Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Initiatives aimed at under 35s, Boot Camps for students and anti-waste projects are starting  

Milan, September 13 2021 - Promote common initiatives to create a network of young people under 35 who are aware and prepared to face the challenges of our time: climate change, the promotion of sustainable agricultural practices and the elimination of food waste. 
With these objectives, the partnership was born between the Future Food Institute of Bologna and the Food Wave project, financed by the European Commission and promoted by the Municipality of Milan together with 16 international cities and 13 civil society organizations.   
  
There are several projects that the Future Food Institute of Bologna, an ecosystem that makes food innovation a key tool for tackling the great challenges of the future and supporting the implementation of the sustainable development objectives of the United Nations 2030 agenda, will share with Food Wave . We will start with the "Boot Camp - Food and Climate Shapers" training program, both in the digital version, recently awarded with the prestigious international recognition "Innovative New Program - Study Abroad", and in the "live" version in Marettimo and Pollica. This is an innovative educational project, organized by the Future Food Institute with the FAO e-learning Academy and recognized as good practice by the European Union, which aims to train a new class of young activists with multidisciplinary profiles and transfer skills to them specifications capable of mitigating and adapting to the climate crisis through the regeneration of food systems.   
The program has been active since 2019 and more than 300 students have already participated, coming from 5 continents and more than 40 countries around the world.   
  
Following are the other initiatives at the center of the partnership:  

• Water in our hands: project promoted by Finish which develops a series of actions aimed at reducing water waste and supporting some of the most important agricultural excellences of the Italian territory;  
• Zero Waste: a 'tasty' virtual marathon that travels around the world through laboratories and kitchens from east to west and involves hundreds of people who meet for lunch or dinner, discovering unknown food identities, rituals and biodiversity and discussing the impact of our food choices and food loss and waste;  
• Climate Shapers Conversations: series of interviews with young thinkers and facilitators, experts from around the world, inspired and motivated to take action in the real world to fight climate change and its impacts, to discover the most important ingredients of change, their motivations, the their projects and all the climate actions they are implementing in their territories;  
• G20 education & labor and Food for Earth - G20 environment, climate and energy edition: full agenda of initiatives, included in the official "All4Climate" calendar of the Ministry of Ecological Transition and organized on the occasion of the G20 Catania dedicated to Education and the G20 Naples on Environment, Climate and Energy themes. Two occasions in which the Future Food Institute highlighted the unequivocal connection between food and climate, and how education, accessible to all, plays a fundamental role in the paradigm shift.  

What is Food Wave? 
Food Wave is a project funded by the European Commission, which aims to create a new alliance between mayors and young people for a green, inclusive and sustainable future of cities. It is developed by the Municipality of Milan, International Relations Department of the Mayor's Cabinet, together with 16 international cities and 13 civil society organizations. 
The project focuses in particular on the importance that sustainable food systems at an urban level and the adoption of responsible practices and lifestyles by boys and girls can play in mitigating climate change. 
Food Wave aims to inform and involve young people through a web platform and a digital campaign, supported by an international network of Ambassadors and influencers. 
The project also involves the carrying out of specific research and studies on food and climate change and the active involvement of young people through online and offline activities including urban games, schools of activism, discussion forums, international exchanges, art competitions and film festivals.