NEuropa - Food System Change Online Congress

Goals

In order to transform the current food system into an environmentally friendly, sustainable system, it requires the increasing implementation of sustainable niche innovations in Europe. Therefore, this project aims at facilitating and promoting the exchange between diverse European niche players in the food system. Next to the niche players themselves, also representatives from associations and federations from the environmental and nature protection sector as well as companies, foundations, journalists and citizens from all over Europe are invited to participate.

This exchange takes place via the "Food System Change Online Congress" and through the long-term use of the digital networking and communication platform http://www.foodsystemchange.org/. This is intended to support the civil society transfer and dissemination of European niche innovations into the mainstream of the German and European food systems.

In particular, this exchange aims at supporting active niche players to expand their network, to learn from other initiatives throughout Europe and to optimize their processes accordingly. In addition, other actors who are not yet implementing niche projects can inform themselves and initiate similar projects elsewhere, so that the niche can grow into the mainstream. Due to the large number of different niches, which address different sustainability goals and can be assigned to different process stages, the transformation of the food system is viewed holistically and synergy effects, also between the niches, can unfold.

 

Background

This project is based on two previous projects that focused on the identification of niche innovations in Germany (TransfErn) and in Europe (NEuropa) as well on their potential with regard to sustainability and the transformation of the food system. The results of these two projects are presented in three UBA publications (TransfErn, NEuropa - German version, NEuropa - English version) and the FoodSy map.