Europe’s meals system is at present answerable for one-third of the continent’s greenhouse fuel emissions. It additionally performs a crucial function in ecological and public well being. The College of Copenhagen is main the CLEVERFOOD initiative with the intention of supporting the transition in direction of a extra sustainable system of meals manufacturing and consumption for the good thing about public and planetary well being.
With €8.1m in funding from the Horizon EU programme, the venture goals to ‘rework the European meals system into one that’s extra climate-friendly, protects nature and biodiversity, and promotes public well being’ throughout the European continent.
“Present and future crises, together with local weather disaster, meals disaster, biodiversity disaster and well being disaster are inextricably linked to the way in which we produce meals. Thus, the time has come to make a radical change, the place all EU international locations make a concerted effort to remodel our meals system by making it extra truthful, sustainable, round and plant-based,” defined Affiliate Professor Christian Bugge Henriksen of the College of Copenhagen’s Division of Plant and Environmental Sciences.
For the subsequent 4 years, Henriksen will lead CLEVERFOOD collectively together with his staff from the Local weather and Meals Safety Group on the Division of Plant and Environmental Sciences.
At present, collaboration is ‘inadequate’
The venture coordinators consider this can be a important intervention as a result of at present there may be ‘inadequate’ coordination, collaboration and mutual studying between ongoing EU tasks, initiatives, meals insurance policies and dialogues throughout all governance ranges in Europe referring to the required transformation of our meals system. There’s a large potential for establishing synergies between them to maximise their influence, they careworn.
“The aim of CLEVERFOOD is to deliver all of those current tasks collectively. Many good initiatives are already underway within the EU, equivalent to ones that work to cut back agricultural emissions and promote biodiversity and well being. Nevertheless, they’re fragmented and don’t cooperate throughout the board. Collaboration is on the coronary heart of all of it if we really search to effectuate change,” defined Marin Lysák PhD, of the College of Copenhagen’s Division of Plant and Environmental Sciences.
The researchers intention to deliver collectively totally different stakeholders to facilitate change at a methods stage. It would deliver collectively ‘main actors’, starting from authorities businesses, universities, industries, and curiosity teams throughout Europe, to foster cooperation, coordination and synergy amongst current, rising and future EU tasks specializing in meals system transformation, linking with the EU Meals 2030 Coverage Framework.
Twenty-three actors, together with the College of Copenhagen’s Division of Plant and Environmental Sciences, will kind a consortium to maneuver the venture ahead. ‘Coverage Labs’ will develop fashions for ‘transformative multi-level meals system governance’ and techniques for advancing meals insurance policies and laws by launching a peer-learning program, organising inclusive multi-stakeholder dialogues, and bringing collectively policymakers from all governance ranges. In the meantime ‘Residing Labs’ will speed up social and technological improvements by co-creating methods for eradicating lock-ins and constructing sustainable meals worth chains, mobilizing influence buyers, selling uptake of latest applied sciences and measuring meals system transition progress.
The Coverage and Residing Labs will act as hubs to foster meals system science competences of kids and youth in addition to drive public engagement, citizen empowerment and mass mobilization by unlocking the facility of influencers, deploying an interactive meals methods exhibition, and designating and supporting everlasting competence centres throughout Europe to make sure society-wide dedication to remodel the meals system, the venture lead stated.
The necessity for political and public engagement
Along with cooperation, one of many venture’s main focus areas is laws and advocacy. It will pave the way in which for frequent EU insurance policies that assist wholesome and sustainable meals methods, it’s hoped. For instance, excessive debt-to-income ratios throughout all European meals system actors hinder farmers and meals innovators adopting new know-how and practices wanted to transition to a round, low carbon and a extra plant-based future. This, the researchers insist, is a scenario politicians should discover options to.
European residents additionally must develop into extra engaged with and invested within the essential meals system transformation, Lysák continued. Info and academic outreach for EU residents must broaden public consciousness about wholesome and sustainable meals with a purpose to improve shopper demand for plant-based meals, he prompt.
“To reach remodeling the meals system, we additionally must get residents on board. Empowering, educating and mobilizing residents to alter their diets and contribute to altering our meals system is crucial. As a way to do that, CLEVERFOOD will assist the cross reducing efforts to incorporate extra regenerative, resilient and plant based mostly meals manufacturing and consumption.”
The CLEVERFOOD venture formally commenced on 1 January, with a kick-off assembly scheduled to happen in Portugal 20-22 February 2023, from there the FOOD 2030 Interactive Exhibition will go to 5 upcoming EU presidency international locations, Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Cyprus and Eire and can host nationwide dialogues, place-based initiatives and key occasions that present many alternatives to get entangled with the transformation of the meals system.
