Four years ago nine city-regions took on the challenge to establish FoodSHIFT Accelerator Labs. In this final blogpost, the Avignon Lab reflects on the journey and development made during the whole project, through an interview with Elsa Chiffard-Carricaburu, the Avignon Lab coordinator. Explore the Transition Toolkit to learn more the other Lab’s experiences, Avignon’s city’s reports.

Avignon Lab Focus

• Avignon’s focus on food system transition was on public procurement and specifically increasing the quality and locality of meals served in school canteens  
• They chose this focus food that doesn’t belong to official topic in the French school system program while children are missing the skills and knowledge about healthy and sustainable food. Besides, food at school in France is a daily shared moment for children which is especially important when living in a society that is individualistic as we are today 
• Some challenges were related to changing long-standing processes and mindsets around how the central kitchen would source and process food. Especially changing from plastic containers to steel containers required some convincing and creative problem-solving.  
• However, a lot of challenges could be overcome by human connections and finding solutions first before engaging with the political implementation of them 
• The city achieved a lot! Among other things, awareness of the importance of sustainable food was elevated in kitchen staff and inspired other French cities to consider similar initiatives. A subsequent EU project will build on the FoodSHIFT outcomes to further strengthen the importance of bringing topics of food closer to the children in Avignon 
• For a city wanting to embark on a similar journey, the recommendation is to remain curious and very open-minded to the specific opportunities of your local food-system. Trying with local stakeholders to find some solutions to work together, in a public/private partnership that can be adapted to fit the preservation of children’s health. 

Interview to the Avignon Lab Coordinator

What was your city’s specific focus in your food system transition and how did you initially start working with this focus area in your city? 

Elsa Chiffard-Carricaburu  

Our focus was to improve the quality of meals we are offering to all children that are eating daily in our canteens, and to create a food ecosystem around the central kitchen. That also means to be aware that we have a power on our small local level, to build partnerships that are important, and that we can sustain food activities that need us. Because we are a medium-big central kitchen. We have the possibility to sustain some food activities. You have both this aspect to improve the quality of meals, and to improve sustainability around the meals. Because there are not only the plates and the meals that we are acting upon but for example also the packaging. And lastly also the willingness to build an ecosystem that is made of partnerships. 

What were some obstacles or challenges you faced in your food system transition and how did you overcome them (or are planning on overcoming them)? 

Elsa Chiffard-Carricaburu  

Usually in the central kitchens, you always have these plastic containers. Because the central kitchens were created in the 90s – a plastic era. So, we all have these plastic containers. And now we have decided to have a ban on plastic, to constrain the use of plastic. Because it’s not possible on a sustainable level or on the health level. It was a big, big challenge, because it has an impact on our entire procurement process, on preparation, conditioning, delivery. It has a big, big, big impact on all our partners and suppliers. It was a really, really big challenge. Maybe the biggest one we had to face. 

But when we finally decided to make this big change to steel containers, we realised that one of the key points was really the washing step. And we were unable to wash all our containers daily ourselves. Because we have to wash them every day. It was impossible, because we don’t have the space and we don’t have enough human resources to wash.  It’s impossible, it’s not on our level. We made a proposition to collaborate with a local washing company. He was just starting to develop his activity in Avignon which was an additional challenge to select someone who was just beginning his activities. But that was more accepted on the political level even though, in the end, the price you pay to the company would be the same as if you had some internal resources and internal investments. But okay. 

Another challenge is that in France, a lot of school rules and activities are decided on the national level. We, the municipality, are only in charge of lunchtime and time, that is after school time – from four to six in the afternoon. We have very few possibilities to do or decide or have an impact on something around the topic of food.  And I know that human resources actually in Avignon are especially strict. And it’s impossible to have the budget to have someone to do workshops or work with the schools on food. So, it’s only through some European or other projects that we have to fund the possibility to fund projects like this. 

Something else I want to touch on is finding new producers. It’s always a big challenge. And to make our contracts with local producers. Because there is still always an urge to go back to contracts with big suppliers. So we constantly have to defend and to be very active to say, no, we want to keep this contract with our local producer active. And to keep it in the municipality. Because of the prices, it’s always difficult to defend local producers. Even though with the global crisis, we’ve seen that the prices have increased with big suppliers and remained the same with local producers.  

If you look back on the last four years, what would you say were your biggest achievements or impacts that you achieved during the project?   

Elsa Chiffard-Carricaburu  

I can say that a lot of cities from France are visiting us to see how we managed to ban plastic as quickly as we did. Because we’ve done it in an easy way. I don’t know why. But it was really okay. And so many cities are visiting us. And we had at least 10, 12 visits from cities that said, “Okay, we would like to see your process.” So they went to the central kitchens, they visit, we show, we explain. And afterwards we go to UZAJE, our industrial washer, and they are always so inspired by the experience. 

And actually we are now involved in a second European project, the Feast project. And we are developing this topic that we want to create some educational material and pedagogical material. So it taps into the conclusion we had with FoodSHIFT in terms of there being no space and no activities within the schools about food. We said, “Okay, we have to be active on this point.” And our new project is now to create space for that and to propose to have initiatives about it and to propose to the schools to do some cooking workshop, for example, or some activities that we can do in the schools. 

I would also say that I’ve seen during the project that the team of the central kitchen got more and more aware of the importance of what we are trying to do. And more involved. Because at the beginning, it was not easy. But I’ve seen that the assistance of the central kitchen or the boss of the central kitchen, really got more awareness about this topic during this last year. She has understood a lot of things. And especially when she came with me to Athens to see how they work with the schools there, she said, “Oh. Okay, it’s interesting. Meeting all the European partners and seeing how they are doing things.”. She had some things changed in her mind and now I am not doubting at all that we will continue our approach with our central kitchen beyond the FoodSHIFT project. 

What advice do you have for other cities who want to embark on a similar journey? 

Remain curious and very open-minded to the specific opportunities of your local food-system. Trying with local stakeholders to find some solutions to work together, in a public/private partnership that can be adapted to fit the preservation of children’s health. 

Contact details 

CHIFFARD-CARRICABURU Elsa  

elsa.chiffard-carricaburu@mairie-avignon.com 

Check out previous Avignon’s blogposts:

What is sustainable food?? A challenge for Avignon schools within Avignon FAL!

Children’s involvement against food waste – Avignon LAB

The post Avignon’s story: Regional Lunch for All Lab appeared first on FoodSHIFT 2030.

Keywords: peer-to-peer learning, knowledge transfer, network  

The peer-to-peer learning approach is learning at equal level, where people with similar tasks, aims or challenges share experiences, ideas and knowledge with each other without hierarchies. 

Peer-to-peer learning in FoodSHIFT2030  

There are many peer-to-peer learning formats, some of which have been gathered within FoodSHIFT2030 in deliverable 5.3 under the title “Multiplying the impact – sharing experiences: training and guidance materials for knowledge transfer”. This collection primarily addresses the FoodSHIFT2030 Accelerator Labs (FALs) and aims to facilitate peer-to-peer knowledge transfer of experience with food system innovations among all FALs as well as among the FALs and the FoodSHIFT2030 Enabler Labs (FELs). However, it can also serve as a diverse source of inspiration for actors in the field of mutual knowledge transfer beyond the project’s lifetime and thematic scope. 

The document is available for download in the “resources” section of FoodSHIFT’s website among various further inspiring outputs of the project: https://foodshift2030.eu/resources/. 

On the one hand, the material contains peer-to-peer learning formats in general description which can be applied in a variety of situations and knowledge transfer environments. On the other hand, there are knowledge transfer formats that were developed or/and applied specifically within the FoodSHIFT2030 context. 

It is an elementary aspect that not only the knowledge transfer formats themselves follow the peer-to-peer approach, but also the compilation of the material took place in co-creation, a collaborative process of knowledge generation: hereby, the FALs generated knowledge for each other, such as good practice cases from within the project as well as specific training material from a FAL’s individual experience.  Further, in an iterative bottom-up approach which required the intensive involvement of the FALs, their needs, strengths and challenges were identified, for instance during consortium meetings, in interviews and in brainstorming sessions.  

Thus, in the spirit of peer-to-peer learning, most of the training and guidance material was not unilaterally created by FoodSHIFT’s WP5 team for knowledge transfer but arose from the condensed outcomes of these assessments. The WP5 team, the knowledge brokers, hereby guide this knowledge generation to ensure that the knowledge is being transferred within and beyond in formats suitable for the respective target groups.   

An exemplary format: a series of video interviews  

In addition to the tools for networking, information, and knowledge transfer, as well as best practices and implementation examples from FALs and much more, the collection includes a series of video interviews in which FALs have their say:  

Recorded at the consortium meeting in Brasov, they spontaneously talk about their innovation principles as well as their experiences in the project with a focus on the interaction with the FELs with whom knowledge transfer and experience sharing is taking place very specifically within the project. 

© Annika Frühbeißer 

In addition, an introductory animated video has been created that explains a little about the FALs and their activities in FoodSHIFT2030. You can find the four video interviews and the introductory video on the YouTube channel of FoodSHIFT2030 in the playlist:  Exchange visits: Knowledge Exchange FAL to FEL. 

© Annika Frühbeißer 

Shooting and editing video requires some training, and a course is recommended. However, if once the necessary know-how has been acquired, all you need is a smartphone with a stabilisator (a so-called gimbal), a filming and editing app as well as a clip-on microphone to professionally produce your own videos.

Videos are establishing as a knowledge transfer format since they correspond to the zeitgeist and offer many advantages:

• Knowledge can be conveyed in a highly compressed and easily understandable way through video content.
• In addition to real-filmic elements, animation elements allow creative freedom and add a framework and structure to a video; for instance, we used the simpleshow.com programme in FoodSHIFT’s videos.
• Knowledge can be accessed freely at any time, the knowledge flow can be paused and repeated if the videos are published on public platforms such as YouTube or a project website.
• Onward dissemination by the viewers, even on a large scale, is low-threshold and can have a great impact (social media).
• And last but not least, it is great fun to talk to your peers and gain new insights whilst you are shooting the videos!

Watch the series of video interviews here below:

The post Multiplying the impact – sharing experiences: Peer-to-peer learning in FoodSHIFT2030  appeared first on FoodSHIFT 2030.

In these portraits, each of the 90 innovators has been profiled using compact descriptive section addressing the key activities and achievements so far as well as the near future perspectives under the heading ‘Looking ahead’. The one-page portraits are complemented by infographics on the impacts and the relevant contact details.

For quick orientation, the innovations have been categorized according to four innovation dimensions: product, process, social & governance. These dimensions enable us to identify what kind of innovations are being initiated across city regions and provide suitable, relevant support.

These rich examples give us a glimpse of how food system innovations can look, and how they can be effective in addressing elements of the food system, and the relevant stakeholders that are involved. Together, these innovators and related stakeholders form the Innovation Ecosystem in their city-region, which has the potential to redefine local food systems.

Supporting Innovations

In addition to these differing innovation dimensions, the Innovation Portraits also highlight the varying maturity levels seen among innovations. This maturity refers to the developmental stage of an innovation, which can be useful in identifying the needs and next steps that an innovator can take to bring an idea to life, from Eureka! moment to viable product or service.

Based on the maturity of an innovation, we can establish what kind of support would be best suited to the innovator. This support takes three main forms:

Maturing – advancing an innovation for better application as a solution. E.g. improved functioning of the innovation, better organizational structure, developing a business strategy…

Combining – linking of different innovations for strategic purposes. E.g. partnerships to facilitate new services, resource sharing, collaboration towards a common goal (coalitions, associations…)

Upscaling – increasing the impact and/or outreach of an innovation. E.g. increasing production, adding new products or services, outreach to new markets or communities, open-source knowledge sharing…

The Innovation Portraits provide us with an important reflection of the food system transition, in that many innovations are still early on in their maturing process, and in addition to the passion and ambition of the innovator themselves, will require targeted support and enabling conditions to thrive.

Providing us with snapshots of diverse innovators per city region, the Innovation Portraits also offer us an opportunity to consider how the Innovation Ecosystems in these city regions look. For example:

• Which innovators have (potentially) complementary resources, products or services?
• Which partnerships can be formed?
• Which innovators have a common interest or goal?

In particular, these questions can open the door to opportunities for combining, stimulating activity in the local Innovation Ecosystem. Looking at long-term perspectives, upscaling is a key acceleration mechanism for innovations that are at a high level of maturity and wish to increase their reach and impact.

Discover all INNOVATORS at a glance here!

Opportunities for Change

The 90 cases highlighted by the Innovation Portraits provides not only an inspiring portfolio of the diverse innovations that are actively contributing to food system transition, but also an example of how individual action, by individual innovators, can kick-start the development of an innovation ecosystem. These innovation ecosystems are fundamental in challenging the status-quo of food systems, and can generate awareness, interest and engagement with change. Through supporting the innovators highlighted in these Innovation Portraits, the FoodSHIFT2030 consortium hopes to accelerate the transition to a low-carbon, circular and plant-based food system in Europe.

Download the Innovation Portrait brochure here.

The post Innovators: Meet the people changing your food system appeared first on FoodSHIFT 2030.

FoodSHIFT 2030 project has brought together 30 different organisations and over 120 project personnel with all kinds of backgrounds, expertise and experiences. This article forms a collage of the every-day works of individuals that were collected during lively and successful discussion at the recent Consortium Roundtable in Brasov, Romania (take a look to Brasov Press Release here!). 

FoodSHIFT team in Brasov – photo credits to Brasov FAL

The TLDR inspiration – It is easy to feel overwhelmed, lost and disheartened when your every-day work is to ‘transform the food system’, But take a moment to acknowledge one’s own work, no matter how small, together with the collective works of many individuals moving in the same direction, Now the pathway to highly ambitious goals like transforming the food system become a little more illuminated, a lot less daunting and a whole lot more achievable!  

In no particular order, here is a snapshot of the every-day works from 20 individual ‘FoodSHIFT’ers’ that form a collective effort towards a transformation of the EU Food System: 

Education and Capacity Building  

• ‘Counseling kitchens, pushing the agenda, developing tools’ 
• ‘Educational, social & environmental issues’ 
• ‘it’s all to support the central kitchen team!’  
• ‘Teaching about carbon footprint (including food aspect), environmental impact assessment, using GIS for different spatial analysis.’ 

Citizen Engagement  

• Participatory and action research methods. This includes design and methodological undertaking tailored to facilitate learning on social innovations for food system change. Outputs of research will seek broad communication with the multiple stakeholders of city-regions food systems. 

City planning  

• ‘Understanding cities’ needs for food system knowledge and tools and helping meet these needs; engaging diverse stakeholders in food systems science’ 

Communication 

• ‘Organising public webinars and training workshops to disseminate knowledge and best practice, supporting the leaders of other work packages to produce assets which will be part of the legacy of FoodSHIFT’ 

Governance Planning 

• ‘policy advice, implement concrete actions for the food strategy, involving stakeholders and citizens in the food system, organising campaign dealing with food (eg veggie challenge), contact with colleagues within the city departments on food, contact with key stakeholders in the steering group/possible future food council’   

Management: 

• ‘Strategic coordination of large, multi-disciplinary partnerships towards food system transition, continuously fostering relations for the identification and execution of common rewards, day to day implementation of flexible, innovative project management’ 
• ‘Following project meetings, Answering to related emails, looking into forthcoming actions, involvement & our obligations according to planning, working on deliverables’ 

Knowledge Sharing 

• ‘Exchanging with FALs as the organizational hubs for food system transition in their efforts to reach out and place their activities in the wider picture of international policies and methods/tool applications.’ 
• ‘Stakeholder engagement, strategy development, knowledge co-creation and sharing, research and publishing, lots of e-mails’  
• ‘I’m the link between the action and the Consortium’ 

Research 

• ‘Mapping the ecological footprint of food consumption patterns in city regions’ 
• Data analysis of Brasov food system. Communication with FELs. Dissemination of FoodSHIFT2030 activities. Active participation in workshops.’  
• ‘Development of guidelines and feedback loops for acceleration of innovation.  
• Undertaking research on food system innovations’ 
• ‘Supporting the  development and piloting of open source technology for the production, elaboration, consumption, and re- & upcycling of food in cities.’ 

On the ground actions 

• ‘Barcelona FAL Food Tech 3.0 Lab Lead : Design, implement and monitoring each of the actions necessary to develop the FOOD SHIFT 2030 project, as well as support each of the project’s innovators. Follow in detail the assignment of the Budget of the FOOD SHIFT 2030 project. Contribute to the development of the food system through activities with the FELs established for Barcelona (Hamburg, Avignon and Milan)’ 
• ‘we organised CSA at our University, so I am engaged in this process and taking veggies & fruits boxes each week. I don’t eat meat (only fish) as well as not dairy (cow’s) products. Within Students Scientific Organization – we are obtaining extra funds to establish community gardens in participatory way.’ 
• ‘Living Lab approach, participatory workshops and research designs, strategy co-creation, public communication (podcasts, interviews, short movies, print media), qualitative and quantitative modelling approaches and other methods of social and environmental research’ 

The post Press Release – What you do everyday matters appeared first on FoodSHIFT 2030.

This short film is the result of their yearly thematic work about food, that is one of their working topic.

What is the Children City Council?

Since 2017, the City of Avignon has set up a Children City Council i.e. an institution consisted only of children, elected by children from all our city schools (public and private).

All school children have to choose two elected representatives per school, for a 2 years term, only within a targeted group from 8 to 10 years old children.

The children are stepping into elected representatives’ shoes so they are in charge to implement their projects (once validated by the Mayor herself!), organized into different thematic groups; so they:

• are informed about various issues
• collaborate with some municipal services, helped by 2 dedicated adults in charge of their group
• are empowered by experimenting their projects’ implementation from start to finish

It aims at increasing their awareness of citizenship, testing the elected representatives’ role and discovering various issues.

In 2021, there are 66 elected children from 33 public and private elementary schools.

Each child who candidates to the Council writes a statement of objectives to inform his schoolmates of his projects, program, and priorities.

Food is one of the thematic commissions such as:

• Food (institutional food service, fighting against food waste, balanced diet)
• Living together (social actions and solidarity)
• Save the planet (environment, sustainable development)
• My life my city  (equipment, security, education)
• Having fun in Avignon (culture and leisure activities)
• Taking care of your health (sports and health)

The making of this short film was one of the projects of the current mandate (ending at the end of June).

They initially researched information and figures (in France, in the whole world..) about food waste to have a large approach and to define the issues. Then, they decided to split the film into two short parts, proposing a second part highlighting the solutions linked to our daily behaviours (children and adults included…) that lead to food waste.

The short film shows by the children themselves some typical behaviours regarding food and propose in a dynamic way some tips to solve the problems.

As we wished to share it with our FoodSHIFT partners (and maybe with the children related to them), we made the English translation.

All this project is included within a larger project of « Zero Food Waste », currently in progress in our canteens : increasing children awareness by weights and challenges between children’ tables to be the less « food waste » producer…!

So…why don’t we hear the children’s  voices and follow their ideas and tips?

Let’s go to « Zero Food Waste », we need all your energy; looking forward to receiving any feedback about this project!

The post Children’s involvement against food waste – Avignon LAB appeared first on FoodSHIFT 2030.

FoodSHIFT2030 has selected over 30 place-based food partnerships to join the European wide project as FoodSHIFT fellow city-regions, with the aim of establishing FoodSHIFT Enabler Labs (FELs) in their respective local areas.

The fellow city-regions have been paired with one of the 9 already established FoodSHIFT Accelerator Labs (FALs); city-based partnerships of engaged citizens, NGOs, SMEs, researchers, local administration and policy makers, located in Barcelona, Bari, Wroclow, Ostende, Copenhagen, Brasov, Berlin, Avignon and Athens. 

The new Fellows will be invited to participate in a multilateral exchange of knowledge, expertise and experience with both their paired FALs and across the project as a whole.

The list of successful applicants and their paired FALs are as follows:

• Athens FAL with Vrilissia, Nea Smyrni,  Korydallos, Halandri,  Agia Paraskevi in Attika Region (GR)
• Avignon FAL with Albi-Occitanie (FR), Bergamo (IT) and Bordeaux Métropole (FR), Geneva (CH) + Manger Demain (BE)
• Barcelona FAL with Exeter (UK), Hamburg (DE), Milan (IT), Paris (FR)
• Bari FAL with Tirana (Albania), Taranto and Tricase (IT)
• Berlin FAL with Bochum, Freiburg & Region, and Luebeck (DE), and Zurich (CH)
• Brasov FAL with Alba Iulia, Sibiu, and Cluj-Napoca (Romania)
• Copenhagen FAL with Basel (CH), Kaunas (LI), Plymouth-Devon (UK)
• Ostend FAL with Bruges, Eeklo-East-Flanders, and Kortrijk (BE) and Lisbon Metropolitan Area (PT)
• Wroclaw FAL with Warsaw (PL), Greater Manchester (UK) and Trento (IT)

The inclusion of Fellows to the project builds on the FoodSHIFT aim to shift urban food systems towards more sustainable food systems, putting citizens at the centre of change in a novel approach to scale-up, multiply and share the best food innovations European communities have to offer. 

Christian Bugge Henriksen, FoodSHIFT2030 Project Coordinator says:

“We are delighted to welcome on board the successful applicants to join the next phase of the FoodSHIFT 2030 project where we are organizing knowledge exchange between our nine initial city regions and more than twenty seven fellow city-regions that have been paired based on their specific interest and concrete approach towards transforming our food system”. 

The post PRESS RELEASE: Over 30 city-regions selected to join FoodSHIFT project as Fellows appeared first on FoodSHIFT 2030.