Project description
A growing demand to promote urban agriculture
By 2050, the majority (67 %) of people will be living in urban areas. This is one reason why urban agriculture (UA) is becoming a subject of growing interest. Apart from providing fresh food to urban areas, indoor farms and rooftop gardens will also be a source of environmental, social and health-related benefits as well as economic development opportunities. UA also addresses climate change and allows food to be grown closer to home. The EU-funded EFUA project will investigate the role of UA as an innovator in the agricultural and food sector and the urban economy. It will promote UA by engaging stakeholders, co-building knowledge and communicating it to the public. Special networking methods will be used to access cutting-edge knowledge.
Objective
EFUA’s objectives are to unlock Urban Agriculture’s potential by achieving better knowledge, better deployment, and better policies in this field. By setting up an UA Forum it aims to develop a new level of stakeholder engagement to better inform decision making and turn Urban Agriculture into a European, regional and local policy domain. EFUA will contribute to the work programme by defining next practices and stakeholder based R&I programmes for Urban Agriculture and also by investigating its role as an innovator in the agricultural and food sector and the urban bioeconomy.
UA is a thriving subject, globally, but has not made its way into European policies due to barriers resulting from gaps in both knowledge and advocacy. EFUA will overcome these barriers by establishing the UA Forum, thereby allowing a new level of stakeholder engagement, co-building of knowledge, better deployment and specifically targeted policies.
The UA Forum is set up following a quad helix approach and as durable format to ensure ongoing networking in Urban Agriculture and to give European policies a partner to better support UA in the long term. EFUA’s workflow is organized in three loops culminating in 3 public conferences and the co-design of a UA vision. EFUA’s work is facilitated by the UA platform offering various tools for engaging stakeholders and co-building of knowledge together with the UA Forum, but also for communication and dissemination. Special networking methods are used to access cutting edge knowledge from R&I projects to define next practice of Urban Agriculture.
Benefits of Urban Agriculture and recommendations for action are targeted to European policy makers thereby supporting various agendas and programs. Impact is increased by target audience oriented communication, making use of excellent dissemination channels. Impact is sustained by perpetuating the UA Forum’s work.
Fields of science
Keywords
Programme(s)
- H2020-EU.3.2. - SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Food security, sustainable agriculture and forestry, marine, maritime and inland water research, and the bioeconomy Main Programme
- H2020-EU.3.2.1.1. - Increasing production efficiency and coping with climate change, while ensuring sustainability and resilience
- H2020-EU.3.2.1.2. - Providing ecosystems services and public goods
Funding Scheme
CSA - Coordination and support actionCoordinator
52062 Aachen
Germany