Cook it Forward (CIF) contributes to job creation and economic growth as it uses culinary culture and traditions as a driver for creative innovation. Students will propose innovative ways to lift the culinary traditions, ancient recipes, forgotten regional ingredients and traditional cooking techniques to the 21st century demand. Working in the CIF programme develops students networking skills (working with world-of-work stakeholders), thus stimulating economic growth by developing a highly skilled workforce with employable skills. CULINARY CULTURAL HERITAGE AS IMPORTANT ECONOMIC FACTOR FOR REGIONSCultural heritage is more than historical monuments left behind from the past. It is all the things, places and practices that define who we are as individuals, as communities, as regions.Culinary experiences are an important aspect of cultural tourism and make local heritage an important economic factor. The sustainable use of culinary heritage is essential to ensure that the CIF regions will remain popular destinations to visit. STUDENTS IN THE LEADAlthough it has decreased, the youth unemployment rate is still quite high in the EU. There is a necessity to spark a dynamic attitude among young people towards the possibilities of enterprising behaviour, networking skills and pro-activity. Learning by doing and educating students to take initiative and investigate opportunities themselves, rather than waiting for others to take the initiative, will increase employability.OBJECTIVESConcretely, CIF aims to:•Let young people (VET students) become closer to and more involved with their regions cultural heritage and cherishing it by letting students research and collect old cooking techniques, traditional recipes and forgotten vegetables.•Educate VET students to be the innovators in the companies they will work for in the future by letting them become aware of trends and new technologies and learn how to spot them. •Start the inter-cultural conversation between youngsters about culinary cultural heritage.•Create a bridge between generations. The young generation will understand the elder generation better by getting to know them through their knowledge of recipes, cooking traditions and stories and vice versa.•Preserve culinary cultural heritage by using culture as a driver for creative innovation and encourage student creativity.•Develop students competences for future working life by increasing their sense of responsibility, networking skills, creativity, entrepreneurial mind-set and pro-active attitude.•Increase the pool of work based learning opportunities for students.•Develop VET teachers’ network, educational and pedagogical skills.PARTICIPANTSCIF is primarily aimed at VET students in hospitality and cooking. In addition it is aimed at VET teachers & colleges and world of work (restaurants, food-companies, food trucks, caterers, local authorities, etc.).ACTIVITIES & RESULTSCIF enables students to work on real-life assignments. They will: 1)investigate their own network (parents, neighbours, grandparents, etc.) to learn about cultural heritage in the form of culinary traditions, ancient recipes, forgotten regional ingredients and traditional cooking techniques;2)Pro-actively approach the regional network of culinary stakeholders to discover trends and new techniques that are being used in the sector. Students will learn the latest trends in the hospitality and gastronomy sector directly from the world-of-work. 3)Connect the culinary traditions to contemporary trends and new techniques (e.g. 3D printing, fusion cooking, sustainability and use of regional products) and refurbish the recipes and cooking techniques. Students will brainstorm (in international groups) about innovative ways to lift the old recipes and cooking techniques to the 21sty century demand. 4)propose their new inventions to regional stakeholders and execute their proposed solutions in close cooperation with the culinary world-of work stakeholders. METHODOLOGYCIF is a true Strategic Partnership meaning all partners provide their key input that contributes to the realisation of the project goals and concrete deliverables.IMPACT & LONG TERM BENEFITSCIF desires to contribute to a fundamental change in attitude towards culinary cultural heritage, youth unemployment and the economy.CIF effectuates a true change in knowledge, competences, behaviour & perception of students. By participating in CIF, students will not only realize the importance of their culinary heritage for both their personal identity as the identity of their community, the intercultural dialogue between students will also unlock a sense of regional pride, contributing to regions liveability. It is these VET students that will be working for our regional hotels, restaurants and companies and feed into our society in the future. CIF empowers them to be the change for sustainability (in the broadest sense) that our world needs.