Overview

Urban food systems

Impetus for transition

Urban food systems demand immediate action. Cities2030 proposes consumers must be at the core of solutions.

More than 7.7 billion consumers hold the power to shift 100-year-old consumption patterns to meet the requirements for an improved future. The challenges: population overgrowth, rapid urbanisation, vast migration phenomena, climate change and resources scarcity. 9 billion people, most living in cities, 3 billion overweight, and 2 billion without enough food.

Without action for the transition towards sustainable CRFS, the environment will persist being degraded and diminish the world’s capacities to produce quality food for all, whilst decreasing capacities to provide food to all.

CRFS poses a planetary challenge that Cities2030, a new initiative, addresses at local and regional levels, to generate small steps, systemic, pragmatic, actionable, transferable and sustainable solutions.

The main goal of Cities2030 is to create a future proof sustainable CRFS via a connected structure centered in the citizen,  built on trust, with partners encompassing the entire CRFS.

Cities2030 result-oriented consortium commit to work towards the transformation and restructuring of the way systems produce, transport and supply, recycle and reuse food in the 21st century.

The main goal of Cities2030 is to create a future-proof sustainable CRFS via a connected structure centered in the citizen,  built on trust, with partners encompassing the entire CRFS value chain.

Cities2030 result-oriented consortium commits to working towards the transformation and restructuring of the way systems produce, transport and supply, recycle and reuse food in the 21st century.

Cities2030 vision is to connect short food supply chains, gathering consumers, strategic and complement industry partners, the civil society, promising start-ups and enterprises, innovators and visionary thinkers, leading universities and research across the vast diversity of disciplines addressing CRFS, including food science, social science, and big data.

Over the coming four years, Cities2030 aims at raising funds and is expected to attract significant funding from diverse sources of private and public sector investments.

Cities2030 actively encourage the participation of citizens by delivering a trusted UFSE, moving consumers from being passive recipients to active engagement and motivated change agents.

This objective is achieved via multiple tools delivered by Cities2030 such as the CRFS Alliance, a community of practice supported by a digital platform, reaching all over Europe and beyond.

This approach will enable innovation actions and enhancements on a pan-European scope with a global reach. Cities and regions will improve resilience and sustainability, and their leadership will create a short food supply chain and ecosystems enabling local investments, trans-borders, and transnational deployment.

A blockchain-based data-driven UFSE management platform will secure intelligence and coordination actions by delivering an accurate, almost real-time digital twin of the whole supply chain, e.g., from production to waste management, but also on four key enablers of resilience and sustainability: security, ecosystem services, livelihood (e.g., growth) and equity (e.g., inclusivity).