Track: International Congress on Social Catering and Circular Economy

Welcome to the IV International Congress on Social Catering and Circular Economy. Organised by Fundación Restaurantes Sostenibles.

The modern hotel and catering industry is constantly evolving, with new concepts, new techniques, new challenges, new commitments, and the clear conviction of becoming a professionalised sector. In this context, the training of all the people who make up the gastronomic universe and the future generations that will shape it is the fundamental pillar for building a solid, conscious, responsible and exemplary sector. The conviction of universities, schools and training platforms to develop multidisciplinary training in gastronomy is the response to an imperative need to revalue our profession and offer tools that ensure a more sustainable (social, environmental and economic) catering industry.

Talking about the Bar means referring to it as a space of exchange and negotiation, where identities are considerably malleable due, in large part, to the various tangible and intangible elements that make up the landscape itself that projects.

Bars and restaurants are continually claimed as places of socialization and connection with others, they are essential and irreplaceable elements of urban life. The bars seek to preserve the authentic and meaningful experiences that can be found in these spaces that fortunately flee from being considered exclusively places.

Gastronomy, a transversal discipline that combines art, science and culture, where restaurants act as spaces for research, innovation, creation and dissemination.

Gastronomes, restaurateurs and chefs are creating projects committed to the development of knowledge, environmental sustainability and social sustainability and positioning the restaurant industry as a benchmark sector.

The Horeca sector and the food chain as a whole are great predators of resources. With a view to 2030 and 2050, reducing environmental impact by all actors in the chain is a priority issue that should not be left to the last moment. Achieving this ambitious goal requires a gradual process contingent on the development of collaborative movements in which restaurants, producers and companies work together to develop real solutions that minimise the impacts of industry activities and help reverse current and future environmental consequences.

The restoration has taken on the challenge of developing more sustainable business models where alliances, collaborative movements and land stewardship are essential.

In Latin America there are reference and pioneering projects in their territories, restaurants where a local gastronomic proposal is complemented by support in local producers, and with the social and environmental commitment that ensures social development and the protection of biodiversity and natural spaces.