Project details

The Work Package 1 (WP1) Project Coordination, is led by UNIVR (Università degli Studi di Verona) with the aim of coordinating the project's activities and monitoring its progress in both scientific and reporting terms. Monthly e-meetings will be organized to receive updates, discuss the outcomes of each activity, and assess their implications for subsequent ones. These meetings will ensure detailed and coordinated planning as well as the early identification (and mitigation) of potential unforeseen obstacles. 

The Work Package 2 (WP2) Action Research Core is coordinated by UNIVR (Università degli Studi di Verona), with all units strongly involved in the decisional steps. It is the core of the project where all activities are devised and coordinated, and results are collected and discussed.

The aim of WP2 is to enhance inclusivity in local and organic food systems by employing stakeholder-driven analysis and strategies, including:

1. Mapping stakeholders and contexts: building a comprehensive picture of stakeholders, relationships, and case study characteristics.

2. Defining inclusivity indicators: developing inclusivity indicators for local and organic food systems through literature review and stakeholder discussions.

3. Analyzing barriers and enablers: using indicators and multi-stakeholder SWOT analysis to identify barriers, enablers, and inclusivity issues.

4. Developing strategies: proposing strategies for greater inclusivity via strategic orientation analysis and collaboration with stakeholders.

5. Organizing experimental research: designing and testing strategies with stakeholders to generate practical insights.

6. Synthesizing findings: consolidating all the results of the testing phases and feedback collected by WP 3,4 and 5 and reflecting on the local and global findings.

WP2 ultimately delivers an evidence-based framework to improve inclusivity in food systems through participatory and applied approaches.

The Work Package 3 (WP3) Institutions and Governance is let by UNIMI (University of Milan – Università degli Studi di Milano), whose team has a long experience in the analysis of the organisation of food supply chains, with a particular focus on the consequences of quality and traceability protocols and certifications on the coordination of supply chain relationships.  The aim of this WP is to understand the mechanisms surrounding the organization of relationships among the different actors of local and organic districts, to identify enablers and barriers of inclusion for sustainability strategies. 

Specifically: 

1. Mapping existing institutions around local and organic districts (Distretti del Cibo and Biodistretti), with a particular focus on the regions of Lombardia and Veneto. 

2. Investigating implementation gaps, inclusivity obstacles and enablers engaging with actors and identify possible solutions. This task includes the implementation of an extensive survey within the districts of the Lombardy Region, with a focus on identifying the performance and barriers of economic, social and environmental sustainability in farms associated to the same districts. 

3. Comparing alternative solutions of institutions against the actual governance through different methodologies, as in-depth interviews or focus groups with districts actors, to study the determinants of governance decisions in term of product, information, knowledge, and monetary flows. Reflections on the outcomes of the different solutions will be discussed. 

The Work Package 4 (WP4) Firms is led by UNICATT and it investigates how to enhance the adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and foster more inclusive, cooperative, and economically viable approaches in farming. It examines production methods, identifying barriers and advantages of shifting from conventional to organic, integrated, and other sustainable systems. By combining qualitative and experimental methods—such as evaluating social capital through lab-in-the-field experiments and using participatory processes to identify market strategies—the research aims to highlight the interplay toward a more inclusive approach between environmental responsibility, economic feasibility, and social aspects. Ultimately, it will guide the development of strategies that align with the EU Farm to Fork Strategy, enabling farms to produce more sustainably, collaborate effectively, and offer affordable, high-quality products to a diverse range of consumers.

Specifically:

1. Examining barriers and enablers to adopting sustainable strategies linked to profitability, using a qualitative approach to compare production cost components and revenues across different methods (organic, innovative, other sustainable approaches, and conventional) through a partial budgeting framework. The findings will clarify the economic trade-offs of integrating sustainable production with district participation.

2. Conducting a lab-in-the-field experiment with farmers to assess how social capital (trust and willingness to cooperate) impacts the implementation of sustainable collective projects. These projects will focus on practical actions derived from the Farm to Fork Strategy within the agricultural sector.

3. Using participatory approach to define specific market access strategies that enable firms to sell affordable sustainable products while enhancing inclusivity at the consumer level.

4. Conducting  an experiment with farmers to explore their preferences for collective actions aimed at improving sustainability. These actions, aligned with the Farm to Fork Strategy, combine sustainability goals with inclusiveness to support collaborative farm projects.

The Work Package 5 (WP5) Consumers/Citizens is led by UNIVR (Università degli Studi di Verona) and focuses on exploring consumer and citizen perspectives on inclusivity in food system sustainability strategies. It aims to identify barriers and enablers and test interventions to enhance inclusivity by:

Consumer preferences and access: examining consumer attitudes, barriers, and willingness to pay for various food system attributes through surveys and lab experiments, highlighting inclusivity issues.

Specifically: 

1. Citizen perspectives: investigating citizen views on peri-urban agriculture, local production initiatives, marketing strategies, and participation in multi-stakeholder institutions.

2. Designing nudging strategies: developing strategies to test consumer responses to different product framings, in collaboration with retailers.

3. Testing inclusivity strategies: conducting field experiments in real-world settings to assess the impact of these strategies on consumer behavior.

4. Synthesizing results: evaluating the effectiveness of the strategies to improve inclusivity.

WP5 ultimately provides insights to ensure consumer and citizen perspectives inform practical, inclusive food system strategies.

The Work Package 6 (WP6) Communication and Dissimination is led by UNIVR but all partners take part to follow the communication and dissemination plan.