Urban Food Actions Platform

Food production depends and impacts on ecosystem services and biodiversity, with spillover effects going beyond food. Urban and peri-urban agriculture and food processing can contribute to improving the resilience of territories in the face of climate change, natural disasters and disrupted suppy chains. Urban food consumption can also influence where and how food is produced. 

How can you optimize agriculture production while managing ecosystem services and biodiversity and improving resilience to climate change? Numerous examples are presented, explaining how to implement sustainable urban and peri-urban food production and processing; how these can mitigate the heat island effect, prevent floods, reduce the energy needed for cooling and heating buildings, improve social inclusion, (indirectly) raise awareness on combating food waste, or contribute to better access to healthy, diversified and fresh products. Resources on Urban and Peri-Urban Forestry are also available.

 

Related Resources

Food production and ecosystem management - Articles
This paper assesses the contribution made by the cultivation of urban gardens to the food self-sufficiency of mountain municipalities at risk of food desertification during 2020 in South Tyrol (Italy). A food desert is a territory where people are food-insecure because of job/income loss or through the absence of food retail facilities....
Italy (Europe)
2022 - Valentina Cattivelli
Food production and ecosystem management - Articles
This paper examines the motivations that drive foreign gardeners to cultivate a garden in Lombard municipalities. Motivations underlying urban gardening are inspired by social, health, environmental and food-related benefits. As the regional government has legally recognized the importance of urban gardens and financed their realization, the Lombard municipalities have promoted many of...
Italy (Europe)
2022 - Valentina Cattivelli
Governance and planning, Food production and ecosystem management, Food supply and distribution, Food loss and waste - Directories
In this special section, authors approach urban, as well as city-region food systems, to discuss the implications of the deep changes needed in terms of degrowth, social justice and contesting the political and economic hegemony. It gathers selected contributions to the 9th International AESOP Sustainable Food Planning Conference held at Universidad Politécnica de...
(Global coverage)
2022 - Coll.
Food production and ecosystem management - Reports & Case Studies
While environmental and health preoccupations are growing, urban agriculture (UA) is becoming a key element in the future planning decisions of many cities worldwide. Beyond its well-documented environmental and socio-economic benefits, this phenomenon is being individually and/or collectively experimented with as a means of transforming urban space into place (place-making)...
Haiti (Latin America and the Caribbean)
2022 - Pierre Paul Audate, Geneviève Cloutier, Alexandre Lebel
Sustainable diets and nutrition, Food production and ecosystem management, Food loss and waste - Reports & Case Studies
The World Economic Forum together with the Food Action Alliance convened the international community for an action-oriented discussion centred on leading flagship initiatives that hold the potential to realize regional and country-led actions for food systems. From global food systems thinking to local impact, the meeting focused on the global demand for healthy and nutritious food...
Denmark, Italy, Netherlands, United Kingdom (Europe)
2022 - Coll.