Traditions, Recipes And Cuisines of Europe Using Smartphones (TRACEUS) project is a living laboratory of social and technological activities. It promotes knowledge and new technology skills through culinary traditions. The partnership brings together Dublin City University (DCU) from Ireland, Tulip Foundation from Bulgaria, E-Seniors: initiation des seniors aux ntic association from France, Universidad de Castilla - la Mancha from Spain, Centre for advancement of research and development in educational technology (CARDET) from Cyprus and MEDITER - Reseau Euro-Mediterraneen pour la cooperation a.i.s.b.i. from Belgium.
The main aim of the project is to increase social integration by supporting local adult learners from different background aged 55+ to improve their ICT skills through sharing culinary traditions.
In the contemporary world of technology, preserving our cultural heritage and promoting cultural diversity is important and necessary. A country's cuisines reflect its unique history, lifestyle, values, and beliefs. It includes inter-cultural exchanges via centuries and connects generations and communities. Food can be a bridge that helps immigrants find their place in a new society and can bring people together across cultures. Elaboration of the cultural significance of food and eating will focus on social values, meanings, beliefs and sharing and not on dietary requirements and nutritional values.
New and innovative training curriculum and online platform will be developed to empower older adults to become authors and movie makers using new technologies and developing innovative digital culinary materials via their smartphones in the form of small online videos. They will be with free access and will be presented at national events together with specially developed guidelines for NGO representatives working with older people to raise their competencies and to disseminate and multiply the project results.
The project is funded in the frame of Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission. The activities will take place in all six countries from 2020 to 2022.
TRACEUS monthly newsletters:
During the last two years we work on a project for social and digital inclusion of older people. Our country, unfortunately, is lagging behind on these important for the quality of life areas. Just training on using technologies is too dully and not related with the daily routine of older people. So we approached it through the theme European Traditions, receipts and kitchen using smartphones.
On 28 October at the Sofia LAB hall of Association for Development of Sofia we presented the activities and the results of the project. With us we had some participants from Sofia, Trud village and Dolni Vadin Village, who shared their impressions and stories. Yanka Konstantinova told us about the tradition and the song for meeting the best man in the day of the wedding, closely linked with the receipt that are still followed up to this day in the village. We watched together some video receipts, created by older women in Bulgaria, Cyprus and France. There was lively discussion about the products and the way of cooking.
The Bulgarian participants who created and shared their own video receipts received a bunch of kitchen cutlery. At the end of the day we all agreed that digital skills are important in the contemporary world, but face to face meetings are essential part of life.
TRACEUS project is implemented in partnership with Dublin City University (DCU) from Ireland, E-Seniors: initiation des seniors aux ntic association from France, Universidad de Castilla - la Mancha from Spain, Centre for advancement of research and development in educational technology (CARDET) from Cyprus and MEDITER - Reseau Euro-Mediterraneen pour la cooperation a.i.s.b.i. from Belgium with the support of Erasmus+ Programme of the European Commission.
