Social innovation platform to make food systems more resilient and sustainable

The EU-funded CULTIVATE project is developing a suite of online tools to assist cities and a broad range of stakeholders in navigating towards resilient and sustainable food sharing.

Food and Natural Resources

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Throughout Europe, urban and peri-urban food systems are becoming increasingly precarious and unsustainable. There is an urgent need to transition to more just and sustainable food systems.

To address this issue, the CULTIVATE project is developing the so-called Food Sharing Compass platform consisting of five key tools that will be tested and/or replicated in nine cities and locations across the EU. The SHARECITY200 Database maps, tracks and monitors food sharing initiatives (FSIs), the Food Sharing Calculator assesses costs, benefits and impacts, the Menu of Good Governance provides options for policies to facilitate sustainable food sharing, the Library of Citizen Engagement catalogues tools to expand food sharing activity, and a Community of Practice for FSIs.

Fostering food sharing benefits in cities

CULTIVATE began in early 2023 by organising collective action from the grassroots. “Taking to the streets, we were able to have on the ground engagements with local FSIs in Dublin before an evening of gastronomic history and culture ending in a collective rendition of Molly Malone – an unofficial anthem for Dublin – which tells the story of a woman who sells fish on the streets of the city,” comments Anna Davies, professor of geography at project coordinator Trinity College Dublin. “This formed solid foundations for the year ahead and created conversations across sectors and cultures that were further explored in an inspiring suite of webinars forming part of the Food Sharing Stories series.”

The researchers created, tested and delivered the first-ever European Food Sharing Dictionary that collates core terms used to describe sharing food across 25 European languages. They mapped the three hub cities of Barcelona, Milan and Utrecht, resulting in a doubling of FSIs that have been identified in these locations since 2016.

“Having conducted mapping of FSIs in 100 cities globally in 2016, it was a surprise to see that Barcelona and Milan have experienced a 100 % increase in FSIs in just eight years,” explains Davies. “This is likely to be a combination of the more nuanced results that are achieved by using the Dictionary, but it also indicates a rapid expansion in activities that make CULTIVATE’s goals to support greater sustainability and resilience around food in urban and peri-urban settings even more important.”

The first policy brief on the governance of food sharing activities and initiatives was also produced. It showcases the innovation demonstrated by CULTIVATE partners, from Upfarming, a Portuguese social enterprise focused on participatory vertical farming, to Milan’s Food Waste Hubs, a municipal-led initiative aiming to halve food waste by 2030.

Citizen engagement activities kicked off in Rijnvliet Edible Neighbourhood – a residential community near Utrecht. This engagement acted as a catalyst for the co-design of serious games to trigger sustainable food sharing and lay the foundation for a collective recipe book called ‘Rijnvliet Recipes’.

Mobile research labs, policy workshops and sustainability impact assessments are currently being conducted in the three cities. CULTIVATE (CULTIVATE: CO-DESIGNING FOOD SHARING INNOVATION FOR RESILIENCE) ends in December 2026.

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Keywords

CULTIVATE, food, food system, food sharing, food sharing initiative, sustainability