Through the launch the participatory and citizen-science initiatives, and taking benefits also from the shared knowledge of the project partners, the FoodE outputs are impacting on job creation and income generation, strengthening the role and engagement of local communities in enhancing the sustainability of food systems, as well as identifying potential win-win relations between the different actors of the food chain. Moreover, the FoodE outcomes have driven several practical applications and recommendations for uptake within European food chains, both directly, through implementation of pilot initiatives and participatory events, and indirectly, through the elaboration of policy guidelines and dissemination products.
In the short term, FoodE has created new job opportunities in EU cities through the implementation of the pilot projects (e.g. urban agriculture parks, vertical farms, aquaponic farms, small scale fishery in school canteen, circular economy restaurants, urban bee keeping), also involving fragile and disadvantaged social groups. In the medium to long term, FoodE is expected to intensify the interactions between research, food production, cities municipalities, education centers, consumers, and citizens. Such network of food actors and stakeholders is supported by both dissemination activities and dedicated support tools, enabling intense interactions in the long term. An example of these tools is the FoodE app that has been designed to ease citizen active engagement in identifying, monitoring and assessing CRFS initiative, to achieve an involvement and effective shift to local food consumption. Within networking and cross-pollination activities, a citizen-science approach is raising citizens awareness on CRFS sustainability and on the environmental impact of dietary habits, and enable them to become key actors in this respect. Activities dedicated to school pupils and young minds have increased the awareness on environmental and social aspect of food production even among the youngest. Results of FoodE are expected enable the environment for positive economic, social, and environmental links between urban, peri-urban and rural areas, meeting the needs, values, and expectations of the EU society toward responsible and ethical food systems. Based both on the developed methodology for the sustainability assessment and the input received by citizens engaged, FoodE has elaborated on existing policies on CRFS and developed CRFS stakeholders maps for best practice identification, which ultimately allowed to compile the European guidebook to sustainable CRFS.
