Today’s EU policies and objectives, including the European Green Deal, emphasize the importance of the transition to sustainable, healthy, safe and inclusive food systems from ‘farm to fork’, and the role of R&I as a key enabler. The Food Lab Trentino workshop started form the EC’s FOOD2030 initiative and the inputs from FIT4FOOD2030 to provide showcases and R&I needs to future-proof local and EU food systems.The different visions emerged during the preparatory meetings were captured to build the structure of the workshop and we decided – after first testing the tools ourselves – to include in an upcoming workshop a “trend session” using the FIT4FOOD2030 Trends Cards, with a ranking of the 5 most relevant at the local level, to set up the System knowledge; a “brainstorming session” where participants were invited to describe local actions, best practices and showcases taken to respond to the identified trends/global challenges and to discuss the opportunities offered by to set up the Transformation knowledge; and a final session on “Pathways for Transformation” (40 minutes), to discuss the barriers influencing the food system transformation, which benefit and opportunities arise from their overcome, what needs to be done in R&I to set up the Target knowledge. Explore the timeline further to read more about our results.

Our dedicated taskforce had been mobilising stakeholders together around the Food 2030 policy framework since the autumn of 2019. On 13 February 2020, 60 of them – representing stakeholders of the local food system, from primary production to consumers – gathered around the table for a constructive dialogue on how Research & Innovation in Trentino can contribute to future-proof our food systems. Ongoing initiatives around areas such as mountain and biodiversity protection, sustainable food policies in urban and peri-urban areas, RRI to engage citizen on food impact on health, as well as concrete actions to reduce and recover food waste promoting circularity in the food system were placed in the spotlight. The importance of an institutional and organizational architecture was also highlighted for promoting innovative processes, particularly to disseminate knowledge and innovation: the cooperative system existing in Trentino could be a starting point, that should be reinforced by a strong education/training (direct both to farmers and consumers) committment. Technological training and farming techniques should progress in parallel, along a knowledge supply chain leading to the enhancement (and not necessarily to the simplification) of the food system, to the valorization of the mountain environment, to the conservation of biodiversity. In this context R&I programs should transcend disciplinary and sectoral boundaries proposing target investments towards multidisciplinarity.
Identity, sustainability, integration and competitiveness, as well as education, agriculture practices simplification, resilience and biodiversity seems to be the R&I guidelines of the territorial planning process towards a food system transformation, together with the activity of FoodLab as a community of practice.

“Our food systems face severe, urgent and persistent challenges, such as climate change, resource scarcity, high levels of waste, obesity and malnutrition. These problems are strictly interrelated and can only be well understood through R&I that focuses on key interactions between actors, processes and policies that often cut across food production, consumption and distribution activities. Involving stakeholders in the co-creation of knowledge about such interactions will help to find sustainable pathways for a positive transition towards a resilient and future-proof food system.Within the EIT Climate KIC funded “”Together4Climate”” Journey, 10 summer schools were held in July and August, each consisting of 40 participants (Msc Students from the Labelled Courses promoted by EIT Climate-KIC in Europe), and spanning over 22 cities across Europe.
The session, proposed by Fondazione Edmund Mach, which co-hosted with the University of Trento the summer school, reflected on the circularity of food, from the way in which food is produced and transformed, to its consumption and disposal. 4 presentations were delivered by Research institutions and Public Authorities on their experience in supporting a vision of healthy, sustainable and local food and, in particular, how to engage stakeholders in this objective.
From production to (avoiding) waste, there are interesting experiences realised by a series of actors, but who are not usually operating together. In an interactive manner this session aimed to question participants on their approach to food in different areas of the food system. “

The “Education and Tools to manage fluxes of resources in the “Circular Food Chain” (EAT Circular) project offered a series of webinars focusing on ways to reduce our “food print” and, that is, the amount of waste we generate in the agri-food chain, with particular reference to the food service sector. Topics covered have included good practices, methods and techniques to measure and contain waste, experiences in recovery surpluses, policy documents and green procurement. Webinars were conducted by industry experts from industry, academy and non-profit sector. Each webinar was self-contained; it was therefore possible to participate in one or more interventions. During the events the opportunity to interact with the speakers were promoted. For the Food Lab Trentino this was a great occasion to meet the stakeholders and starting a discussion together with the consumers/general public.

“Food Lab Trentino tested a hybrid module, bringing together three educational formats in a shorter but complementary versions and adapting them to be delivered online. The module’s story was developed around the circular economy of food, and in particular around food, social and cultural issues about food waste and loss (and food packaging) management. We adapted materials produced by our fellow FIT4FOOD2030 City Labs – Valuable Market (Milan), Food Waste (Athens) and Beeswax Food Wrap (Tartu) – to deliver three webinars plus a how-to video for making one’s own beewax food wrap. To maintain the educational and co-creation features of the modules, we included an initial survey during the registration process, a Q&A session during the webinar, and a session on reflections using the vial platform MIRO during the third webinar. We gave this series the title “Puoi cambiare il destino di una fragola? (ed in generale del cibo e dell’impatto della sua produzione sull’ambiente)?”, which roughly translates to “Can you change the destiny of a strawberry? And more generally of food and its environmental impact?” and aptly reflects our story telling.
We presented at the start a short video, which tells the “tragic” end of a strawberry to start a reflection about food loss and waste, including also the relevant EU and Italian figures in this area. A fresh and a not-yet-so fresh strawberry were the protagonists of our second webinar and the third webinar started with an empty plastic package (which was what left after consuming or wasting the strawberries). The sessions on reflections ended with a top 10 list of easy daily actions to reduce our food footprint, as well as with some reflection to start a new conversation with food system stakeholders about actions and solution to reduce the ecological footprint associated to food production, distribution and consumption. Some of the actions that emerged were a need for alternative solutions for food preservation and packaging, education for prevention and management, and avoiding to incentivsing impulse purchases through special offers. A particular attention was drawn to the urgency of education actions aimed at promoting nutritional quality over the appearance of food, education that should be delivered both at home and at school.”