CLEVERFOOD - Connected Labs and networks for Empowering Versatile Engagement in Radical Food system transformation

Our Food systems are falling short in providing sustainable, nutritious, and easily accessible food options that appeal to and are affordable to everyone. This issue is exacerbated by the lack of coordination among EU food actors with fragmented policies across local, national, and supranational governance levels. Additionally, insufficient education about sustainable practices perpetuates the problem, resulting in a fractured food system.

CLEVERFOOD, a dynamic four-year project supported by Horizon Europe, consisting of a consortium of 23 EU partners and led by Københavns Universitet, is dedicated to mobilising European citizens, including children and youth, farmers, entrepreneurs, investors, researchers, educators, knowledge brokers, and policymakers. Our collective aim is to transform the European food system into one that is regenerative, resilient, and plant-based in alignment with key European policies and strategies.

Throughout the project's lifecycle, we will implement a range of activities to promote multi-level engagement and the development of dialogue mechanisms, catalysing radical change within the food system:

• Policy Labs – for developing transformative multilevel food system governance models and supporting evidence-based advocacy.
• Living Labs – for supporting social and technological innovation that accelerates the transition towards a more sustainable food system.
• Pan-European multi-actor and public engagement mechanism – for educating and empowering citizen to make the best decisions for their own food consumption.

Core activities and objectives:

1. Establish and operationalize the FOOD 2030 Project Collaboration Network to support projects, partnerships and networks working on transforming the European food system for the benefit of the people and the planet.
2. Establish and operationalize the FOOD 2030 Connected Lab Network to support living labs, communities of practice and other co-creation initiatives working on transforming the food system at the local, regional and national level.
3. Co-create and deploy a FOOD 2030 Interactive Exhibition (‘food systems lab’) hosted by science centres and museums in Portugal (CV) and five EU presidency countries (including Hungary, Poland, Denmark, Cyprus and Ireland). In addition, an interactive exhibit will travel to a minimum of five place-based and international meetings.

EUFIC plays a pivotal role in supporting and promoting key areas within the CLEVERFOOD project. Our contribution lies in: 

1. Supporting the creation of the FOOD 2030 Online Platform: EUFIC supports the development of the FOOD 2030 Online Platform, the project's main communication channel for all EU projects in the FOOD 2030 Project Collaboration Network. Within this platform, EUFIC's Sustainable Food Systems Network (SFSN), built by FIT4FOOD, will serve as the prime networking hub. It will facilitate fruitful discussions on CLEVERFOOD topics among its community of 2,300 users from various sectors across the food system, including research, policy, consumers, and industry.


2. FOOD 2030 Networks group on the SFSN: 
   Within the Food 2023 Collaboration Network, EUFIC takes responsibility for promoting synergies, facilitating communication, dissemination and exploitation opportunities by creating a strategy and supporting activities that aim to establish a culture of collaboration between EU projects, initiatives and networks bound by a common interest. This task is crucial for the development of a strong European community dedicated to maximizing the knowledge uptake potential of sustainable food systems. The tool to implement this strategy is the Sustainable Food Systems Network (SFSN), a virtual platform that connects all actors and stakeholders committed to promoting sustainable food systems. A private group has been created within the SFSN for those who join the FOOD 2030 Project Collaborative Network. Subgroups have also been created to stimulate engagement and networking based on specific topics that span multiple stages of the food value chain, involving associated stakeholders. Each of the topics was assigned with a specific keyword and hashtag. EUFIC will be responsible for administering and moderating these subgroups to ensure the best use of the platform.

Join the Movement: We invite you to explore our project in more detail at FOOD2030 Online Platform. There, you will find comprehensive information about CLEVERFOOD and how you can become an active part of this transformative journey.

EUFIC project lead:

• Camila Massri, Collaborative Projects Senior Manager camila.massri@eufic.org
• Sofia Mendes, Collaborative Projects Manager sofia.mendes@eufic.org