Monday 14 September 2026, from 4.30 pm, at Palazzo Duchi di Santo Stefano, Taormina.
The first Local Living Lab of the INSPIRE project (INnovative Sustainable tourISm gRoundEd on agrobiodiversity) took place in Taormina, hosted at Palazzo Duchi di Santo Stefano, a masterpiece of Sicilian Gothic art. The initiative is promoted by the Municipality of Messina, Lead Partner of the project, which is co-financed by the European Union under the Interreg Euro-MED Programme 2021-2027.
The meeting brought together twenty-five local stakeholders, seated around a single working table. The aim was to check with operators whether the mapping carried out in the field accurately represents the territory, and to start building a shared direction. To this end, participants were asked a number of guiding questions, which opened an honest discussion on how agrobiodiversity can become an experiential tourism offer that is authentic and respectful of place.
The proceedings opened with a welcome from the Mayor Cateno De Luca, who greeted the participants as host. Councillor Liana Cannata and Councillor Enzo Caruso attended on behalf of the Municipality of Messina, a tangible sign of how the city administration supports the project and accompanies its activities in the territory.
The discussion was led by Slow Food, a partner of INSPIRE, with Nino Mostaccio, President of Slow Food Messina, and Chiara Calarco, in the presence of the project’s Project Manager, Dr. Beatrice Briguglio.
Among the stakeholders, alongside local producers, tourist guides made an important contribution: they present the territory to visitors every day and know their needs and expectations. Their perspective, combined with that of the producers, gave the discussion a complete dimension: from the field to the visitor.
The decision to open the cycle in Taormina reflects the very structure of the project: the agri-food and tourism area that INSPIRE aims to connect does not coincide with the administrative boundaries of a single municipality, and the partnership includes the Metropolitan City of Messina, in whose territory Taormina lies, as an associated partner. At the head of both institutions is Federico Basile, Mayor of Messina and Metropolitan Mayor, under whose leadership the Municipality has taken on the role of lead partner of a partnership made up of eight organisations from five Mediterranean countries, with responsibility for the technical and financial coordination of the entire project.
The outcomes of the meeting feed into the process leading to the drafting of the Local Action Plan, the tool through which INSPIRE turns the input gathered in the field into concrete actions, designed to produce effects even after the co-financed activities have ended.
The INSPIRE project (INnovative Sustainable tourISm gRoundEd on agrobiodiversity), code Euro-MED0401041, CUP F49I25000250006, is co-financed by the European Union through the European Regional Development Fund under the Interreg Euro-MED Programme 2021-2027. The Municipality of Messina is the lead partner.
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