Stay connected and join the FoodSHIFT+ email forum – the Rise Up email forum for multi-actor food partnerships across Europe and beyond.

Email FoodSHIFT+-subscribe@lists.riseup.net to be signed up by the platform.

Once subscribed, email FoodSHIFT+@lists.riseup.net to ask questions or share information and it will be received by the entire list.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Who can join this email forum?

Everyone involved in the FoodSHIFT2030 project, including the core project team, the FoodSHIFT Accelerator Labs (FALs), Fellow cities (FELs) and network partners. Multiple people from the same lab, partnership or organisation can sign up to the forum.

As the project comes to a close at the end of 2023, FoodSHIFT + has extended the invitation to all multi-actor food partnerships who have come across the project, attended workshops and webinars, and would like to stay connected with work happening across Europe.

Why join?

FoodSHIFT+ connects all those working across the FoodSHIFT network. It provides a platform for communication and knowledge sharing, a place to share challenges, questions, news and updates relevant to sustainable food systems and multi-actor partnerships.

How does it work?

Knowledge sharing made simple! Once you’re signed up, you receive emails straight to your inbox with no need to log in to check messages.

–       To sign up people need to email FoodSHIFT+-subscribe@lists.riseup.net

–       Once subscribed you can ask your questions or share info by emailing FoodSHIFT+@lists.riseup.net and it will be received by the entire list.

–       To unsubscribe from this list, email FoodSHIFT+-unsubscribe@lists.riseup.net.

What can I post about?

You are welcome to share anything related to your project which you believe would be of interest to the rest of the network, including relevant research, insights, and events, as well as particular challenges or questions you might have related to food system partnerships.

Topics might include:

• Questions on specific areas cities, councils, partnerships are struggling with e.g. how/whether to encourage citizen involvement in food partnerships; how to measure emissions saved from improved public procurement, how to work most effectively with businesses in a food partnership, etc.
• Examples of local success, developments you are proud of and would like to share, or need advice on
• Webinars and event news
• New reports and developments from other sector organisations
• International grants available on this theme
• Job posts
• Wider themes such as food governance, food citizen engagement and more

The size limit for messages is 500Kb, which means that users will not be able to share attachments in posts.

How often can I post?

You can post as often as you like, and remember to invite everyone within your local food partnership to sign up!

Will the forum be moderated?

Yes. The moderator will keep an eye out for posts that violate the forum’s user guidelines. Any such post will be removed by the moderator.

Can I use the forum to communicate with my assigned FoodSHIFT project partner?

No. This forum is not for sharing detailed project work and sensitive documents that relate to specific bilateral or multilateral work streams between FAls and FELs. This is not an internal communication channel to carry out FoodSHIFT related project work.

Can I use this forum as an archive and list/search materials for FoodSHIFT legacy work?

No. This forum does not work as a library of materials. It is not a mini site or a shared drive. When someone posts in the forum, you will receive an email but there is no website or page for you to access to search back for previous posts unless you have saved the emails personally.

User Guidelines

No Spam / Advertising / Self-promotion

This forum defines spam as unsolicited advertisement for goods, services and/or other web sites, or posts with little, or completely unrelated content.

Do not post copyright-infringing material

Providing or asking for information on how to illegally obtain copyrighted materials is forbidden, this also includes internal and confidential FoodSHIFT 2030 documents such as the Grant Agreement or Consortium Agreement

Do not post “offensive” posts, links or images

Any material which constitutes defamation, harassment, or abuse is strictly prohibited. Material that is sexually or otherwise obscene, racist, or otherwise overly discriminatory is not permitted on this forum.

Remain respectful of other members at all times

All posts should be professional and courteous. You have every right to disagree with your fellow community members and explain your perspective. However, you are not free to attack, degrade, insult, or otherwise belittle them or the quality of this community.

The post FoodSHIFT email forum appeared first on FoodSHIFT 2030.

WATCH THE RECORDING SESSION:

Governance and Food Strategy was the theme of the first workshop in this new series of trainings organised by Sustain and Food Matters for FoodSHIFT2030. The workshops aim to share FoodSHIFT guidance and expertise with organisations new to the network, building on and strengthening an international network of like-minded people working together towards sustainable food system transformation.

Facilitated by Ben Messer from Food Matters and chaired by Sofia Parente from Sustain, the workshop shared practical approaches, resources and inspiration for developing partnership governance and strategy. The workshop took an inclusive, participatory approach inviting the 40 plus attendees to meet each other and share their current challenges together, both in breakout rooms and in the main room. Most participants were a partnership or food policy council looking to transform the food system or develop a food strategy for their place and most were new to the FoodSHIFT network.

What a sustainable food future looks like?

According to Ben Messer, actively sharing perspectives about where you are at currently and listening to new people is at the heart of any successful partnership. 

“The effectiveness of food partnerships and food strategies depends on engagement of people and communities. A sustainable food system is achieved through representation of different perspectives, partnership working, a sense of ownership of the process and agency in bringing about positive change.” 

Listening to key stakeholders is key – from citizens to local businesses and the local authority – and to start building the strategy from there.  Developing the strategy can then identify where the buzz is, where activity is going well, and to develop an action plan from there.

In response to a Mentimetre question: ‘what 3 THINGS would show you that progress is being made?’, answers from participants ranged from citing advances such as diverse food infrastructure; communities working together; farmers valued; equity access across the city to healthy food and better local supply chains. You can view the full list of responses here.

Resources for developing a food strategy 

The workshop then moved on to sharing resources developed by FoodSHIFT and the UK’s Sustainable Food Places programme, resources that could be useful for participants in developing their own food strategy for their places.

Beatrice Walthall, from Berlin FoodSHIFT Lab and the Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), presented the FoodSHIFT Toolkit How to Cook Up Civic-Driven Food System Governance?  A step-by-step Guide for Practitioners.

Developed within FoodSHIFT with substantial support from IFOAM, Sustain and Food Matters, with input from FoodSHIFT cities Ostend, Barcelona, Berlin, the toolkit is based on practical and theoretical experiences and knowledge. There is specific focus on civic-driven food system governance, offering a step-by-step guide for practitioners with recommendations, exercises and further material to develop food governance strategies in a civic-driven, participatory and deliberative process. The guide consists of four sections with five corresponding (potential) steps for developing a food strategy:

• Initiation
• Assessment
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Building and Action Planning
• Evaluation 

Ben Messer presented the Sustainable Food Places Toolkit. Developed by Food Matters and based on experience with a range of over 80 different food partnerships and from the direct experience of SFP Network members. The toolkit offers resources under 3 headings: Building a food partnership; Developing a food strategy and Reviewing and refreshing your partnership and strategy.  Tools particularly relevant to this workshop are those with a specific focus on:

• Developing a Food Vision and Charter
• Food system mapping
• Community food mapping 
• Food focus groups
• Food summits
• Action planning

Developing a food strategy: case studies 

The workshop then finished with a conversation with two inspiring case studies, who are already working with multiple stakeholders in developing a food strategy in their area. 

Lorenzo Labellarte, from the Mediterranean Agronomic Institute of Bari (CIHEAM Bari) and FoodSHIFT Lab Bari shared insights from his organisation’s work in Bari, in the Puglia region of Southern Italy. There municipalities have developed a shared vision for a sustainable food future, worked this into a manifesto and are now at the stages of implementation. The model in Bari is now being used to help nearby city Taranto in developing a similar action plan for their local food strategy. 

Alex Britten-Zondani from East Sussex, a county in southern UK, shared how local district food partnerships are coming together to develop and deliver a county wide food action plan, working alongside county and local councils, and other key stakeholders. This work intended to ensure there is action happening at a wider regional level to support food systems change, alongside what is already happening at grassroots level, and Alex shared how this is being approached.

The topic of citizen engagement came up repeatedly in the workshop and in these last conversations, with both Lorenzo and Alex stressing the need for consistency here, ensuring citizens are invited at all stages of consultation and development. Participants also shared their concern for food producers. With most farmers in the UK, France and other countries over 50 years old and with no plans for succession, there are worries about the future of local sustainable food production if strategic support is not provided. The power of large national and international retailers to set prices and push margins down for farmers also came into the discussion. 

Applying the learning and resources to other areas

The workshop ended with some takeaway questions for participants to think over to help consolidate what was learned at the workshop and in preparation for the following three workshops to take place in 2023. 

• How could you use the approach we’ve demonstrated and apply it to your place?
• Which resources could you use to help you do this?
• How can the experience of Bari and East Sussex inspire you in your work?

All were invited to join the FoodSHIFT+ email forum as a way to continue the conversation beyond the workshop and feed into the international network with their own challenges, insights and expertise.

Keep an eye out for the next three workshops in 2023 as part of this series. These workshops are open to local food partnerships or councils who would like to join the FoodSHIFT network, keen to build local food strategies with community involvement that result in positive transformation of the food system.

The post ‘Listening is key’ – FoodSHIFT explores governance and food strategy appeared first on FoodSHIFT 2030.

A step-by-step guide for practitioners 

Key words: food system governance, food strategy, guide, methods and tools 

?  Read and download the complete guide in the resources section: “Infopackage on good practices and evaluation criteria for citizen-driven food system governance“.

Many city-regions across Europe are asking themselves how to improve their local food policy, how to engage stakeholder and how to develop and implement actions for a food system transformation.  

To address these questions, FoodSHIFT has created a step-by-step guide for practitioners to create their own recipes for civic-driven food governance. The guide presents the governance approach towards food system transformation taken by FoodSHIFT and helps the reader to become more familiar with key concepts and processes of developing a food strategy.  

The reader is guided through each step for developing a food strategy (i. Initiation, ii. Assessment, iii. Stakeholder Engagement, iv. Vision Building and Action Planning, v. Evaluation), which come with templates, exercises and additional material to support a participatory and deliberative process. However, the process, steps and methods presented in this guide are not limited to building a food strategy, but can be useful for many different food system initiatives.  

Initiation – The Power of Storytelling 

At the beginning of the process comes often the question “Why?” Why to develop a food strategy? Why now? Why at city level, which has nothing to do with agriculture?  

To communicate the relevance of a local food strategy (or other food topics), storytelling can be a powerful tool. It is through stories that we simplify and make sense of complex topics or motivate others to act. Stories help us to identify problems and solutions and to understand why something is happening. Stories covey assumptions and believes, which influence the rules that define our economies, policies and societies. However, stories not only help us to increase our awareness and make sense of something, but also help to rewrite “realities”; they generate new visions and ideas, stories engage the listener and motivate people to act. The guide provides resources for creating and telling food stories. 

Assessing – What‘s on the radar?

In order to know what needs to change, it is important to understand the current situation. Without a baseline increases the risk of spending a lot of time and resources into ineffective actions and policies. So, instead of jumping straight to actions, it is recommended to step back and take a look at the local food system to see what is happening, where are the gaps, what is working well and what not so well. While assessments can be resource heavy, in the long run they are extremely beneficial (both in terms of appropriate policies and actions). The guide presents a list of tools with different levels of complexity and required expert knowledge and/or resources. 

Engaging Others – Who is on board? 

To support the food strategy development and implementation, it is important to engage a series of stakeholders across sectors. Common arrangements for driving food systems work are food policy councils, steering committees or food partnerships. In such arrangements one will typically involve stakeholders from across the food system, representing different perspectives, areas of expertise and interests. It can be challenging to keep everyone on board but can be mitigated with good food governance principles in place. The guide presents some tips and principles to ensure ongoing stakeholder engagement. 

Vision Building and Action Planning – Let‘s do it! 

Before spelling out your strategy with concrete goals and actions, it is important to formulate a vision. A good vision describes what your city wants to achieve in the future and can motivate and support others to get and stay engaged.  To work towards the vision, the guide recommends to find fitting pathways by selecting and planning strategic goals, operational goals and actions. Besides other resources, the guide provides a template to develop a desired and logical trajectory for moving from strategic goals towards a vision. 

Evaluating – Are we heading in the right direction?  

Since this process is new to many city-regions, it is recommended to evaluate the taken decisions and actions and to see whether the efforts contribute to the desired outcome. Evaluative questions include “Are we heading in the right direction and spending our resources efficiently? Are the stakeholder engagement and participatory process inclusive enough? Or do we need to adjust and customize our journey? The guide holds a template to reflect on the progress, to boost the confidence or highlight needed changes.  

Cook your own food governance meal 

Becoming familiar with the process, exercise templates and further material is only the first step. With the help of the guide, practitioners can roll up their sleeves and cook up their own food governance meal. 

You want to share your recipes or learn more about other city region‘s recipes? Then sign up up by emailing FoodSHIFT+-subscribe@lists.riseup.net or check out other contributions to the FoodSHIFT knowledge hub. 

The post How to cook up civic-driven food system governance?  A step-by-step guide for practitioners  appeared first on FoodSHIFT 2030.

From last Friday, September 23 to Sunday, September 25, different gastronomic proposals, local initiatives, workshops, show-cookings and concerts came together in an event dedicated to #foodsustainablebcn.

FoodShift 2030 was no exception, with a stand dedicated to #technological innovation FabLab Barcelona, ??which belongs to the Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, shared with visitors how technology can help us redesign food production processes to make them more more effective and more holistic using the #circulareconomy, based on #morevegetableprotein, less and less on animal protein, taking advantage of local resources and thus being able to reduce CO2 emissions. 

With innovations in different parts of the value chain, ranging from production, such as a pilot for the production of fresh spirulina called Gaia espirulina, the production of fresh sprouts for restaurants and local consumption such as Villagreens, the production of ferments from the hand of Domingo club, a club with the aim of teaching how to prepare tempe to urbanites from Barcelona and from all over the world. (We were even honored to have a visit from Driando from @tempemovement A movement that aims to spread the love for tempe(h), Indonesia’s best kept secret for producing affordable, nutritious and sustainable food)

The production of ferments for the restaurant sector such as Ma Condiments, until the end of the chain, using waste from the food industry as Naifactory did, which by reusing olive pits has designed a Biomaterial that has been called Reolivar and with which they manufacture decorative elements, packaging and graphic communication elements with the advantage of using them once the material has been pulverized and re-processing it for a new use.

Innovators: Maud Bausier and Antoine Jaunard with Diaandro Ahnan

Within the innovations we can also find initiatives to support the food transition from the education sector, such as POWAR and NUMID, which have educational workshops where they teach us to use technology to produce our own food.

It was a space to share accompanied by good food, music and drinks to enjoy more consciously: a proposal with local and healthy food, made with sustainable practices.

To know more on the event:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/p/Ci2yIOdoso-/?igshid=MDJmNzVkMjY%3D

Link to the event page: https://foodshift2030.eu/event/barcelona-sustainable-food-festival/

The post Sustainable Food Festival in Barcelona appeared first on FoodSHIFT 2030.

Earlier this month, we brought together speakers from Berlin, Ghent and Amsterdam to discuss how each of their food policy councils balance citizen engagement and political buy-in. One of the conversation’s recurring themes was how to get the structure of a council right in order to facilitate involvement from the community as well as ensure the decision-making process with the city government is transparent.

When thinking back on how the food policy council was originally set up, Lisa Haarhoff of Ernährungsrat Berlin (Berlin Food Policy Council) reflected that it needed to be both more dynamic and diverse. This has led them to adapt a sociocratic model (see webinar recording and slides for detail further down) which allows more participatory approaches that focus on dialogue, debate and consensus rather than voting.

“What would we do differently if we were to start again? We would pay more attention to structures that better and more effectively enable people to connect together and get involved. [Our new structure] helps us to be more flexible and react to the current climate.” Lisa Haarhoff of Ernährungsrat Berlin (Berlin Food Policy Council)

From the perspective of Arnold Arnold van der Valk, co-founder of the Amsterdam Food Council, the emphasis has been on shifting from “persons to practice” so that the functions of a council become embedded within the city. While there are many people motivated to transform the industrial food system to make it both more healthy and sustainable, there remains a need for more cooperation among institutions as well as reliable funding to sustain the time commitment that is needed to bring about lasting change.

“The elephant in the room… is funding.

We managed to get [the food policy council] going with almost full-time input of labour of two individuals. But you can’t keep the whole machine going with two people.” Arnold Arnold van der Valk, Amsterdam Food Council

In Ghent it has also taken time for trust to build between citizen collectives and the food council. For Maarten Crivits with Food Policy Council Ghent, he’s found that citizen participation can have a significant and positive impact on the city, but that it requires the council to take up issues that matter to the people. And when there are people who are funded to be involved, it is also important to ensure meaningful ways to participate for non-paid members as well.

“Gather interest around your goals. For instance, if you have a local food strategy with operational goals, do a survey, do interviews with the citizens and entrepreneurs of your city to see what kind of interest is there and use the energy of civil society, the energy that’s already there.” Maarten Crivits, Food Policy Council Ghent

Some of the key lessons from the discussion were best summarised at the end by our chair Beatrice Walthall from the Leibniz Centre for Agriculture Landscape Research (ZALF), who noted that although councils are still evolving in many cases, they also offer concrete ways for citizens to engage politically and instigate change in the food system.

“It’s a very dynamic field of action.

Things are emerging and growing, things are also collapsing because they didn’t work. But overall, we can see some new governance structures and modes emerging.

Communicate about the existence of food policy councils and communicate about the issues. Make people curious, it’s not just a theoretical dry way of lobbying. Food is a really active form of political engagement”, summarised Beatrice Walthall.

• Presentation Slides: available here!
• Take part in our innovation conference in Barcelona in October 
• Join our newsletter to stay in the know about future events (scroll down!)

The post Webinar key takeaways: Structuring food policy councils for citizen engagement appeared first on FoodSHIFT 2030.