"The world is in crisis. This was evident even before the pandemic. In the 20th century, we succumbed to the pressure of living our lives at a fast pace, driven by the imperative of efficiency and scaling. The desire for more hinders us from recognizing our physical limits and those of the ecosystem in which we live." (excerpt from "An urgent call to slow down", 2022, www.slowfood.com)
The LA PAS program aims to promote the amplification of gastronomic heritage through the adherence to specific principles of the slow-food movement (good-clean-ethical), the development of responsible consumption skills among young people, the promotion of sustainable practices for organizing cultural events, and the encouragement of public policies that foster sustainable development models and a culture of sustainability among citizens. The complex debate on food, the urban-rural relationship, and consumption patterns needs to become participatory cultural themes.
Through this program, the CRIES association develops the necessary complementarities for the amplification of local gastronomic heritage and the integration of sustainability dimensions, aligning with the European Parliament's 2014 report on European gastronomic heritage, which states that gastronomy is part of our identity.
The culinary arts represent a vector of conviviality and an important moment of sociability and experiencing a gastronomic culture is a form of cultural exchange. Additionally, the association pursues one of the objectives of the Cultural Strategy 2018-2022 of Timișoara regarding the celebration of regional gastronomic culture.
The LA PAS 2023 program will have the following components:
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The educational program addresses urgent societal issues related to climate change, pollution, food waste, aiming to facilitate the development of sustainable skills among young people.
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"Taste as Heritage " aims to promote gastronomy as part of intangible cultural heritage.
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"The LA PAS Festival" represents an important moment of celebrating sustainable production and consumption, bringing together artisans and consumers who appreciate local production made with concern for social and environmental standards.
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"LA PAS in neighborhoods" consists of organizing public events in neighborhoods to promote artisanal products, local producers, and responsible consumption.
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Urban activism for public access to water: This component connects the LA PAS program with one of the main issues our society faces, access to water and the role of watercourses in urban life. It also connects us with The Green-Blue Timișoara program, which promotes increasing public awareness of the importance of watercourses in Timișoara and the peri-urban area - a vast network of drainage channels, rivers, and streams.