The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Zaragoza and in particular the Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón IA2 hosted the second E-Food project meeting. In the beautiful city of Zaragoza, the project team conducted its working visit in the period 12.06.2023 - 16.06.2023. The meeting was held in person and team members from all partner universities took part in it.

The meeting was opened by Prof. Rafael Pagan, PhD, - Team Leader from UNIZAR and Director of IA2 and Prof. Manuel Gascón, PhD, – Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. The guests were also welcomed by Prof. Georgi Kostov, DSc, - coordinator of the E-Food project. The hosts from Spain received special gifts from the Bulgarian team – typical Bulgarian souvenirs and wine and rakia, produced by the Starosel wine cellar. The wine was kindly provided by Assoc. Prof. Krasimir Bambalov, PhD, from the "Wine and Beer Technology" department of the UFT-Plovdiv.

The project team discussed its progress and the challenges that always follow the implementation of an international project during the two working days of the meeting. The main purpose of the meeting was to discuss the distance learning platform to be used within the project. For this purpose, each of the partners filled out a technical questionnaire specially developed by Prof. Georgi Kostov, DSc, Associate Professor Ion Mironescu, PhD, and Assistant Professor Daniel Hristozov, PhD. The questionnaire was specially developed for the purposes of the project and evaluates the distance learning platforms in the partner universities.

After the discussion, the project team decided to focus their efforts on the development of distance learning elements in the field of food technology using Google Workspace for Education. The platform enables the creation of content to be shared through cloud technologies, with wide possibilities for integrating learning content in the form of documents, presentations, video and audio files. Based on the choice made, the upcoming project activities were discussed - creation of training standards and databases for traditional, innovative and sustainable products, processes, raw materials and others.

At the end of the first working day, the participants had the opportunity to view the pilot installation of food science and technology in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine. Students have the opportunity to develop innovative foods by working independently in the pilot installation.

The discussions on the project continued in an informal atmosphere during lunches and dinners. The hosts presented the best of modern and classic Spanish cuisine, and the guests had the opportunity to taste traditional foods and wines from the Aragon region.

The IA2 team also provided a rich cultural program. The guests of the University of Zaragoza visited a number of sights - Pilar Square and the Basilica of the same name, the Roman remains, the Alhaferia Palace and others, and with the help of professional guides, they learned about their history. The most remarkable part of the cultural program was the visit to the Monasterio de Piedra - a place that combines incredible nature and over 800 years of history. There, amidst nature, waterfalls and caves, the team continued their work and discussions on the project in an informal setting. The visit was a surprise gift from the hosts of the meeting.

At the end of the closing lunch, on behalf of all participants in the meeting, Assoc. Prof. Rositsa Denkova-Kostova, PhD, thanked the entire team of the Instituto Agroalimentario de Aragón IA2 for the incredible organization and cordial hospitality.

The next project meeting is planned for the end of November 2023 and will be held in Debrecen, Hungary.

The European Commission’s support for the production of this publication does not constitute an endorsement of the contents, which reflect the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. Project №: 2022-1-BG01-KA220-HED-000085089