CE100281

Utolsó frissítés: 2023 július 26.

Projekt azonosító:
CE100281
Projekt acronym:
Food4CE
Projekt címe:
Strengthening Innovation Capacities Among Central European Alternative Food Networks
Elnyert támogatás EUR:
241170 €
Konzorcium vezető:
University of Maribor, Slovenia
Partnerek:

• Regional Development Agency for Podravje, Slovenia
• Institute for Transport and Logistics Foundation, Italy
• Łukasiewicz Research Network, Poland
• Poznań University of Life Sciences, Poland
• ECONSULT, Austria
• UAS BFI Vienna, Austria
• European Network of Logistics Competence Centers, Belgium

A projekt tartalmának bemutatása:
The foundations of alternative food networks (AFNs) are not new, but organised and network-like AFNs only emerged in Europe and Hungary in the first decade of the 2000s. They are a new type of innovative, short and local food networks, organised through producer-consumer cooperation based on personal, direct or community-based, trusting relationships, and offering a real choice to profit-oriented industrial food production practices, avoiding the negative effects of conventional food systems. They also value the local origin and ecological benefits of the product. Over the last decade, AFNs have become an important part of the EU food supply, the food economy and have proven to be sustainable, resilient and innovative. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has caused drastic changes in the food supply chain, posing significant challenges to producers and consumers as well as to public authorities. Closures and restrictions have disrupted conventional, classic long and even short medium supply chains, disruptions in food production plants, etc., which have already threatened food supply security. Despite the fact that AFNs are innovative and short supply chains on the one hand, they have to cope with these difficulties and challenges on the other. On the other hand, the pandemic has also offered great opportunities for small local food businesses and alternative and short food supply chains, and has forced a shift to digitalisation of the food industry and logistics. Systematic policy support and the strengthening and development of AFNs are needed to overcome vulnerabilities and seize opportunities. The main objective of the Food4CE project is to create 5 local and 1 international innovation hubs bringing together different actors from the food sectors (researchers, business experts, food producers, logistics and transport operators, consumers and policy makers) to explore AFNs in Central Europe, to decipher their operating mechanisms, to enhance their efficiency and resilience, to strengthen and recognise their true alternative food supply function. The International Innovation Centre will support knowledge transfer (be it transfer and/or absorption), the transfer of new practices, technologies and solutions between regional innovation centres (between participating countries) and will create a unique mutual support network for AFNs in Central Europe. The project will jointly develop two innovative tools to support AFNs: the Knowledge Transfer Platform (to share best logistics practices and solutions) and the Matchmaking Platform (to create new B2B and B2C logistics solutions and services).Food4CE will provide jointly developed regional action plans for each participating region and international (CE) policy guidelines to support AFNs. The full process of local level innovation centres and the integration of transnational innovation centres into the existing European network of logistics competence centres will result in a sustainable and durable AFN support mechanism, which is expected to continue after the project is completed.