The HORIZON EUROPE research project “integrated urban FOOD policies – developing sustainability Co-benefits, spatial Linkages, social Inclusion and sectoral Connections to transform food systems in city-regions” (FOODCLIC) has started. The kick-off meeting of the project took place in Amsterdam (24-26 October 2022) and brought together all participants of the project. These mainly included universities, local administrations, and food networks representatives from Denmark, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, and Romania as well as non-profit organisations like the European Food Banks Federation (FEBA). The meeting was facilitated by the project’s coordinators at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, in close collaboration with scholars from Surrey University.
The kick-off meeting included plenary sessions designed for all participants to gain an in-depth understanding of the functioning of the project and its central concepts. Among others, the project’s coordinators introduced FOODCLIC’s different Working Packages, which include the development of a methodological, training, and monitoring framework as well as the co-design and implementation of food policy-oriented planning frameworks and real-life interventions. Moreover, the key terminology of the project (such as “food system”, “participatory”, “vulnerability”) was discussed during round tables to enable all participants to build on uniform understandings and questions around such complex dimensions. While the accent was put on the importance of working at the level of the city-region (beyond the urban context), also the relevance of the inclusion of vulnerable and marginalised groups was stressed. The meeting further included a first training for Living Labs’ coordinators and researchers.
Find here more information about the FOODCLIC project: https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101060717. A dedicated website is currently under development and will be available soon.
