RUAF

The run-up to the World Urban Forum next week is the occasion for the inaugural video on RUAF's YouTube channel.

Tune in to RUAF chief exec Jess Halliday's chat with Paul Currie and Jia Ni about the training event we're co-organizing with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), , CGIAR Resilient Cities Initiative, entitled: 'Governing the Water Energy Food Nexus - Learning from African Cities'.

They discussed what participants can expect from the session, including presentations by officials from Cape Town and Nairobi, and in-depth training on developing outcomes-based indicators to assess the state of water, energy and food systems in cities. They outlined what each of the co-organizers are bringing to the table, and who we hope to see in the room.

Preview of WUF12 Training: Governing the Water Energy Food Nexus - Learning from African Cities On 7th November 2024, RUAF, FAO, ICLEI and the CGIAR Resilient Cities Initiative will host a training event at World Urban Forum 12, 'Governing the Water Ene...

Heading to from 4th to 8th November? Don't miss our Voices from Cities side event on Wednesday 6th, co-organized with Dreamtown Hivos and Infrastructure Basel. We'll have a fantastic line-up of youth speakers telling us about their food system and river innovations in Kenya, Indonesia, Zimbabwe, Ecuador and Colombia.

*** If you would like to meet with the RUAF team while in Cairo, please reach out. We would be happy to share ideas and discuss potential cooperation. ***

Happy to all our colleagues, partners, and food system stakeholders everywhere (hint: that's everyone!).

The theme of World Food Day 2024 is the Right to Foods.
Today we have chosen to shine a spotlight on the work of the Gaza Urban & Periurban Agriculture Platform (GUPAP) in supporting the right to food through community food resilience. GUPAP's strong networks, forged over a decade, have been crucial in mitigating the emergency food situation since November 2023. During the eventual rebuilding and recovery of agriculture in Gaza, they set a course towards agroecology and food sovereignty.

World Food Day 2024: Gaza’s women-led agribusinesses are a cornerstone of community food resilience - RUAF Urban Agriculture and Food Systems This World Food Day, RUAF shines a spotlight on community food resilience. We share the experiences of our colleagues at the Gaza Urban & Periurban Agriculture Platform (GUPAP), whose strong networks, forged over a decade, have been crucial in mitigating the emergency food situation since November 2...

📢 **Announcing a new hybrid Master's degree in Local Food Policies for 2025 (January to December)**

📅 REGISTRATION DEADLINE: 4TH NOVEMBER

Taught in English, the Master's programme is jointly conferred by University of Gastronomic Sciences of Pollenzo and CIHEAMBari and EStà - Economia e Sostenibilità (a RUAF Partner) participated in the course design.

The combination of these three main partners ensures a solid theoretical-scientific basis, a long experience in field practices and in supporting local, national and international institutions. The faculty is composed of professors, researchers, experts, practitioners and activists from Italy, Europe and all over the world.

The Master is divided into six modules:
1. Food systems approach
2. Food, society and economy
3. Food and public policy
4. Local food policies
5. International cooperation for sustainable food system
6. Open innovation to co-design local food policies

The vision that underpins this master is also that of building an international exchange platform on issues related to local/urban food polices. In addition to the lessons, in fact, laboratory activities, field trips to experiences are planned, as well as seminars and workshops connected to various European and international projects on the themes of the master.

The in-person parts will be held at UniSG in Pollenzo (Italy) and at the CIHEAM campus in Bari (Centre International de Hautes Etudes Agronomiques Méditerranéennes, with Secretariat in Paris and offices in Bari, Chania, Montpellier and Saragoza).

The Master's was also born with the partnership of Slow Food (the founder of UniSG), University of Turin and the Rete Italiana Politiche del Cibo (Italian Network of Local Food Policy), which includes hundreds of researchers, practitioners and activists on local food policies.

For more information, visit https://www.unisg.it/corsi-iscrizioni/hybrid-master-in-local-food-policy/

📢 OUT NOW! Urban Agriculture Magazine no. 41: Linking future policies and next practices.

The latest issue has been produced in partnership with the European Forum on Urban Agriculture, EFUA. It showcases tangible actions, innovative policies, and unexplored angles of urban agriculture, both in Europe and in other countries around the globe.

It addresses four key questions:

🥦 What challenges and opportunities lie ahead for EFUA and for UA as a whole?

🥦 What are the future pathways for UA development?

🥦 What promising policy perspectives are emerging?

🥦 Which networks will help to articulate and valorize the multiple benefits of UA?

Download your copy here:

https://ruaf.org/document/urban-agriculture-magazine-no-41-linking-future-policies-and-next-practices/

Big thanks to all the authors, and to the editorial team who worked tirelessly to produce the new issue.

Transforming urban food systems: Unlocking the potential of open innovation in African cities Co-hosted by ICLEI Europe and EStà as part of the AfriFOODlinks project, this session aims to put the spotlight on open innovation and its role in transformi...

📢 Save the date! The next webinar in the City Region Food Systems Knowledge Exchange series will take place on 21st June at 13h CEST, on the topic of 'Urban and City Region Food Systems: Bridging gaps between levels'.

Sign up here ➡ https://lnkd.in/e8ZDrND9

The webinar is co-organized by RUAF, FAO, and the CGIAR Resilient Cities Initiative, and will explore mechanisms used in various countries and city regions to foster coherence between the national, regional, and city levels over food systems.

The event will be moderated by Jess Halliday, and will feature FAO's Corinna Hawkes, Yurdi Yasmi and Guido Santini. A keynote will be given by Charlotte Flechet of Rikolto, followed by two panel discussions featuring national, regional and city officials from , South Africa, and , Indonesia.

The webinar aims to:
🌟 highlight the importance of building sustainability and resilience at the city region level, supported and enabled by regional and national policies.
⭐ identify mechanisms and concrete actions for coordination between local governments and their regional/national governments.
⭐ explore enablers of multilevel collaboration and territorial cohesion for food systems transformation.

The webinar will be in English, with interpretation into French and Spanish.

Utrecht was one of seven pilot cities selected for the first phase of the City Region Food Systems (CRFS) programme, which ran from 2015 to 2018.

So what happened next?

Read the latest article on the CRFS website to learn about activities under the Utrecht Province food strategy to strengthen short supply chains and build urban-rural linkages, as well as Utrecht Municipality actions to address diet-related health inequalities.

https://www.fao.org/in-action/food-for-cities-programme/news/detail/en/c/1696298/

Our recent webinar on 'Overcoming barriers to building the circular bioeconomy', co-organised with FAO and CGIAR Resilient Cities Initiative, was 90 minutes jam-packed with insights and ideas experiences from practitioners, researchers, and policy officers from Nairobi and Quezon City.

Of all the City Region Food Systems Knowledge Exchange webinars to date, this topic stimulated the liveliest discussions and audience participation, indicating growing momentum towards circularity in CRFS around the globe.

Many thanks to the webinar team, speakers, and panelists.

Watch the recording at

Overcoming barriers to building circular bioeconomy - City Region Food Systems Knowledge Exchange https://www.fao.org/in-action/food-for-cities-programme/en/Aligned with building sustainable and resilient city region food systems (CRFS), the circular bioe...

On April 18th, RUAF ran a workshop at the City, University of London City Food Symposium on 'City region food systems resilience'.

Facilitated by Swrajit Sarkar, the workshop introduced participants to the City region food systems approach developed by RUAF and FAO, and the CRFS Handbook and toolkit (available at https://www.fao.org/in-action/food-for-cities-programme/toolkit/introduction/en/). We then put them to work drawing up the boundaries of their own CRFS, identifying recent and likely shocks and stresses and their impacts on the food system, and possible actions to build resilience.

Working in four groups, the participants took on the CRFS of London, Birmingham, St Albans, and Idanha-a-Nova municipality (Portugal).

Following the analysis, they proposed several ways to build resilience at the CRFS level, including:

🥕 More and improved communication between people who are already engaged in food activities, as well as greater understanding of communication channels;

🥕 the importance of understanding people's experiences, and the impacts of shocks;

🥕 the need for guaranteed access to food, both in physical terms when disasters occurred and access to affordable food;

🥕 the need to understand the knock-on effects (e.g. of Brexit) on supply of fruit and vegetables on city residents, and to make plans;

🥕 the need to understand London not only as a city region food system, but also its significant power and influence over other areas of the UK.

Big thanks to our participants, and to Swrajit Sarkar, Elaine Hudson, Christopher Yap, Christina Vogel, and others at the Centre for Food Policy for the invitation and welcome at this important annual fixture in the UK food policy scene.

🎺 NEWS FLASH! We are happy to announce that RUAF is now a partner in the Urban Futures project, led by Hivos and funded by Fondation Botnar.

Urban Futures works at the intersection of urban food systems, youth wellbeing, and climate action. Operating in intermediary cities in five countries, it supports local partners and especially young people to create more inclusive, climate-resilient cities and urban food systems.

Over the next 3.5 years, RUAF will be:

➡ participating in Urban Futures governance and management;
➡ providing technical support to the dynamic local partners in Indonesia, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Ecuador, and Colombia;
➡ leading systematization and research on specific topics;
➡ conducting global and regional networking

You can read more about Urban Futures here: https://ruaf.org/project/urban-futures

Stay tuned for regular updates on our activities...

Urban Futures – RUAF Urban Agriculture and Food Systems Urban Futures works at the intersection of urban food systems, youth wellbeing, and climate action. Operating in intermediary cities in five countries, it supports local partners and especially young people to create more inclusive, climate-resilient cities and urban food systems.

📢 Another episode in the RUAF-FAO City Region Food Systems Knowledge Exchange podcast series is out now:

City region food systems governance for the long haul

The urban food systems world is characterised by programmes and projects that generally last for up to 5 years ,and only occasionally longer. That means it is very difficult to establish long-term food systems governance platforms that endure beyond the end of projects or political mandate – although it is by no means impossible.

And yet, in a 2022 global study conducted by Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), Cirad - La recherche agronomique pour le développement and RUAF on the lessons learned from multiple shocks and stresses in city region food systems, interviewees in almost all of the 10 case study cities mentioned creating or strengthening governance mechanisms as critical.

RUAF’s Jess Halliday hosts a conversation with Tamsin Faragher (Principal Resilience Officer, City of Cape Town, South Africa), Rija Ranaivoarison (Local coordinator of the CRFS Programme in Antananarivo, Madagascar) and Cecile Michel (Milan Urban Food Policy Pact Secretariat) about their experiences of establishing multistakeholder platforms and institutionalising local food systems work into policies and institutions.

City region food system governance for the long haul - Episode 2 This episode showcases various strategies for long-term food systems governance that have been established in pilot cities of the City Region Food Systems (CRFS) Programme. It explores the factors fac

📢 New podcast out now: Addressing stress in city region food systems

A recent study by FAO, CIRAD and RUAF found that cities are more likely to tackle sudden shocks to their city region food system (CRFS) than they are to address longer-term chronic stresses. This episode explores this phenomenon in two city region contexts, examining why it happens and how the responses to sudden shocks differ from those to long-term stresses.

RUAF's Jess Halliday hosted a conversation with a panel of experts featuring Suarez (Food Systems Consultant from Medellin, Colombia), Professor Buddhi Marambe (University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka), and Dana Omran (Resilient Cities Network).

Have a listen here ➡

Addressing chronic stress - Episode 1 A recent study by FAO, CIRAD and RUAF found that cities are more likely to tackle sudden shocks to their city region food system (CRFS) than they are to address longer-term chronic stresses. This epis

The CRFS Knowledge Exchange Webinar Series is back with another date for your diary! 📆

Brought to you by the CGIAR Resilient Cities Initiative, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and RUAF, our next webinar on 26th March (14h CET) will explore ways of
'Overcoming barriers to building the circular bioeconomy in city regions'. 🐛 🕷 💩

Sign up here ➡ https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_kqh_AEfQTpmI-6GPWfrg3g #/registration

Aligned with building sustainable and resilient city region food systems (CRFS), the circular bioeconomy is attracting significant interest as an approach to stimulate economic growth and end dependency on non-renewable resources. While small scale projects can provide economic opportunities for youth and disadvantaged groups in rural and peri-urban areas, scaled up, the environmental, social and economic benefits to the city region can be transformational.

However, the development of the circular bioeconomy faces a number of barriers, such as inflexible regulatory frameworks, safety concerns and potential risks, and logistical challenges.

The webinar aims to:

- take stock of the state of circular bioeconomy development in various city region contexts around the world;
- identify common barriers to adoption of circular bioeconomy approaches;
- explore how policies can create an enabling environment that helps overcome these barriers.

Please share at will, and help us spread the word!

Milan Urban Food Policy Pact World Sustainable Urban Food Centre of València - CEMAS Resilient Cities Network Sustainable Food Places

Together with Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), and the CGIAR Resilient Cities Initiative, RUAF is organising a webinar on 'Financing urban and city region food system actions' on 20th February (14h CET).

Please join us! You can sign up here https://fao.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bAHndhG0S6ii5cZkf7dNnQ #/registration

More info:
In times of climate change and global uncertainty, cities play a pivotal role in shaping sustainable food systems. While a growing number of cities around the world are already assessing and planning their food systems, existing budget constraints often require external funds for effective implementation.

At the same time, potential funding sources, including national governments, charitable foundations and private sector funds, often remain untapped due to lack of awareness or knowledge on how local stakeholders can access and channel them.

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the RUAF Global Partnership on Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems and the CGIAR Initiative on Resilient Cities, invite food system stakeholders at the local level as well as funding organisations to a webinar in order to:

- explore the role of local and national governments in mobilising resources for local food system transformation;
- identify potential funding sources for city and city region level and provide guidance to stakeholders on accessing them;
- address funding gaps and bottlenecks at the local-level.

The main language of the event will be English, with interpretation available in French and Spanish.

Agenda:

- Welcome and introduction by Guido Santini, Programme Coordinator, Plant Production and Protection Division, FAO, and Jess Halliday, Chief Executive, RUAF

- Overview of finance and investment opportunities and access pathways for cities by James Tefft, FAO Investment Centre

- Global Environment Facility (GEF) and Green Climate Fund (GCF) as mechanisms for cities, speaker TBC

- The landscape of charitable foundations for urban food systems actions by Lauren Baker, Global Alliance for the Future of Food

- What's stopping the private sector from supporting and investing in sustainable food systems? Brian Cook

- Roundtable discussion: City experiences in mobilising resources, funding gaps, and needs, with Sheldon M Sithole, representative of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, and Dayane Xavier, representative of Curitiba, Brazil.

- Q&A session

- Closing remarks by Makiko Taguchi, Agricultural Officer at FAO

RUAF, in collaboration with the European Forum on Urban Agriculture (EFUA), invites proposals to contribute to the 41st issue of Urban Agriculture Magazine (UAM) on the topic of Next Practices & Future Policies for Urban Agriculture.

The EFUA project is entering its final year! This four year project, funded by the EU Horizon 2020 programme, has been unlocking the potentials of urban agriculture (UA) by mapping best practices and policies and enabling networks in and outside of Europe. The forthcoming issue of UAM will include a dedicated EFUA section that outlines some of the key lessons, reflections and recommendations that came out of the project.

Moreover, EFUA wants to take a glance into the future, beyond the end of the project. What challenges and opportunities lie ahead of us?
To this end, RUAF and EFUA invite contributions from UA practitioners and experts around the globe. We welcome proposals for articles on future pathways for UA development, as well as on promising policy approaches and networks that help valorize the multiple benefits of UA.

Please send a short abstract of your proposed contribution (max. 500 words) to [email protected] and [email protected] by February 18th.

Rijnvliet wins WLA Honour Award 2023 We are proud to announce that Rijnvliet Edible Neighborhood wins the WLA Honour Award 2023 in the category Built - Urban Design! RIJNVLIET EDIBLE NEIGHBORHOOD Rijnvliet Edible Neighborhood (REN) is a unique, co-created, new residential area in Utrecht, part of the Leidsche Rijn expansion that provid...