which was hosted by DG Growth was opened by Silvia Draghi, Head of Policy for the Directorate General for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship and SMEs, Mauro Paroloni, Lombardy Regional Commissioner and Dr.Diane Dodd, Executive Director of IGCAT. Three new regions will be awarded the title European Region of Gastronomy 2017, these are Aarhus/Central Denmark Region, Riga-Gauja Region and East Lombardy Region. The award was presented to partners from each region by Professor Dr. Jordi Tresserras from the University of Barcelona. Prof Dr. Tresserras is former co-ordinator of IBERTUR-Network of Heritage, Tourism and Sustainable Development and Founder Member of the Scientific Committee in Heritage Interpretation for ICOMOS. He also provides expert consulting services in the field of cultural and gastronomy tourism for different international organisations such as: Agencia Española de Cooperación Internacional, Council of Europe, UNESCO and the EU.
