An awareness action on the edible city concept of the EdiCitNet project was carried out by the project team within REACT in collaboration with the project “To preserve in herbarium the flora of Tunisia and to work out a tool of assistance to its identification: FEM/SGP” in the framework of Envirofest. The activity was aimed at children under the title “Let’s learn botany by playing”. The children were asked to guess and define seeds and plant parts while closing their eyes. They had to (i) define the name of the plant and/or seed, (ii) identify if it was a vegetable, spice or fruit while using their other senses: touch, smell and taste. This activity allows them to develop their sensory abilities towards the plant world, to create other links with plants and to identify/visualize plants daily used in our food. Seeds of spices (Coriander, Caraway, Cumin), vegetable seeds (Pumpkin, Corn, Carrot, Parsley, Chard) and aromatic plants (Jasmine, Thyme, Rosemary) have been carefully selected for this event. The exercise is not easy for the children. Expressions of astonishment, surprise and curiosity were complemented by questions that were often abundant. Laughter broke out throughout this highly appreciated awareness activity. Samples of seeds (pumpkin, corn) were distributed to the children with explanations on the steps to follow to sow them since it is the right season for planting.

First, on June 15th, a training session was held by the City of Sant Feliu de Llobregat and Arran de terra within the framework of the course “Urban green/blue structure: considerations for adaptation to climate change” organized by the Barcelona provincial council (Diputació de Barcelona, DIBA). The course was aimed at technical staff of DIBA and other municipalities. During the course, several strategies to adapt to climate change in the framework of urban green/blue strategic planning were discussed as well as some successful initiatives and examples in this regard. The EdiCitNet planning process carried out in Sant Feliu de Llobregat was explained taking into account the context and background of the project. Also, some specific projects linked to EdiCitNet (such as Alimentem Collserola) and its main challenges from the perspective of the transition of its food system were presented. There was also a dialogue around good practices and challenges in the implementation of strategic planning processes and local agroecological transition, with a specific focus to the example of the action plan for school agroecology in Sant Feliu de Llobregat and the main actions implemented in the city school playgrounds and canteens.

Second, the team participated in the workshops on urban agriculture of the Sustainable Food Policy Working Group of the Catalan Network of Municipalities for Sustainability. This conference, which consisted of two online sessions, took place on 29th June and 6th July. During the conference, experiences and knowledge about the management of municipal farms were shared in order to move towards a more sustainable food system promoting local production, agroecology, food sovereignty and seasonal food.

Finally, the team also took part in the course “Interdependents, co-responsible: the 2030 Agenda as an opportunity” of the Summer Courses of the University of Barcelona. During the course, the SFLL team talked about the role of sustainable cities and communities in order to advance towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 11) explaining the experience of Sant Feliu in the framework of the EdiCitNet project.

On June 10th 2022, the workshop “Edible Neighbourhoods for Berlin” was organised as part of the SenUMVK (Senate Department for the Environment, Urban Mobility, Consumer Protection and Climate Action) Summer Conference.

The workshop was aimed at staff members from Berlin’s Neighbourhood Management programme (part of the German capital’s “Social Cohesion” initiative), as well as other city stakeholders. The goal was to reflect on the current situation in Berlin’s neighborhoods and identify potentials, opportunities and strategies for implementing more edible neighborhoods in the city.

At the beginning of the workshop, more than forty participants were welcomed by Tina Hilbert (Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing) and Sarah Al-Alawi (Stadtkümmerei), who presented the workshop schedule. All participants were then asked to reflect on the current situation in the different areas where the Neighbourhood Management programme is active. With the help of area maps, the participants reflected on where Edible City Solutions (ECS) already exist and which areas could serve for the implementation of ECS in the future.

Afterwards, experts from different fields were invited to introduce the following topics:

(a) Community gardens (Paula Firmbach and Daniel Dermitzel, Prinzessinnengarten)

(b) Biodiversity (Ulrike Peters, Senate Department for the Environment, Urban Mobility, Consumer Protection and Climate Action)

(c) Kiez-Parklets, (Merlin Pitz, Senate Department for the Environment, Urban Mobility, Consumer Protection and Climate Action)

(d) Rainwater Management (Samuel Pearson and Paul Kober, Regenwasseragentur Berlin)

(e) Participatory Climate Protection (Eva Hage, Verbraucherzentrale Berlin e. V., and Tim Schumann, Bezirksamt Pankow – Amt für Weiterbildung und Kultur)

Following these so-called “expert pitches”, the participants gathered in small groups and compiled questions for the experts. For the expert sessions, five tables were set up, that were supervised by the experts from the above-mentioned fields. The sessions were organized in a World Café format. There was a total of three rounds of twenty minutes each, during which the participants could ask the experts questions about the implementation of edible neighbourhoods. There was a lively exchange between the participants and experts during the workshop, with many questions asked and answered.

Thank you to all participants, experts and volunteers who made this exchange on edible neighborhoods in Berlin so exciting and enlightening!

The latest EdiCitNet Diamond Model workshop in Rotterdam was full of inspiring discussions and vivid collaboration.

On the afternoon of May 10, 2022, eight representatives from different Edible City Solution Initiatives in

Rotterdam and two representatives of the City of Rotterdam came together at the green initiative Stadskwekerij De Kas for a Diamond Model workshop, based on the Diamond Model concept developed as part of the EdiCitNet Marketplace. The diamond model tool can be used by urban food initiatives to help them gain a new perspective, identify their core values and develop strategies that will ensure the initiatives stay strong, stable and thriving long into the future. The Diamond Model can also help you learn how to communicate effectively about how, why and to whom your organisation makes a difference.

Similar to the Business Model Canvas, the Diamond Model supports business model innovation and strategising. But it’s not just for profit-oriented organisations – it can be used to support all types, including NGOs, NPOs and associations too.

This workshop was the follow-up of the previous Diamond Model workshop held in April 2022 . After a short introduction to the model, participants crafted their own diamonds representing the positive values created by their respective initiatives. Then three value loop analyses were carried out, taking examples from the challenges that different initiatives are facing.

This workshop was initiated by Groen010’s local working group “Visibility and Values of Green Initiatives” with Nienke Bouwhuis (Groen010/Groene Connectie), Paul De Graaf (Groen010/Coöperatie Ondergrond) and Alice Bischof (Wageningen University) who worked to organise the workshop together.

Are you curious to learn more about the Diamond Model methodology? Find out how to apply it to your green urban food initiative here.

The latest EdiCitNet publication explores the ongoing challenges of digital equity and the affects of the pandemic on participatory planning processes.

The Covid-19 pandemic has had a huge impact on the participatory planning process in the Edible Cities Network project, in particular the work with the project’s Follower Cities (Berlin, Carthage, Guangzhou, Lomé, Montevideo, Sant Feliu and Sempeter pri Gorici) who are working – mostly online – to develop Edible City Masterplans. The project partners involved in this work have been assessing this impact in order to learn from the pandemic – about what can be done to make digital processes more effective and identify what challenges occur.

With this paper, published in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, the EdiCitNet Follower Cities provided insights into their disrupted workflow and helped the project to better understand the difficulties in each city during the pandemic. Additionally, the reflections in this paper offer learnings from the disruptions caused by Covid-19 to better understand how participatory planning processes can be managed online along the lines of equity, access, and participation. The findings demonstrate how participatory processes in the ongoing crisis can be maintained, with relevance to future waves of this and other pandemics.

Click here to explore the full list of EdiCitNet publications.

Under the slogan “Economy meets science”, the annual event “BuGG Day of Research and Education” took place in Stuttgart on the 10^th of May 2022, organized by the German Federation for Building Greening (Bunderverband Gebäudegrün – BuGG).

In attendance were all universities and research institutions active in the fields of roof, façade and interior greening, as well as BuGG members and other building greening experts.

The aims of the “Building Greening Research and Education Day” are:

– To present current research projects

– To identify further research needs

– To network and get to know each other

– To exchange experiences across disciplines

The BuGG Research and Education Day was divided into two parts this year. In the first part (mainly in the morning), the participating universities and research institutions had the opportunity to give short presentations about themselves and their university or institution with their current research and funding projects. Rebecca Gohlke from BuGG presented the EdiCitNet project to the almost 100 participants.

After the lunch break in the second part, there was the opportunity to casually network, get to know each other and exchange ideas.