Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Project
In a world experiencing continuous and unexpected change, urban and peri-urban (UPU) food systems are full of injustices and inequalities that make them fragile and vulnerable to shocks. An urgent transition towards more just and sustainable food systems is needed. Many financial services institutions already contribute to this transition, but their activities are often hampered by complex and fragmented food governance, uncertain financing and insecure ownership. Through the Food Sharing Compass CULTIVATE addresses the problem, helping cities move towards resilient and sustainable food sharing. The project identifies drivers and gaps in implementation and challenges existing theories and practices that currently limit food sharing. The project is structured by distinctive implementation phases, each of which is essential to achieve the objectives. The project involves Farmers (FSI, policy makers, food supply actors, researchers and citizens) in all phases.

Start date: 01/01/2023
End date: 31/12/2026

Partnership
Trinity College Dublin (Lead Partner - Ireland), FoodCloud (Ireland), Dublin City Council (Ireland), Wageningen University (Netherlands), City of Utrecht (Netherlands), Cascoland (Netherlands), University of Barcelona (Spain), Fundacio Espigoladors (Spain), Municipality of Milan (Italy - partner), ICLEI European Secretariat Gmbh (Germany), Lunds Universitet (Sweden), Brighton & Hove Food Partnership (Great Britain), Upfarming (Portugal), Boroume Saving Food Saving Lives (Greece ), Icons Foundation (Italy), Dublin City University (Ireland), Pla Estrategic Metropolita de Barcelona (Spain), Nesehnuti (Czech Republic), Targ Sniadaniowy Polska (Warsaw)

Aims
Recalibrate the way Europeans value food, placing the principles of resilience and sustainability at the center and creating an enabling food environment to make it easier for citizens to engage in healthy and sustainable food practices, from production to final consumption and disposal. CULTIVATE aims to collect best practices at EU level in the field of food sharing, creating a community of practice aimed at all actors involved in these initiatives through the development of the new framework for action for innovation, the Food Sharing Compass .

Actions
As part of the project, the Municipality of Milan will undertake to mainly carry out the following activities: 
• Coordination of activities relating to connections with other European projects, systemic initiatives and policy dialogues. CULTIVATE will establish links and cooperation models with other projects in the field to share challenges and results and find synergies in joint communication and dissemination activities. It will also leverage existing initiatives, such as ICLEI-RUAF Global Food Forum, UN Food Systems Coordination and EU-funded projects.
• Activation of a participatory process that will bring together key stakeholders and institutional representatives to discuss governance barriers and, through a process of scenario consolidation, identify levers and pathways for transformative change to support and expand good food donation practices . This participatory process will take place in two co-design workshops and result in detailed plans.
• Communication activities and dissemination of project results.

Expected results
The SHARECITY200 database extends the existing SHARECITY100 catalog to expand its mapping, tracking and monitoring capabilities.
The Food Sharing Calculator includes a SIA (sustainability impact assessment) tool to understand the impacts created by FSIs, as well as a tool to identify the type of investments needed to initiate and maintain a sustainable and resilient FSI landscape.
The Good Governance Menu provides a decision support tool for policy makers and decision makers developing and implementing policies affecting food sharing and for FSIs navigating political environments.
The Citizen Engagement Library includes an open access collection of engagement mechanisms suitable for adoption or adaptation within the UPU food sharing framework.
The Community of Practice Amplification Program creates a framework for knowledge exchange and replication of UPU FSI activities during and beyond the project.