admin

Deliverable 1.1: Building a Multi-Actor Network for a Sustainable Food Future

The SOSFood project is making significant strides toward creating a healthier, safer, and more sustainable food system by fostering collaboration across diverse stakeholders within the food value chain. This essential milestone focuses on identifying the needs and expectations of stakeholders, paving the way for transformative solutions in the food system. 

Understanding the landscape of our food system

To establish this collaboration, Euro Coop, the leader of Work Package 1, designed a comprehensive survey distributed to over 40 organizations dedicated to food sustainability. The 24 participants included primary food producers, manufacturers, retailers, academic institutions, and NGOs across Europe, with a particular focus on regions such as Spain, Greece, and Lithuania. Their responses provided critical insights into the current challenges and opportunities within the food system.

The questionnaire was structured into four key sections, addressing the environmental, social, and economic dimensions of food sustainability, along with stakeholders' priorities for potential sustainability initiatives. This multifaceted approach enabled the survey to capture a wide range of perspectives on crucial issues surrounding food production, distribution, and consumption.

Preliminary findings from the survey provided a comprehensive picture of the measures and policies that could enhance sustainability across the food system’s three pillars. In the next stage, these insights will be discussed with project partners to determine which proposals should move forward in the upcoming case studies set to take place in Athens, Lithuania, and Galicia.

What are the next steps?

Looking ahead, the project team will conduct a detailed analysis of the most promising actions, including a SWOT assessment to evaluate their feasibility and potential impact. The goal of this collaborative approach is to ensure the continued progress of the SOSFood project toward building a more sustainable, inclusive, and resilient food system.

An updated report, incorporating new insights and feedback from additional stakeholders, is anticipated for release in 2025.

by admin

Proudly announcing the start of the SOS Food Zenodo EU Community

Zenodo’s repository serves as a platform to gather different project “communities”, each representing projects funded by a range of European programs. Currently, the repository includes projects funded by HORIZON and EURATOM.

This initiative marks a significant step forward in SOS Food’s commitment to promoting open access and open science. By creating this repository, our project aims to facilitate greater sharing and accessibility of research findings, fostering collaboration and innovation across the scientific community.

The EU Open Research Repository is part of a broader effort led by CERN on behalf of the EC. This platform is dedicated to ensuring that research funded by European programs is freely accessible to everyone, ultimately benefiting researchers, policymakers, and the public as well as promoting transparency, and accelerating scientific progress.

by admin

SOSFood project launches to transform EU food systems with AI innovation

To tackle the current environmental challenges, the new SOSFood (Sustainability Optimization for Secure Food Systems) project funded under Horizon Europe programme will accelerate the green transition of EU food systems by using the great potential of artificial intelligence technologies. 

The main objective in the span of 48 months is to support all stakeholders of the food chain to make well-informed decisions with a holistic approach, enabling more productive, inclusive, sustainable, and resilient food systems.

Despite various efforts to address such aspects as reducing waste, promoting eco-friendly farming and local food products, improving unhealthy diets in the population, optimizing manufacturing and distribution, etc., none have fully grasped the global scale of the issue. Additionally, existing strategies have often been too complex or inaccessible to make significant impacts.

SOSFood seeks to change the situation by bringing together a diverse consortium of experts from the private and public sectors, academia, research, and industries, including consumers and producers. They will collaborate aiming to establish a multi-actor network that promotes transparency and data sharing; map the food system with a multidimensional strategy; co-design tailored decision-making tools that empower every stakeholder in the food chain. 

To ensure the effectiveness and viability of the project, the project will undergo validation in three case studies at regional, metropolis, and national levels in Galicia, Athens, and Lithuania, respectively.

SOSFood officially kicked-off on March 1st, 2024, in Santiago de Compostela, Spain, bringing together all 17 partners from across Europe. Besides the event hosting country, the Netherlands, Italy, Portugal, Lithuania, Greece, France, and Belgium are in the project’s multidisciplinary consortium. For further information about the project, please visit our website.

by admin