Shaping the Future of Food Research and Innovation. Insights and Recommendations from Food 2030 Experts

Food 2030 is the R&I framework for advancing sustainable, resilient, inclusive, and healthy food systems. Since its launch in 2016, Food 2030 has pioneered the adoption of a systemic approach to connect, scale up, and boost EU R&I investments and impact with the support of Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe framework programmes.

The European Commission has appointed independent experts to evaluate the impact of Food 2030, assess its structure and underlying rationale, and provide detailed recommendations on the design and format for a future initiative that builds upon and improves the current model. This work provides the European Commission with critical expert insights to support the evaluation of Food 2030 and guide the conception of its next phase. Following the Food 2030 Pathways for action structure, ten experts have identified potential gaps and synergies to be addressed by EU research and innovation policy on food systems, while considering how the initiative could be reinforced and align with the new political priorities of the European Commission.

The evaluation found that Food 2030 has adopted a number of structural assumptions that have shaped the logic of programming. These include:
1. The importance of collaborative, multi-actor approaches to research and innovation.
2. The role of R&I to foster new insights and impacts along with improved technologies that capitalise on the potential of the digital food environment.
3. The need for sound, harmonised and transparent data and monitoring systems.
4. The value of education, training and awareness-raising to advance the social-ecological transformation.
5. The need for strong linkages between R&I and decision-makers.