Project BASCIL (Innovative Solutions for the Rural Food Production Sector to Diversify into Sustainable Culinary Tourism Services)
Project background
BASCIL was a transnational cooperation project involving 15 partners from 8 countries: Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Germany, Norway, Sweden, and Finland. From Lithuania, the project partners included the Lithuanian Countryside Tourism Association, Association “Klaipėda Region”, and the Lithuanian Centre for Social Sciences.
In recent years, small food producers in rural areas experienced significant economic challenges caused by the pandemic, rising energy prices, and inflation-driven increases in production costs. These factors had a strong impact on the resilience of the local food sector across the Baltic Sea region.
According to the statistics of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the culinary tourism sector has been rapidly growing worldwide. In the Baltic Sea region, interest in local ingredients, traditional food, and culinary tourism experiences also increased significantly. In response to these trends, the project contributed to the development of more attractive culinary tourism offers and services. As the Baltic Sea region has traditionally been less known in Europe as a culinary tourism destination, the active involvement of local food producers in tourism created new opportunities to increase the visibility and attractiveness of regional food experiences for visitors.
Project's goal
The BASCIL project aimed to develop culinary tourism services in rural areas of the Baltic Sea region and strengthen the resilience of local food producers by diversifying their business activities through involvement in the tourism sector.
International cooperation
The project focused on gathering and analysing existing knowledge, experiences, and best practices from across the Baltic Sea region. This cooperation enabled partners to develop sustainable and comprehensive solutions for mitigating various risks faced by local food producers and networks.
By addressing similar challenges together and jointly analysing opportunities, strengths, and weaknesses, the partners created synergies that contributed to the development of flexible and practical solutions for the target groups.
The outputs and results of the project became publicly available and applicable to a broader group of food producers interested in business diversification and culinary tourism development.
Pilot regions and networks from each participating country were involved in the project. In Lithuania, the Association “The Community of Pociūnėliai Town” (Radviliškis district) participated as one of the pilot regions. Contact person - Lina Noreikaitė-Rimkienė, +37061456637, panekelpiai@gmail.com.
Project implementation period is 01.01.2023 – 31.12.2025.
The total budget of the project (8 countries, 15 partners) was EUR 3,348,779.95, of which the support of the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) was EUR 2,389,394.52 and Norwegian funding EUR 181,018.40
Project website - https://interreg-baltic.eu/project/bascil/
We invite you to watch the final Bascil project film, which highlights the project’s objectives, completed activities, and success stories.
Presentation slides of Manual
Manual "Marketing and promotion of common regional culinary tourism products"
Presentation slides of Manual
Lithuanian countryside tourism association contact person:
Kotryna Miliūnė, info@atostogoskaime.lt, +37063557154
This information has been produced with the financial assistance of the European Union. The content of this information is the sole responsibility of the Lithuanian Countryside Tourism Association. It can under no circumstances be taken to reflect the views of the European Union.
