USI caters to all tastes on the Ticino-Langhe axis

At the beginning of the new academic year, Università della Svizzera italiana (USI) partnered with the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Pollenzo, Piedmont, Italy. Professor Lorenzo Cantoni, the Director of the Master in International Tourism and UNESCO Chair in Digital Media, Sustainable Tourism, and Heritage, discussed this new collaboration in an interview featured in the weekly magazine "La Domenica".

In Pollenzo, an increasing number of students have been learning about the principles of "slow food", championed by Carlo Petrini and his Slow Food movement. The unique partnership with USI will allow students of the USI Master's in International Tourism to immerse themselves in the knowledge and practices of Slow Food, specialising in food and wine tourism as well as cultural tourism. Similarly, aspiring gastronomes in Pollenzo will have the opportunity to receive excellent training on the shores of Lake Ceresio, complementing their studies in gastronomy with a focus on tourism.

In his interview with the weekly "La Domenica", Professor Lorenzo Cantoni emphasised that the exchange stemmed from an understanding and sharing of "a series of values." The professor recalled, "the first value is a way of understanding culture in a broad and original sense." He noted "that the term "culture" comes from the Latin word colo, meaning 'I cultivate', which links the world of agriculture and knowledge related to the land as a source of subsistence with the world of religion and worship, ultimately becoming "culture" in a broad sense."

In Lugano, Professor Cantoni's students study the application of new technologies to tourism marketing and management, among other things. They are well aware that food attracts an increasing number of people and has become a significant catalyst for tourist flows in the era of social media, culinary talent shows, and endless photos of restaurant dishes.
It has happened in the Langhe and is already happening to some extent in Ticino. Academic collaboration is evolving to incorporate a philosophical and existential approach to food. Food is increasingly being viewed as an image, a means of communication, and a subject of study, while also being something very tangible. The students of the Master in International Tourism in Lugano will now have a few months, until next spring, to decide whether to seize the opportunity and add a semester in Piedmont to their curriculum. '"We believe this is an added value to our training program. Students who join us will have access to a recognised training pathway that includes both theoretical and practical aspects. This is particularly beneficial in the field of wine and gastronomy, where the demand for highly specialised professionals has increased significantly in recent years, even in Ticino," Cantoni observes. In turn, the Pollenzo students may choose to spend their third semester (in 2025) in Lugano to specialise in international tourism.

During the pilot phase, the Lugano-Pollenzo partnership will include a maximum of ten students from each side (ten from Ticino and ten from Piedmont). These students will have the opportunity to earn a double degree. Professor Cantoni explains, "Students from each university will receive a Swiss diploma in International Tourism from Lugano and an Italian diploma in Gastronomic Sciences from Pollenzo." This arrangement, while found in other academic programmes, is unique in the field of gastronomic tourism studies.