Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISIFOODCITYBOOST – Growing Together: Cultivating a sustainable future across Europe’s urban landscapes
Europe's rural and urban areas are facing growing problems due to climate change, loss of biodiversity, unsustainable use of resources and growing alienation between urban and rural dwellers. These megatrends threaten the sustainability of urban development and food systems. Many European cities have already developed various forms of urban agriculture, such as gardens, rooftops or vertical farming, which could become effective responses to these megatrends.
The FOODCITYBOOST project focuses on these developments by investigating the effects of urban agriculture and providing knowledge for practitioners and policy makers to promote and disseminate the sustainable development of urban agriculture.
In a participatory process, foresight analysis, scenario development and prototyping of new forms of urban agriculture will help to identify future potentials, further develop possible formats and make urban farming future-proof in different urban contexts.
FOODCITYBOOST works closely with 100 stakeholders from six case studies, using a living lab-based approach. This will allow learning from regions and cities across Europe where urban agriculture is already thriving and supported by regional policy. FOODCITYBOOST brings together expertise from the social sciences, humanities, soil systems, urban agriculture and life cycle assessment to expand the knowledge base on urban agriculture through an integrated approach.
