Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SIS (SHARE IT SOLUTIONS)
Okres sprawozdawczy: 2022-08-01 do 2024-01-31
This proof of concept (PoC) designed, tested and validated SHARE IT SOLUTIONS (SIS); the first sustainability impact assessment (SIA) platform and consultancy service for the food sharing economy. By improving and simplifying data collection processes, developing novel methods for aggregating and predicting impacts, and creating impact dissemination pathways, the PoC provided evidence-based accounts of the contribution Food Sharing Initiatives (FSIs) and key supporting organisations - local governments and food retailers - are making to the achievement of the global Sustainability Development Goals (SDGs). SIS will drive awareness, policy innovation and business inventiveness, supporting transitions towards a more sustainable food system.
The ERC project SHARECITY (Grant no: 646883) has demonstrated that FSIs, from community growing and cooking to surplus food redistribution, have the potential to help transform food systems onto more sustainable pathways and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs by: reducing hunger (SDG 2); reducing food waste (SDG 12); supporting biodiversity, and making cities and communities more sustainable (SDG 11), as well as bolstering food resilience. Governments, both national and sub-national, are facing increasing pressures to deliver the SDGs by 2030, with a recent FAO report (2021) making an urgent call for more and better data if targets related to food are to be met. Customers and governments are also demanding that food retailers be more sustainable, particularly in terms of reducing their food waste through donating surplus food. In particular, FSIs, local governments and food retailers all suffer from limited data collection and reporting on the impacts of food sharing activities they support:
• FSIs struggle to compete for grants, advocate for their needs and raise awareness about their value among local governments and food retailers without SIA data;
• Local governments struggle to understand and demonstrate the local progress towards sustainability commitments achieved by FSIs in their jurisdiction and how to make informed, effective policy and funding decisions to increase this progress;
• Food retailers struggle to improve their sustainability and corporate social responsibility activities in the face of increasing government and market demand for sustainable business practices without SIA data
The ERC project SHARECITY (Grant no: 646883) has demonstrated that FSIs, from community growing and cooking to surplus food redistribution, have the potential to help transform food systems onto more sustainable pathways and contribute to the achievement of the SDGs by: reducing hunger (SDG 2); reducing food waste (SDG 12); supporting biodiversity, and making cities and communities more sustainable (SDG 11), as well as bolstering food resilience. Governments, both national and sub-national, are facing increasing pressures to deliver the SDGs by 2030, with a recent FAO report (2021) making an urgent call for more and better data if targets related to food are to be met. Customers and governments are also demanding that food retailers be more sustainable, particularly in terms of reducing their food waste through donating surplus food. In particular, FSIs, local governments and food retailers all suffer from limited data collection and reporting on the impacts of food sharing activities they support:
• FSIs struggle to compete for grants, advocate for their needs and raise awareness about their value among local governments and food retailers without SIA data;
• Local governments struggle to understand and demonstrate the local progress towards sustainability commitments achieved by FSIs in their jurisdiction and how to make informed, effective policy and funding decisions to increase this progress;
• Food retailers struggle to improve their sustainability and corporate social responsibility activities in the face of increasing government and market demand for sustainable business practices without SIA data
Building directly on the findings of SHARECITY, SHARE IT SOLUTIONS (SIS) upgraded the user experience design (UX) and the user interface design (UI) of SHARE IT, creating an entire new platform SHARING SOLUTIONS: https://www.sharingsolutions.eu adding translation functionality, new pre-SIA impact surveys, additional mapping of impacts to SDGs and new pathways through the platform. In addition, a feasibility study and business model development process has been undertaken, creating value propositions, lean canvas and other business development outputs. From this three new consultancy services have been designed, tested and validated:
- A consultancy service for FSIs that do not have capacity or capability to use SHARE IT autonomously. This service includes one-to-one tutorials, group workshops, step-by-step reporting masterclasses, troubleshooting supports and other tailored responses.
- A consultancy service for local governments that makes individual and aggregate impact of FSIs accessible to them. This will include a mapping service to identify and quantify food sharing activity within a jurisdiction, a method for aggregating impacts relating to the SDGs, and formulae for predicting the aggregate sustainability impact of expanding FSIs, filling the data gap faced by policy makers today.
- A consultancy service for food retailers that details the impacts of the food donations they make to FSIs, including bespoke consultancy reports on the community impacts of food donation at store level and extrapolations of these impacts at national and international scales.
These tools and services have been tested with different actors including food sharing initiatives, municipalities and food supply actors.
- A consultancy service for FSIs that do not have capacity or capability to use SHARE IT autonomously. This service includes one-to-one tutorials, group workshops, step-by-step reporting masterclasses, troubleshooting supports and other tailored responses.
- A consultancy service for local governments that makes individual and aggregate impact of FSIs accessible to them. This will include a mapping service to identify and quantify food sharing activity within a jurisdiction, a method for aggregating impacts relating to the SDGs, and formulae for predicting the aggregate sustainability impact of expanding FSIs, filling the data gap faced by policy makers today.
- A consultancy service for food retailers that details the impacts of the food donations they make to FSIs, including bespoke consultancy reports on the community impacts of food donation at store level and extrapolations of these impacts at national and international scales.
These tools and services have been tested with different actors including food sharing initiatives, municipalities and food supply actors.
The SIS PoC has enabled a significant progression in the quality and robustness of the science and technical components of the SHARE IT SIA tool, which has been significantly expanded and a new platform website created called SHARING SOLUTIONS. This includes bespoke hard coding of the SIA tool component, including automation of impact to SDGs alignment. Additionally, a new pre-SIA survey option has been provided to encourage early stage FSIs to engage with the platform, creating a pathway to engagement.
Additionally, and building on results of a feasibility study for commercialisation and business model development exercises, a suite of novel consultancy services for food sharing initiatives, municipalities and food supply actors have been developed and trialled in multiple settings.
International peer reviewed publications have emerged from the activities and additional funding has been secured to conduct further testing in international settings across Europe. This includes funding as part of the Horizon Europe for the 4 year, 19 partner Innovation Action: CULTIVATE (€10 mill; 2023-2026). Further income has been secured for rolling out SHARING SOLUTIONS across Ireland (Science Foundation Ireland); and for providing SIA services relating to community gardens (GIY).
Additionally, and building on results of a feasibility study for commercialisation and business model development exercises, a suite of novel consultancy services for food sharing initiatives, municipalities and food supply actors have been developed and trialled in multiple settings.
International peer reviewed publications have emerged from the activities and additional funding has been secured to conduct further testing in international settings across Europe. This includes funding as part of the Horizon Europe for the 4 year, 19 partner Innovation Action: CULTIVATE (€10 mill; 2023-2026). Further income has been secured for rolling out SHARING SOLUTIONS across Ireland (Science Foundation Ireland); and for providing SIA services relating to community gardens (GIY).