Professional Cook, Biologist, Gastronome, Specialist in Environmental Education, Specialist in Food and Beverage Management, Master in Tourism and Environment with the dissertation: Gastronomic Tourism and Cerrado Biodiversity. Professor at UNA University Center.

Professional with a degree in communication, with specializations in management and a master's degree in administration and marketing. She has been working in the communication and management market for over 15 years with proven expertise in the areas of branding and customer relations. Professor and lecturer in administration, gastronomy, marketing and human resources courses.

Graduated in Gastronomy, with Post-Graduation: Quality Management in Gastronomy (Estácio), Teaching and Management of Higher Education (Estácio) and Authorial Gastronomy and Cooking (PUC - RS) and a Master's Degree in Nutrition and Health (UFLA). Professor and Coordinator of the Gastronomy course at Estácio Belo Horizonte.

Sinval Espírito Santo has a Master's Degree in Italian Cucina from ICIF, Doctoral Student in History at UFMG, Professor of Gastronomy at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. Member of the Della Cucina Italiana Academy and of the Mineira Gastronomy Front. Chef do Fubá, he has traveled the world in search of spices, flavors and to represent Brazil in several international events. Cook from Minas, proud of his roots, traditions and "stories", this mixture being the basis that moves his work, questions and passion for cooking.

Engineer, architect and urban planner graduated from UFMG, specialist in higher education didactics and healthy eating with a Masters Degree in Tourism and Environment. Professor at Univeritas-BH and FPM (University of Patos de Minas), former professor at Estácio de Sá, IGA, Senac-MG and UNA.

Professor and coordinator of the bachelor’s degree on Gastronomy at Promove Univserity in Belo Horizonte. Jackson has a Bachelor Degree in Administration and he’s a Technologist in Gastronomy, Food and Beverage Technician, has a Masters Degree in Administration and a specialization in Hotel Administration. He’s also a Professional cook.
 

Focal point of Arequipa (Peru) for the Unesco Network of Creative Cities - Gastronomy, Sergio studied Communication at the Universidad Nacional de San Agustín de Arequipa, with different specialties in Communication for Development, Cultural Management and Sustainable Tourism. He is currently working on the construction of the national network of creative economies in Peru, as well as the implementation of the Latin American gastronomy observatory and the Arequipa healthy eating program, as part of the Arequipa Creative City project initiatives in gastronomy.

Acting for over 35 years in the educational area of the gastronomy and hotel sector, he is considered a gastronomy enthusiast. Puiati never left the dining room, a researcher of Minas Gerais cuisine, idealizer and with a strong entrepreneurial spirit, he stands out not only for his professional training but also for the wide range of educational actions that have become prominent in Brazil and abroad in large gastronomic events that has been participating throughout his career. He is currently acting as a professor, coordinator of the Frente da Gastronomia Mineira - FGM and as a consultant at Sebrae.

Phd in Tourism from the Antonio de Nebrija University of Madrid, Spain. Eduardo has been the focal point of the city of Mérida (Mexico) Creative City UNESCO in Gastronomy, since October 2019. With over 22 years of experience, he has already served as full professor and director from the School of Administration, Marketing and Tourism of the Marista University of Mérida. He owns Orbitur Travel Service, a receptive tourism company responsible for creating and operating organized trips throughout Central America. In 2015 founded Origen Tostadores de Café, a company located in the city of Mérida that roasts and sells fine Mexican coffees. Currently, this company processes more than 15 tons of coffee per year, which are distributed in the Yucatán and in different cities in Mexico.

Trevor Budge is currently the Strategic Projects manager and is the former Manager of Regional Sustainable Development at the City of Greater Bendigo. He played a leading role in Bendigo’s application to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network in the category of Gastronomy. Prior to joining the City in 2013 he was an Associate Professor in Community Planning and Development at La Trobe University following a career in various state and regional organisations and 16 years running his own consulting business.

Anna Knight is Creative Cities manager at the City of Greater Bendigo, coordinating activities for Bendigo’s UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy designation. She helped develop Bendigo’s Creative Industries Strategy and played a key role in researching and bringing together Bendigo’s bid to join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. Before joining the City of Greater Bendigo, she completed a PhD investigating cinematic urbanism, modernism and urban philosophy.

Chef, founder of the Food Culture and Gastronomy Forum of Belo Horizonte.

Graduated from the Catholic University of Santos, he has worked with various segments in the food and beverage area and has worked in French, Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Mexican cuisines and today works in terms of flavors, mixing aromas, flavors and textures, merging caiçara cuisine and regional flavors.

Born in Lucca (Italy), in 1957. Graduated from the University of Pisa (Italy) in Computer Science. From 1982 to 1986 he worked as an educator in Mathematical Modeling and Simulation Courses. From 1985 to 1993, he served as a Visiting Scientist at the IBM Research Lab, USA. Since the early 1990s, he has created several IT companies (Italy, USA, Romania) and the ITKI Foundation, Tucson (AZ -USA), and has been a key player in organizing meetings and in the UNESCO Creative City Declaration - “Declaration of San Cristobal de Las Casas”, 2018. He developed the Creative Knowledge platform used in various projects related to the UNESCO Creative Cities Network (eg breadsofcreativecities.org; frgsw.org; artisanalcheese.org; "Hands at work") to leverage Traditional Knowledge towards to Sustainable Goals ​​UN2030.

Fabián is a Sociologist and has a Master Degree in Project Management, he is currently  an official facilitator of the UNESCO Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, is Secretary of the Management Committee of Portoviejo as a Creative City in Gastronomy of UNESCO, he also serves as head of Transfer of Knowledge of the Research and Interpretation Center "Cerro de Hoja Jaboncillo" of the National Institute of Cultural Heritage, in the city of Portoviejo, province of Manabí, in the Republic of Ecuador. 

Marcelo Wanderley is a cultural producer and gastronomic consultant. He has extensive experience in the segment, having worked in the creation or production of various gastronomic events, such as the Minas Gerais Gastronomy Congress, Fuegos Festival and Prazeres da MESA. Director and creator of CUMBUCCA, Multiplatform of Gastronomic Tourism and Gastronomy. He is executive secretary of the Mineira Gastronomy Front, holds a chair in the Mineira Cuisine Development Plan and is a member of the Mineiraria Curator Council – Casa da Gastronomia Mineira.

Maria Helena de Senna Fernandes came on board the Marketing Department of the Macao Government Tourism Office (MGTO) in 1988 and was appointed as Director of MGTO in December of 2012. Throughout the years she organized many local and overseas tourism exhibitions, conferences, seminars, marketing, and promotional activities of different scale. In 2016, Ms. Fernandes was awarded the Medal of Merit – Tourism by the Macao Special Administrative Region Government.

J. Felipe Garcia has a varied background in tourism, international trade, investments, business transactions and government strategies. Currently, Mr. Garcia serves as the Executive Vice President of Visit Tucson. At Visit Tucson he is responsible for developing and implementing programs to enhance the relationships between Tucson and Mexico. Mr. Garcia also works with the Tucson Film Office to attract film and commercial production to Southern Arizona. In addition to his work at Visit Tucson, Mr. Garcia is board member of several organizations including the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum and the Tucson City of Gastronomy. Recently, he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Board of the Delice Network with representatives from Brussels, Barcelona, Lyon, Stavanger and Cape Winelands.

Emanuele Bolla is the Councilor for Tourism and UNESCO Creative Cities of the Municipality of Alba. Former deputy mayor and councilor for youth and employment policies, he has held the role of counselor since 2019 and in the previous five years he served as city councilor. Entrepreneur and graduate in business administration from the University of Turin, in administrative activity he has developed projects on the subject of biodiversity, sustainability and children's education.

A contributor to the organizing committee and technical secretariat of the D*NA Dénia Gastronomic Festival in the 2017, 2018 and 2021 editions, Vicent Ronda has a degree in Sociology from the University of Alicante (Spain) and Studies in Political Science and Sociology from the Università di Firenze – Italy - Erasmus Grant. Specialist in New Technologies Applied to Social Research. Since 2016 he has been part of the technical team of the Office of Innovation and Creativity (OIC) of the Municipality of Denia (Valencian Community - Spain).

With a degree in tourism, Renato is a microentrepreneur and has worked for 18 years with strategy and project management for micro and small entrepreneurs from various segments, such as tourism, gastronomy, family farming, commerce, services and small industries, entrepreneurial education projects and public policies for small Business.

Social educator, journalist and businesswoman; with a specialization in Political Science at Fiap (Paris, France). She has dedicated her life to local development, integrated city planning, social inclusion and sustainable economic development. He is a member of the Brazilian Chamber of Events Industry, member of the Brazilian Academy of Events and Tourism, where he holds chair 33, member of the CNC Tourism and Hospitality Business Advisory Board, member of the Executive Board of the Federation of Congress and Related Organizing Entities from Latin America – COCAL, president of Associação FloripAmanhã and Focal Point of the UNESCO Program Florianópolis Creative City of Gastronomy.

Dag Hartman works as an international strategist, supporting the Region of Jämtland Härjedalen in European networks and institutions, which includes writing and managing international projects in thematic fields of Culture and Creative Industry, Energy and Eco Efficiency, Demography, Rural Development, Education in national, Nordic and European ERDF programs. As the coordinator of the UCCN UNESCO Creative Cities gastronomy group, Mr. Hartman developed the cluster’s strategy development in order to enhance international cooperation initiatives and also handles global communication within the group of 26 UCCN Member Cities from 17 countries. 

Director World Heritage Office, City of San Antonio (Texas) and UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy Focal Point. Colleen Swain has served as Director of the City of San Antonio’s World Heritage Office since April 2016. The office was established to promote the San Antonio Missions through the implementation of a Work Plan developed with community input. In addition, the office worked with stakeholders to successfully apply to join the UNESCO Creative City Network as a City of Gastronomy in 2017. The Office also manages the program for the historic Mission Marquee Plaza buildings and the Governor's Palace of Spain.

Bernard has been working as a lawyer for 15 years in the areas of Corporate, Civil and Public Law, Contracts, among others. Currently acting as Legal Director and Vice-President of Grupo Uai and Fundação Doimo, formed by companies from the most varied sectors of industry and commerce (UAI Shopping, Doimo Brasil, Uaibank, Mercado de Origem, Mais Invest, Uai Infraestrutura). 

Professor at the University of Brasília, at the Center for Excellence in Tourism UnB - CET. PhD in Rural Development from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS. Author of the book: From our grandmothers' pans to haute cuisine restaurants. Leader of the research group "Gastronomy and (in) Development" and coordinator of the extension project "Pitadas de cerrado".

Professor, academic and program director in Food, Nutrition and Physical Activity, Faculty of Health Sciences, Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC), Barcelona. FoodLab's main researcher. Director of the UNESCO Chair on “Food Culture and Development”. President of the European section of the International Commission on Anthropology of Food and Nutrition (ICAF).

Director of Operations at CDB Produções Gastronômicas and one of the founders of the renowned Concurso Comida di Buteco. She has been operating for 21 years with the contest. Maria Eulália worked in the commercial and marketing areas of communication companies until 2003, when she started dedicating herself exclusively to CDB Produções, where she is one of the founders. Graduated in Public Relations from PUC-Minas (Pontifical Catholic University - BH-MG), Specialization in History of Culture and Art from UFMG (Federal University of Minas Gerais) and Executive MBA in Marketing from ESPM (Superior School of Advertising and Marketing).

Professor at the Federal University of Minas Gerais - UFMG, where he graduated. Master and Doctor of IUPERJ, current IESP, State University of Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Professor at the Ruth Cardoso Chair at Columbia University, New York. Visiting researcher at Harvard, USA, and Oxford, UK. He served as a consultant at the World Bank and IDB and is currently the Municipal Secretary for Economic Development of Belo Horizonte.

Director of the HIP Congress (2017 to 2021) and considered one of the more than 150 influential people in tourism (Sergestur 2020 and 2021) and one of the most influential women in Spanish gastronomy (Traveller 2020 and 2021, Directo al Paladar 2017). Eva Ballarin is a specialist in the Tourism and Hotels, Restaurants and Catering sector. Independent researcher and promoter of trends, innovation and strategy in tourism, with more than 160 lectures. Creator of #WALG - We are ladies & gentlemen, the first podcast in Spanish that analyzes tourism and hospitality with a focus on happiness. Author of the Manual for Neo Hosteleros Valientes (with more than 25,000 downloads). LABe Specialist at the Basque Culinary Center. 

Currently Undersecretary for Food and Nutritional Security of Belo Horizonte, Darklane Rodrigues Dias holds a degree in Social Service from the Catholic University of Minas Gerais, and is a postgraduate student in Public and Legislative Policy. She has experience in managing public policies in the Executive Power and acting in the Legislative Power. She advised the Department of Labor and Social Development, focusing on public policies on food and nutrition security, solidarity economy and family farming, and the Parliamentary Front for the Defense of the Rights of Children and Adolescents of the Legislative Assembly of Minas Gerais - ALMG.

Mariana Aleixo was born in Maré (Rio de Janeiro). She holds a doctorate and master's degree in Production Engineering from the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro - UFRJ and a degree in gastronomy. She coordinates Maré de Sabores and Casa das Mulheres da Maré, Networks da Maré's projects that exist to promote the protagonism of women in the conquest of rights in the territory and offers professional qualification, legal and psychosocial assistance, art and culture projects and produces research with the objective of having an impact on the quality of life of women in Maré. Mariana Aleixo was among the finalists of the “Basque Culinary World Prize” in 2020.

Graduated in Design, Teresa has always had cooking as her passion. During the time she lived in London she deepened her culinary knowledge and in 1981 joined one of her sisters to coordinate the restaurant “O Navegador” (Rio de Janeiro), where she was a chef owner for 40 years. In 2001 she joined the Slow Food movement for social and environmental influence linked to the food world. To protect and promote the Brazilian culinary heritage, Teresa started in 2002 the “Projeto Mandioca”, teaching children in public schools how to prepare tapiocas through history, music and folklore. As a result, she founded the Maniva Institute, a pioneering NGO in working with gastronomy as an instrument for valuing ancestral foods and re-establishing ties between farmers, cooks and consumers. She was among the 23 finalists for the “Basque Culinary World Prize” in 2016, considered the Nobel Prize in gastronomy.

Venezuelan journalist and writer with over 15 years dedicated to communication, design, production and editing of content and creative project management in the gastronomy area. Coordinator of gastronomic events such as Diálogos de Cozinha, has published books such as "50 Miradas: a journey through contemporary gastronomy (Basque Culinary Center - BCC, 2018) and Our kitchen on the way to Caracas (2011). She promotes projects with restaurants such as Mugaritz and entities such as Basque Culinary Center, where he deals with initiatives such as the Basque Culinary World Prize and the editorial platform Gastronomia 360º.

Marina has a master degree in Creative Economy, Cultural Management and Development at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos, in Madrid, Spain, research topic on the development of Creative Tourism in small towns, with the development of the PATCHWORK methodology - a specific proposal for the development of projects involving tourism creative, innovation and territorial development in small towns. She recently assumed the Chief of Staff at Emater-MG, working in the management of strategic projects and other topics related to family farming, public policies and rural tourism.

Phd (in course) in Tourism at the University of Trás-os-Montes and Alto Douro (UTAD). Researcher in gastronomy, cultural heritage, tourism and sustainability linked to LETS - Laboratory of Studies in Tourism and Sustainability (CNPq/UnB) and leader of Foodies - Research Group on Innovation, Entrepreneurial Education and Sustainability Applied to Gastronomy and Tourism (CNPq/ IFB). She is currently a professor of gastronomy at the Federal Institute of Education, Science and Technology of Brasília (IFB). Creator of the food lab “Comida para Pensar” and curator of the “Cerrado no Prato” project. She coordinates the Prospectives for Gastronomic Tourism in Brazil project in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism (IFB / MTUR).

Iñaki Gaztelumendi is an economist and has worked for over 20 years in the tourism sector in the areas of tourist destination management, strategic planning and project development. He worked as Director of Tourism for Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and is currently a consultant specialized in strategy in the tourism sector, and founder of the tourism consultancy Verne Tourism Experts S.L. In the field of gastronomy, Iñaki is an associate professor of the Master in Gastronomic Tourism and advisor to the gastronomic tourism program at the Basque Culinary Center (BCC). He was Technical Director of the World Forum on Gastronomic Tourism of the World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) / BCC and is co-author, with Amaia López de Heredia, of the Guide for the Development of Gastronomic Tourism prepared by the UNWTO and the BCC.

CEO of the renowned Culinary Tourism Alliance - Canada, one of the leading institutions dedicated to the development of gastronomic tourism in North America. Rebecca Mackenzie, is responsible for the development of tourism products, including Feast One®, the Culinary Tourism Alliance's accreditation program and the curriculum of several academic institutions. She also oversees all programs, development and creation of comprehensive marketing partnerships to raise awareness of Canada's gastronomic tourism experiences.