FOODPathS Recommendations

The FOODPathS project was launched by the SCAR Food System Strategic Working Group and the European Commission’s DG RTD to develop and define an inclusive Partnership in Sustainable Food Systems (SFS). After 3.5 years of work, the project’s main output is a set of guidance recommendations for the SCAR FS SWG and DG RTD on structuring and operating such a partnership. These recommendations will also be helpful for mentoring existing partnerships, such as FutureFoodS.

Six Key Recommendations

1. Ensure inclusive, accountable and balanced governance of food system partnerships by developing shared visions, valuing diverse knowledge systems, embedding long-term engagement, and enforcing transparency and fairness in decision-making and funding.
2. Strengthen collaboration in partnerships by using accessible language, ensuring a transparent modus operandi for operational activities, and creating trusted spaces for dialogues that build understanding and trust among all actors.
3. Integrate systems approaches into research and innovation funding by aligning calls across EU and national levels, introducing diverse and flexible funding schemes, and incentivizing inter- and trans-disciplinarity, multi-actor engagement, and co-creation.
4. Build a Community of Practice through a branded network of universities by adopting a Food Systems Sustainability Charter and concrete commitments, supported by benchmarks, and reinforced with incentives for teaching, research, and practice.
5. Establish an independent and inclusive Food Systems Observatory that synthesizes and translates evidence into policy-relevant advice in interactive manners, ensures transparency, and serves as a global and multi-sectoral science–policy–society interface.
6. Develop a practical and accessible Knowledge Hub of Food System Labs that connects existing initiatives via a standardized and comprehensible methodology, links to funding opportunities, employs facilitators, and showcases diverse territorial practices for cross-learning.