Activities and Developments in URBACT Local Groups
The report provides an overview of activities and developments within various URBACT Local Groups. These groups offer the opportunity to observe diverse approaches and collaborative efforts undertaken by local stakeholders to address challenges faced by their respective city centres. This section showcases the diversity of strategies and solutions being implemented locally.
 

This quarter, the network has been working specifically on the following challenges:
Gentrification (t2)
The primary aspects of this phenomenon are the loss of inhabitants due to housing shortages, a lack of adaptation to current family models, or the decline of local services and commerce, as well as the management of the impacts of tourism.
Adaptation to climate change (t3)
 

Historical urban centres, particularly those with a heritage status or those inhabited by more vulnerable populations, often face greater climate risks compared to more modernised urban areas. This susceptibility may arise due to the fragility and condition of the built environment and the socio-demographic characteristics of its inhabitants.
 

Transnational Meeting in Granada

Granada hosted the second Transnational meeting, concluding the activation phase. A detailed account of the recent transnational meeting in Granada is presented in the next section and captures discussions, exchanges, and key takeaways from this pivotal gathering. At the Granada meeting, several local experts presented successful projects implemented in Granada's historic centre, which could be of interest for other participating cities, for example, social and urban regeneration in the Santa Adela neighbourhood. 

The Santa Adela neighbourhood's intervention aims to regenerate its urban landscape, encompassing around 1,500 homes built in the late 1950s for those affected by the 1956 Granada earthquake. Its primary goals include enhancing residents' quality of life, fostering community maintenance, social cohesion, and socio-economic revival. This entails a comprehensive, publicly-funded effort across five areas for new construction and green spaces, with two areas dedicated to existing building rehabilitation. To achieve this, a Special Plan was formulated, establishing an Integrated Management Area employing expropriation as a pivotal action system, including compiling assets and rights, conducting joint appraisals, executing expropriation procedures, and assigning new residences. The project notably employed circular construction principles and a plan of social programming to accompany the rehousing of inhabitants. 

To learn more, watch the video from the URBACT URGE Network for Circular Building Cities.  

Learnings from Granada
Drawing from insights gleaned from the Granada meeting, this section summarises best practices presented there and serves as a source of inspiration and guidance for future projects within the network, showcasing innovations spearheaded by the meeting’s host city, therefore underlining the value of shared learning and cross-pollination of ideas.
 

Data-Driven Approaches

This section features an exploration of methodologies and frameworks employed in defining indicators and policies tailored to the unique needs of city centres. Essential to informed decision-making and policy formulation, leveraging data enables cities to make evidence-based decisions contributing to more effective and sustainable urban development.
The workshop held in Granada aimed to achieve two primary goals: first, to cultivate a comprehensive list of common indicators that effectively respond to the network's diverse needs; and second, to explore various methodologies and stakeholders involved in acquiring pertinent data.

Throughout the workshop, each city representative provided insights into their respective data infrastructure concerning the challenges discussed: Adaptation to climate change and Gentrification. These indicators were closely tied to policies aimed at addressing the associated statistics.

Future Steps and Initiatives
Concluding the report, forthcoming steps and initiatives envisioned within the Cities@Heart network are outlined, delineating the roadmap for future endeavours. This section emphasises the collective commitment toward realising a shared vision of vibrant, inclusive, and resilient city centres.

In June, the planning phase will continue with a visit to Quadrilatero Urbano (the cities of Barcelos, Braga, Vila Nova de Famalicão and Guimarães) in Portugal. This phase will strengthen the practical knowledge and skills of partners in the defined policy areas, draw lessons from the exchanges on an ongoing basis, and focus on applying them at the local level.The main outcome will be the Integrated Action Plans (IAP). The focus for this meeting will be on New supply models and Building a city centre identity, addressing issues like vacant shops and community reinforcement. 

Overall, the first Quarterly Report provides a comprehensive overview of progress, insights, and future directions within the Cities@Heart network, showcasing the collaborative efforts and commitment to creating thriving urban centres.

The first Quarterly Report is available for download in the Cities@Heart library or accessible online with the interactive PDF Reader Calameo.

Save the date! 
In addition to the TNMs, the network will be conducting two webinars.

May 13, 2024
City Centers at Night Time with Simone d’Antonio from the URBACT Cities After Dark Network

Contact the network for registration details

September 2024
Last-Mile Logistics
Date to be determined 

Photos © La Ampliadora 

La Ampliadora Social School of Photography of Granada is a space created specifically for students, so that they can use it both inside and outside of school hours, with everything necessary to learn, research, work and enjoy photography. The school is committed to participatory training with a team of young, active professionals who come from various fields related to photography, cultural management and other artistic disciplines.

On 15 April, URBACT launched a call for Good Practices (running until 30 July 2024). The call aims to reward impactful local practices in sustainable urban development, which can be a source of inspiration and transfer to other European cities.  

If you are working on sustainable urban development, you might be asking yourself: What, exactly, makes a practice ‘good’? This article looks at a handful of the 97 URBACT Good Practices awarded to cities from 25 EU countries in 2017. While these practices cover environmental, social, governance or economic themes, what got them their URBACT label?  

Four fundamental dimensions enable a local good practice to be awarded as an URBACT Good Practice. These represent the principles and values underpinning URBACT since 2002:

- Relevance at European level

- A participatory and integrated approach

- Positive local impact

- Transferability 

Relevance at European Level

As a European Territorial Cooperation programme, URBACT has to respond to the needs and priorities of European cities on urban development in accordance with the EU Cohesion Policy and its objectives. An URBACT Good Practice, therefore, serves or contributes to this framework, or the Sustainable Development Goals, or topics of the partnerships of the Urban Agenda for the EU. This is evident in the topics covered by the 97 URBACT Good Practices awarded in 2017: 

The examples featured in this article touch on these different themes. They also exemplify other characteristics that are considered when selecting an URBACT Good Practice. 

A participatory and integrated approach  

Cities face a spectrum of environmental, economic and social challenges, which are becoming more interconnected. Even if a challenge might fall under one theme (for example, motorised mobility), an integrated approach considers other important dimensions, like gender equality, digital, green transition, related to mobility and the different groups of the local population. The participatory element of a Good Practice refers to the involvement of different local actors, not only from different departments of the city administration, but with the civil society itself.  

Riga (LV) has found a way to use social urban spaces (i.e. community centres) to boost social integration and awareness of local affairs. Established in 2013, the Riga NGO House was created in response to requests from the inhabitants of Riga, themselves. As a community-inspired initiative, the NGO House serves the educational, technical and information support needs of the immediate community. It has gone on to host thousands of visits and events, organised by different NGOs and sometimes coordinated with other municipalities (e.g. twinning and networking events).  

This practice has been officially recognised by URBACT for empowering the non-governmental sector. The lessons learnt and exchange visits are documented in the final outcome of the Active NGOs Transfer Network, ‘The Power of Civic Ecosystems’. 

Located in a designated ‘buffer zone’, the small town of Athienou (CY) faces a unique set of historical, geographical, intergenerational, urban-rural challenges. The town’s Municipal Council of Volunteers (MCV) has been recognised by URBACT for its intergenerational approach to volunteerism. Volunteers work to address local social challenges and provide support services to residents, particularly from vulnerable communities. The volunteering activities take place at the Kleanthios Elderly Home, the Konstanileneion Center for Adults, the Municipal Nursery Center and the Social Welfare Committee. The MCV’s membership is seeing an increase, particularly of younger volunteers, a general awareness and commitment to rebuilding social ties. 

Athienou’s breakthrough active civic participation solution has been adapted by other European cities through the Volunteering Cities Transfer Network.  

In 2014 Turin (IT) launched a competition for all municipal employees (counting around 10.000) to push innovative projects and ideas for the city, developing and improving new services, environment-friendly projects, using information and communication technologies. This served as a model for creating a culture for innovation within the city administration  (e.g. improving performance, reducing waste, maximising resources). In 2017, 71 projects have been submitted, 111 employees involved, and 10 proposals rewarded.  

The practice was designated as an URBACT Good Practice because it helps to increase data and digital tools management to address urban challenges. The application can be seen in the partner cities of Innovato-R Transfer Network. 

Positive impact at local level

All URBACT Good Practices need to have a concrete solution to a host of thematic urban challenges. These, inevitably, have to respond to local needs. For a practice to be an URBACT Good Practice, ‘positive impact’ really means the positive change in a community. In other words, there should be a clear ‘before’ and ‘after’ effect, and a specific explanation of how and why it was effective. 

Mouans-Sartoux (FR) has been serving 100% organic daily meals in its schools since 2012. The city’s collective school catering scheme is officially recognised as an URBACT Good Practice, not simply because of its holistic approach, which brings together municipal farmers, schools, NGOs and local organisations. The decision to procure organic meals in school canteens has welcomed a behavioural shift in the local population. More residents are becoming aware and adopting healthier and sustainable food diets. In fact, in the last five years, Mouans-Sartoux has reduced its carbon impact by more than 20%!

Mouans-Sartoux’s practice offers critical insights into how other cities can bring about shifts in food systems for the betterment of the local community. The practice has since been adapted by other European cities through two URBACT Transfer Networks, BioCanteens and BioCanteens #2 Transfer Network. 

Chemnitz (DE) has developed a real estate management solution to deal with the problem of decaying historic buildings in the city centre. The city’s real estate authority, Agentur StadtWohnen Chemnitz, conducted a survey on vacant/derelict buildings and apartments, identified potential buyers and investors and activated support from public and private stakeholders. The results were compelling, which is why URBACT recognises the practice for its positive local impact: Chemnitz has seen an increasing interest from local investors in rehabilitating historic housing and repurposing abandoned buildings (with housing cohabitations, shelters, social institutions).  

The Chemnitz practice also holds promise for how cities can combat negative trends and urban processes that are not sustainable (e.g. suburban sprawl, car use, expensive housing, etc.).  

Learn more about this practice and how it was transferred through the ALT/BAU Transfer Network. 

Santiago De Compastela (ES) developed a game-based web platform to encourage recycling and other environmentally responsible behaviour. Green points (waste disposal points) were set up in the city centre. In exchange for disposing of waste at these points, citizens have the chance to win recycling vouchers, which can be used at local shops or exchanged at the City Council. In the first 2 years, tens-of-thousands of recycling actions have been registered at civic centres and green points and more than 115 local sponsors had delivered 800 rewards via the Tropa Verde platform.  

The gamification of urban waste reduction developed by Santiago De Compastela shows how to involve local communities in the green transition. The practice has been adapted by partner cities (including Zugló (HU) involved in the Tropa Verde Transfer Network.  

Transferability 

From the 2018 to 2022, 23 of the above-mentioned 97 URBACT Good Practices have been transferred and adapted in other 188 European cities, thanks to URBACT Transfer Networks. These 23 URBACT Good Practice Cities have also benefitted from the exchanges with the other cities, and with URBACT experts, to further improve their practice. URBACT Good Practice Cities set an example through and beyond the URBACT Networks. This potential for transferability is a key award criterion: the practice should be applicable to different contexts and regions.

For instance, Ljubljana (SI) set up ‘the Bee Path’ programme in 2015 to raise awareness of the city’s bee-keeping heritage: its over 300 beekeepers, 4.500 beehives housing, more than180 million bees. The path is designed in such a way that visitors realise the importance of bees for our survival, in addition to discovering the city's beekeeping and honey-making culture.  

This practice is centred around raising awareness of and preserving urban biodiversity and contributing to a more sustainable and sufficient community in Ljubljana. However, its legacy lives on through the BeePathNet Transfer Network and a European-wide network of bee-friendly cities (‘Bee Path Cities’).  

Learn more about Bee Path Cities and check examples of how the practice has been transferred in Bydgoszcz (PL) and the other European cities. 

In 2014, Piraeus (EL) established Blue Growth Piraeus: an urban sustainable development initiative focused on the Blue Economy. Still rocking in the waves of the 2008 global financial crisis, this initiative set out to boost the local maritime economy. Still in practice, Blue Growth Piraeus aims to mentor and encourage start-ups to develop services and solutions for the  maritime economy, adapted to the digital transition.  

Piraeus was able to transfer its URBACT Good Practice as leader of the BluAct URBACT Transfer Network (2018-2021) and another pilot URBACT Transfer Network, BluAct second wave (2021-2022). What was observed in Piraeus can easily be replicated and adapted in other European cities that have coastal or maritime economies.

This transferability has been proven in Mataro (ES), which adapted the five stages of the Blue Growth Piraeus Competition and other partner cities through BluAct Transfer Networks. 

Preston (UK) developed a procurement spending practice that simultaneously jumpstarts the local economy, helps businesses reduce their carbon footprint and combats social exclusion. It is also based on a participatory approach, whereby public (universities, hospitals) in the city and social-sector institutions work together to ensure that their procurement spending is used to bring additional economic, social and environmental benefits to local economies. 

It came up with a toolkit and video series, which were useful tools for transmitting the knowledge and insights acquired by the city through the practice.

The practice has been effectively transferred to Koszalin (PL) and other European cities involved in the Making Spend Matter Transfer Network.  

Find out more: URBACT Call for Good Practices open until 30 June 2024

Evidently, URBACT Good Practices come in all shapes and sizes; the value of a practice extends beyond a specific city or example. Nevertheless, they point to a common throughline for successful and enduring approaches to developing and transferring a practice. First, urban municipalities need to work within the EU and regional policy contexts and objectives to implement good practices. Second, a participatory and integrated approach to sustainable urban development is needed to solve the multi-faceted challenges facing today’s cities. Third, local communities need to be inspired and engaged at all levels of sustainable urban policy making. Fourth, the transferability of a practice, to different cities and contexts, means a wider  impact in Europe thanks to URBACT Transfer Networks. Ultimately, by leading Transfer Networks, URBACT Good Practice Cities can improve the implementation of their practices, following the insights of their partner cities and URBACT experts. 

Interested in applying? All you need to know about the URBACT call for Good Practices (open until 30 July 2024) can be found on urbact.eu/get-involved. 

Belgian architect Luc Schuiten envisages that in 2100 “Sustainable development will have become a pleonasm”, and as such, all urban development will inevitably be sustainable. Future cities will see new living and working habits, mobility and interfaces intersecting and co-existing with the natural environment. Local authorities will play a role in this transformative change, notably by working on infrastructure: creating green spaces out of abandoned buildings and spaces, joining the urban net, enabling a pedestrian connexion and infrastructure from one neighbourhood to another. Notwithstanding the environmental benefit of such measures, public spaces will also become spaces for creativity, learning and exchange.

Laeken 1800- 2200, La Cité végétale, Luc Schuiten. Source: Vegetalcity. 

This article looks closer at the need for green revitalisation and regeneration in the context of the URBACT GreenPlace Action Planning Network, one of  30 URBACT Action Planning Networks running from June 2023 to December 2025. Led by Wroclaw (PL), GreenPlace addresses unused, abandoned and forgotten places with green revitalisation and regeneration efforts – all involving the local community. 

The issue of forgotten and unused urban spaces

The urban landscape in Europe has evolved over the last decades. Former industrial or rail infrastructures, factories, construction sites, slaughterhouses, large health and social care facilities, shopping centres, offices or incomplete buildings and city centres, former military barracks, parks and greenfields – a variety of buildings and spaces have lost their original functions, left unused, abandoned and/or forgotten. 

Bucharest Delta. Source: Marcelline Bonneau.

These buildings and sites can be abandoned or unused for a variety of reasons:

- radical changes, conditioned by historical or economic events;

- negative connotations linked to places;

- the natural toll of time pr dereliction;

- social, historical and economic changes in a city;

- population shifts from rural to urban areas and changes in residential patterns (e.g. larger houses, fewer people per family unit);

- the low price of undeveloped greenfield land compared with the high cost of redeveloping land (e.g. regeneration of brownfields); or

- becoming too expensive to maintain.
 

Addressing the management of these under-used land, spaces and buildings is a key focal point of European regional development policy and funding frameworks. On the one hand, if nothing is done, these spaces will have a negative impact on the environment and biodiversity. For example, former storage and manoeuvring yards can form ‘heat islands’ and stored pollution can lead to further problems related to, among other things, rainwater management. Unused public spaces can also negatively impact land use, not accounting for land pressure and uncontrolled urban development (sprawl), and socio-economic inequity and insecurity. 

On the other hand, if we do something, we’ll see a positive impact on the environment. Nature-based solutions, brownfield regeneration, green infrastructure and other technical green solutions – including retrofitting or energy networks – can increase biodiversity, protect habitats, attract new fauna and flora  and integrate climate adaptation solutions, for example, related to rainwater management, water retention, cool islands, etc.  

Cities involved in URBACT networks, such as Lille (FR) and Heerlen (NL), serve as case studies on the positive impact of greener rehabilitated public spaces in their communities. Policy recommendations for the reuse of spaces and buildings include, among others: involving architects and planners in the development of land-use plans; fixing realistic land and financial budgets; considering public-private partnership models.

The need to develop green revitalisation and regeneration

Green revitalisation and regeneration are a prominent way of addressing unused, forgotten and abandoned places, both as a means to sustainable urban development and ends in themselves. The most common principles underpinning these concepts are addressed in the following approaches:

GreenPlace: 10 cities revitalising forgotten urban spaces with local communities

The above approaches to green revitalisation and regeneration form the core of the GreenPlace Action Planning Network. Led by the City of Wroclaw (PL), partner cities include Boulogne-sur-mer Développement Côte d’Opale (FR), Bucharest-Ilfov Metropolitan Area Intercommunity Development Association (RO), Cehegin (ES), Limerick (IE), Löbau (DE), Nitra (SK), Onda (ES), Quarto d’Altino (IT) and Vila Nova De Poiares (PT).

The variety of partner profiles stresses the richness and added value of such a diverse partnership. Some of these cities are small (e.g. Vila Nova de Poiares has 7.281 inhabitants) others are very large (e.g. Bucharest-Ilfov, with 2.298.000 inhabitants). Some are rural areas (e.g. Quarto d’Altino), some are very urban (e.g. Wroclaw), while others are considered developed (e.g. Limerick) or less developed (e.g. Nitra).

The partner cities may be in different stages of green revitalisation and community engagement. They may face different contexts and challenges, as indicated in the GreenPlace baseline study, which details the context, methodology and roadmap of the Action Planning Networks. Regardless of these differences, they are already learning so much from each other!

In particular, city partners are focusing on the following main categories of forgotten and unused urban spaces:

- Abandoned buildings: a Noodle Factory in Löbau, a Civic Centre in Quarto d’Altino;

- Forgotten buildings (yet, partially in use): the Popowice Tram Depot in Wroclaw, the Victorei Tram Depot in Bucharest-Ilfov; 

- Unused green areas: a medieval wall in Limerick, a Green Zone in Vila Nova de Poiares, Ejidos in Cehegin; and

- Unused built areas: a future Green Lung in Onda, the Station-Bréquerecque area in Boulogne-Sur-Mer, Martin’s Hill – a former military barracks site in Nitra.

In Löbau, partners have reported back on involving the local community in plans to revitalise an abandoned factory site.

URBACT Action Planning Networks: greener horizons

More updates are still to come from the GreenPlace Action Planning Network as the work progresses. 

In the broader scheme of the URBACT IV programme, GreenPlace is not the only URBACT Action Planning Networks making cities greener. COPE, Let’s Go Circular, BiodiverCity, Eco-Core and In4Green are a few others worth exploring!

This article was updated in April 2024. The original version was submitted by Marcelline Bonneau on 19/12/2023.

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Going from 0% to 70% ‘sustainable food’¹ in three years, and more than 50% local: “We're not out of work!” says Davide Arcadipane, from Intercommunale de Soins Spécialisés de Liège (ISoSL). ISoSL is the inter-municipal association providing 4,000 meals per day to more than half of the elementary school canteens in Liège, Belgium. 

Since the launch of the URBACT BioCanteens #2 Transfer Network (2021-2022), ISoSL has undertaken a 360° transformation of its practices: adapting menus and integrating organic, local, healthy, fresh and seasonal products, setting up a working dynamic between the cooks and the city’s schools, measuring food waste, developing a mobile meal-ordering application to alleviate administrative work for schools and provide cooks with accurate order numbers, organising visits to producers with the cooks, the purchasing department and the dieticians, modifying six out of nine public food contracts for schools and nurseries, with the objective of 100% local, organic food by 2024. 

All of these transformations put together have culminated in a profound change in the ISoSL system. In anticipation of the next EU City Lab, which will take place in Liège, this article explores the city’s integrated food system and, in particular, the role of public procurement in combatting food waste.

A strategy for an integrated food system

At the beginning of 2021, ISoSL decided to take a systemic approach to its collective catering, encompassing four main areas of work: purchasing policy, production management, waste reduction and awareness of sustainable food. 

A lot more could be written on each aspect of this approach, and the Liège food ecosystem as a whole. For the purpose of this article, it is worth examining a few prompts for the strategy: How can the city change the way it buys so that sustainable products enter the kitchens? What constitutes a purchasing strategy that is consistent with the values of sustainable food? How can ISoSL’s purchasing power be leveraged to invest in local, sustainable and resilient food systems?

ISoSL inter-municipal association central kitchen preparing 12,000 meals per day (Photo credit, Strategic Design Scenarios).

Revolutioning food procurement processes

Agricultural issues are not always well understood by those who are not involved in the sector. That's why ISoSL systematically visits producers and farms when analysing offers. “We adapt our needs to what the region has to offer, rather than the other way round”. For Davide Arcadipane, it's a real paradigm shift when it comes to sourcing, moving towards fresh, seasonal produce, from short distribution channels and as raw as possible. Meeting producers is essential. It allows cooks and dieticians to understand the history of products and the diversity of local production.   

The timing for change is also linked to ISoSL's purchasing policy: markets end and start at very specific times. The city's purchasing department has drawn up a schedule of contracts to be renewed, which are dealt with one after the other.

The work always starts with an inventory of requirements: what products for which usage? What quantities? How often? Etc. In short, all the information relevant to the preparation of meals, and therefore to the award of a new public tender.

The next step is to carry out research in the field to find out which local producers and businesses could meet these needs. It's important to know what's on offer so that you can draw up appropriate specifications. The offer, here, must be understood as the overall offer at a given moment, in a given territory and not as the submission of a bid by a tenderer. 

Once ISoSL is certain that all the suppliers have a range of products that can be used to produce healthy, diversified menus, new selection criteria are incorporated into the public procurement tender. Public procurement legislation is not easy to use, and it is not always easy to find the right criteria. A multi-disciplinary team made up of the purchasing department and legal experts (both internal and external to ISoSL) is working on introducing criteria to ensure that products are environmentally friendly, respect animal welfare, are healthy and fair, and do not contribute to food waste. This is followed by a classic procedure involving the submission of tenders, culinary tests, appointment of the supplier, etc.

“On paper, it looks fairly simple to introduce sustainable products into community kitchens, but in reality it's rather complex and requires a lot of energy”, continues Davide. “There are logistical, human and financial obstacles, in particular the duality between the demand for low prices from canteen users and the need to offer remunerative prices to producers”. 

Going beyond the canteen to tackle food waste

In Belgium, the ‘hot meal’ in the canteen often has a bad reputation. In fact, only a dozen percent of schoolchildren eat there. The others make do with their ‘sandwich box’ brought from home, which rarely contains a balanced, healthy and varied meal. Canteens are often noisy places where children eat in a hurry, without being accompanied or encouraged to taste. In Belgium, lunchtime is also considered ‘non-school time’. It is therefore a time not financed by the Wallonia-Brussels Federation in charge. As a result, the tendency is often to neglect these moments, to have the children looked after by ‘auxiliaries’, i.e, generally unqualified, untrained staff. The change in school canteens, while crucial, will affect and raise awareness in far fewer people than in other European countries where school canteens are mainstream. This is another reason not to stop there, to extend these policies to all collective catering and to develop general awareness.

The URBACT BioCanteens #2 Transfer Network played a key role in the development of an integrated local food approach in Liège, protecting both the health of citizens and the environment. Within the framework of BioCanteens, the ISoSL kitchens selected nine pilot schools from which an in-depth diagnosis of the lunchtime process was carried out. Within the framework of this diagnosis, particular attention was paid to the reduction of waste. “The observation phase made it possible to point out three critical moments where this waste was visually present”, explains Julien Chapaux, in charge of conducting the first diagnosis for Liège, “during production and cooking of meals, during the packaging and distribution from the central kitchen and during consumption in the schools.”

First, during production, daily variations in meal orders range from 100–350 meals. To avoid running out of meals during packing and serving in the schools, the cooks had taken to systematically producing more. Every day, the kitchen therefore provided for a safety margin, which inevitably led to waste during production.    

Second, when the meals are put into the insulated containers to be sent to the schools (hot link distribution), the staff have a very short time to pack the 2,500 meals for the 150 schools. Observations have shown that the staff do not always have the same rigour at the beginning of the packaging line as at the end. This led to differences in the weight of the food in the insulated containers for the first schools served and those on the last round.

Finally, during the consumption of the meal, it was observed that there was generally too much (or sometimes not enough) food in the insulated containers, but above all that many children did not finish their plates.

In February 2022, Liège implemented a series of production, packaging and consumption weightings. A student carried out eight weeks of analysis (one week per school). It was measured that the overall waste of meals was 51%. For soup, the figure was 57%. These dramatic outcomes confirmed the first batch of observations with quantitative figures convincing ISoSL and all city canteens’ schemes to take action. A series of measures were taken: application of meal ordering with strict ordering deadlines, weighing at the packaging line, awareness-raising in schools, etc.

More sustainable and healthy meal at the canteen (photo credit: MAdil).

When a bottom-up movement meets city governance

Thinking about the market in a sustainable way is a complex process. It's not enough to change one criterion or another, or to demand more local, high-quality food. The key to making these changes is co-construction and a shared determination to achieve them, the involvement of all the players. “ISoSL and the city of Liège would not have been able to put all this in place without the Ceinture Alimentaire Terre Liégeoise”, states Vérionique Biquet, Project Manager for Healthy and sustainable food for all within the Social Cohesion Plan of Liège. “As public players, we don't have the capacity to mobilise the local ecosystem of producers without the support of local experts and facilitators”. 

The Liège Food Belt (Ceinture Alimentaire Terre Liégeoise) emerged from more than 400 stakeholders in the region, who joined forces about 14 years ago. There was a need for a platform to support and structure this mobilisation among producers, market gardeners, organic groceries, sustainable canteens and restaurants. The rapid change achieved by ISoSL and Liège has been highly facilitated by the existence of a strong and large network of engaged stakeholders. 

The tighter collaboration between the Liège Food Belt and the public authorities of Liège generates a booming dynamic within the local healthy and sustainable food ecosystem. In parallel to the transformation of school canteens, a large range of initiatives have popped up in recent years, involving various organisations and institutions.

Visit to a local sustainable food producer (Photo credit: MAdil).

The MAdil, Maison de l'Alimentation durable et inclusive de Liège (Sustainable and Inclusive Food House) provides the opportunity to discover, test and learn about good food practices, including environmental protection and the fight against food waste. Activities cover culinary workshops, guest tables, walks around edible wild plants, meetings with local producers, introductions to market gardening techniques, and more.

HORIZON, a logistics centre dedicated to short circuits, has been operational for a year at the Marché Matinal de Liège in Droixhe, with storage space for local coopératives in particular to supply community kitchens. The "Short-Circuit" weekly market welcomes around 20 local producers and over 1,000 visitors every Thursday, from May to October, in the Place Cathédrale.

The CREaFARM programme, which makes public land available free of charge for local and urban agricultural projects. The agricultural plots are farmed by market gardeners on the principle of Community Supported Agriculture.

The creation of the CPA, Conseil de Politique Alimentaire (Food Policy Council) as a consultation and coordination body is also notable. It is dedicated to the actors of the food system, on the scale of the 24 municipalities of Liège Métropole and is composed of six Working Groups.

And last but not least, a month ago, construction began on a vegetable and canning factory, financed by European funds and planned as part of the national plan for recovery and resilience. This new installation will be active in 2025 and enable the supply of local and fresh vegetables to the ISoSL kitchen and beyond.  

Logistics hub for local producers at the historic Droixhe morning bulk market (photo credit: Ville de Liège).

Good practices: from city to city

To reiterate, the BioCanteens Transfer Network played an important role in catalysing this process in Liège. In fact, Liège was engaged in a process of adapting the city of Mouans-Sartoux‘s Good Practice with its means and context: a daily distribution of 100% organic meals made of local products; a drastic reduction of food waste; the organisation of educational activities dedicated to raising children’s awareness of sustainable food, etc.

“In Mouans-Sartoux, the city started to take action towards more healthy and sustainable food and the citizens and the civil society joined the movement. In Liège it is the other way around, the Liège Food Belt kicked off the food transition process and the city administration built on it to set its healthy and sustainable food governance!” summarises Gilles Pérole, Vice-Mayor of Mouans-Sartoux in charge of Children, Education and Food and Coordinator of the BioCanteens URBACT Transfer Network.  

Does this success mean that Liège is starting its own URBACT Transfer Network at regional level? “In a way yes”, answers Davide Arcadipane. “What we achieved here is possible on every Belgian territory. More initiatives from other cities such as Liège will produce more transition to sustainable practice of food producers, more potential to foster change through strategic public procurement even with the declining purchasing power due to inflation, more involvement and coherence in terms of food-related policies between local, regional, federal and European governance levels”.

New short circuit logistic hub programmed for 2025 (Photo credit is Gaetan Wijnants).

Next steps for Liège

A lot has been achieved in a relatively short time to transform the ISoSL central kitchen. What are the next challenges for the city? The central kitchen started to cook two fresh local vegetables per day. The new  vegetable and canning factory will be able to process 1,400 tonnes of locally produced vegetables per year and cover more than the needs of ISoSL. This vegetable factory will achieve the initial objective of 100% organic, announced in 2021 upon entering the URBACT BioCanteens Transfer Network.

The strategic use of the city purchase power. In 2023, Liège school canteens represented around €1,000,0000 of which €600,000 are already classified as ‘sustainable food’. This shows, if still needed, that strategic public procurement has an important stimulation effect on the emergence of new sustainable food producers and on the transition of the local farming ecosystem.  

The 4,000 meals per day provided to the schools and nurseries should now be extended to 12,000 meals per day, including hospitals and elderly homes of the area. There is a strong political interest, including from other Wallonian cities. Moreover, a study is in progress to assess real costs which is to say, costs of delivering sustainable and local meals, but also taking into account hidden costs for public authorities due to unhealthy diets, diffusion of related diseases such as obesity, etc.  

EU City Labs: what’s next on the menu?

The creation of a rich and articulated ecosystem is key to support changes in practices: it is true to ensure the evolution of citizens towards more healthy and sustainable diet. This was analysed in the recent article ‘Feeding change: Cities empowering healthier and more sustainable food choices’ as well as during EU Food City Lab on Changing Habits for a Healthy and Sustainable Food System (Mouans-Sartoux (FR), 21-22 March 2024). Liège example shows, if still needed, that it is also true for stakeholder practices change (farmers, transformers, cooks, canteens staff, etc.).

From 29-30 May 2024, Liège will host the EU City Lab on Public Procurement for More Local, Seasonal and Sustainable Food. EU City Labs are knowledge-sharing events co-hosted by URBACT and the European Urban Initiative. The Liège edition is the second of three events taking place in different cities, focused on change of eating habits, food procurement and preservation of agricultural land, and other elements for cultivating thriving local food systems in urban areas.

Interested in meeting with other cities, representatives and organisations working on this issue? Registration for the next EU City Lab is still open. Consult the full programme and register here.

Want to read more from URBACT experts on food and related topics? Visit the URBACT Food Knowledge Hub.
 

¹ The ISoSL uses the definition of ‘sustainable food’ found in the Wallonia Region Food Strategy Manger Demain (Eating Tomorrow) and that of the FAO.

Food systems are a primary cause of environmental degradation and contribute to climate change, health inequalities and waste. With half the global population living in urban areas, cities are tuning in to the role they play in building more sustainable food systems and helping their residents eat a healthier diet. 

On 21 and 22 March 2024, around 50 city practitioners from 9 European countries gathered in Mouans-Sartoux (France) for the EU City Lab on Changing Food Habits for a Healthy and Sustainable Food System.  

This article condenses the rich exchanges that took place there into 5 ways cities can get onto – or further explore – the food transformation path.  

If you like what you read here, have a look at the EU City Lab #2 programme on using public procurement for more local, seasonal and sustainable food on 29-30 May in Liège (BE).  

1. Take a Food Systems Approach 

Roxana Maria Triboi, lead author of the ex-ante assessment of the “Food” thematic area under the Urban Agenda of the EU (UAEU), emphasised citizens’ “disassociation with food production”, i.e. a general lack of awareness of  food production processes and their social, economic and environmental impacts. For instance, many ignore that food production is responsible for around 26% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. By taking a more proactive approach to food consumption, citizens can work towards reintegrating food as a focus of political engagement and help build more sustainable local food systems.  

On their end, policymakers need to stop looking at food policies in a silo, and instead start associating them with broader economic and social goals, such as re-dynamising the local territory or building food security through shorter and fairer supply chains. Thanks to their flexibility, smaller cities are especially relevant to develop synergies and integrated approaches. 

The ex-ante assessment of the Urban Agenda’s “Food” thematic area conducted in 2023 embraced this holistic perspective, building on a conceptual framework developed by IPES-Food. The same conceptual framework also inspires the approach of the three EU City Labs on Local Food Systems. 

2. Navigate the EU landscape on food 

In recent years, EU food policies also witnessed a progressive shift towards a more systemic and sustainability-oriented approach. The 2020 Farm to Fork Strategy, for instance, attempted to introduce an holistic perspective to the food production chain, from the producers to the consumers (and beyond, in the context of a circular economy) and to put sustainability at the core of food systems transformation.  

Yet, there is still a long way to go to transform these ambitious goals into reality, as many critical voices are being raised. “Europe is witnessing a growing push to shift the perspective “from fork to farm”: that is, emphasizing the political legitimacy of the citizens-consumers to decide what they wish to eat” recalled Gilles Perole, Deputy-Mayor of Mouans-Sartoux. As EU legislators work to fill the gap, cities keep playing a key role as drivers of change.  

Initiatives such as the UAEU Partnership on Food, launched in January 2024, put cities at the heart of local food policy transformation. As explained by Elisa Porreca, Food Policy Officer of the City of Milan and coordinator of the partnership, it gathers 21 stakeholders from all sectors of the urban food chain, to build both a shared vision and the necessary tools for its sustainable implementation. For the coming years, the goal is to improve the funding, regulation and knowledge in relation to local food systems.   

3. Get inspired by cities across Europe… 

Organic food in school canteens in Mouans-Sartoux 

Over the years, the city of Mouans-Sartoux has turned into a key source of inspiration for urban food policy practitioners across Europe. Why?  

Because of its three primary school canteens serving 100% organic food since 2012 – all cooked on-site by the canteens’ chefs, with 85% of self-produced vegetables all-year round and diversification of proteins through 50% of vegetarian meals for all. 1,100 meals are served every day by the school canteens to 97% of the total number of pupils in Mouans-Sartoux. The local supply of vegetables is ensured by the municipal farm – a 6-hectare plot pre-empted by the municipality in 2010, with a yield of 25 tons per year. Three full-time farmers work there as civil servants – a first in France.  

Mouans-Sartoux’s practice and know-how has been customised and transferred to 9 European cities through two URBACT Transfer Networks called Biocanteens and Biocanteens#2 from 2018 to 2022. Many other French cities have followed Mouans-Sartoux’s example. 

A key strength of the city’s practice is the progressive buildup on projects, leading to a systemic approach. EU City Lab’s participants got to discover the different building blocks of this approach through city visits and dedicated discussion sessions.   

“The Municipality played a key role in initiating this policy, yet it has focused since the beginning on fostering citizens’ implication,” recalled Gilles Perole, Deputy-Mayor of Mouans-Sartoux. Since 2016, the MEAD (Centre for Sustainable Food Alimentation) supports this ambition through training and education initiatives. Most recently, the city’s participatory efforts led to ‘The Citizen Feeds the City’ initiative, which saw the creation of seven community gardens – initiated by citizens and managed in autonomy by a group of them. 

To tackle the inclusiveness challenge, since 2011 low-income or unemployed citizens may benefit for a few months access to a social grocery store, where they can get healthy and sustainable food at a very low cost. A step further? Scaling up to more categories of citizens who don’t have the chance to properly consider the food they consume. As explained by Caroline Monjardet, Project Manager at MEAD, the city currently works with local companies and restaurants to propose healthier and locally-sourced meals to their employees or customers. 

Group visit to one of the 100% organic school canteens in Mouans-Sartoux (FR) -- with Gilles Perole, Deputy-Mayor of the city. 

Food Study with Irish Traveller women in Cork, Ireland 

Around 2015, a network of traveller women approached Denise Cahill, Healthy Cities Co-ordinator in Cork, concerned about the rate of obesity in their community. Rather than spreading once more food recommendations, as they had multiple times without success, they built together the framework for a food study exploring the social determinants of traveller’s women health. Driven by their experiences, especially facing structural racism and hostility, this research was built with and owned by those traveller women. “Nothing about us without us” is the new motto in Cork.. 

“Cork is now trying to become a trauma-informed city.” As Denise explained, this study did not have such an impact on the obesity rate, but that was never the main goal. Going beyond the scope of food, the study became an advocacy tool for social services to understand the struggles and trauma that vulnerable communities battle with, and ultimately build more positive exchanges with them.  

 “The thinkers and the doers must find a common space.” Denise explained how creating this dialogue is a motor for the city’s action, to give room for everyone’s voices, from the farmers to the elected representatives, including the planners, and the grassroot movements. 

UIA TAST’in FIVES in Lille, France 

Perrine Dubois, project manager at the City of Lille, shared a story of transformation. A former industrial city throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, Lille witnessed in 2001 the closure of one of its last industrial factories, “Five Cail” (straddling the neighbouring commune of Hellemmes). What to do with this 15hectare brownfield site located in the heart of the Lille metropolis? In the context of a broader project to turn this zone into an eco-district, the city applied in 2016 to an Urban Innovative Action (UIA) call for the financing of Tast'in Fives, a space dedicated to sustainable food. 

At the heart of the brownfield, a central food hall of over 2,000m2 was therefore renovated to host an innovative combination of activities: a “community kitchen”, a professional kitchen hosting an incubator, an urban farm, and a food court. The first three structures opened in 2021, while the food court, delayed by the Covid-19 pandemic, opened in March 2024.   

The project – today called “Chaud Bouillon!” – involved many actors, including residents, neighbourhood associations, universities and private companies. Although its main focus is on strengthening social linkages, attention is also paid to food sustainability aspects – i.e. encouraging shifts towards more sustainable food habits. For example, the incubator’s projects must adhere to sustainability criteria, like the recovery of unsold goods from supermarkets.  

School canteens solutions in Milan 

In Milan, the municipal food provider Milano Ristorazione supplies about 80 000 meals per day, mainly served at schools. Milano Ristorazione is one of the main public stakeholders in the implementation of the Milan’s Food Policy and is a place to experiment with good practices, including menu changes and other enabling measures. 

“The city started monitoring the impact of school catering services more closely in 2015 and has since then managed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 42%, mainly by cutting down on red meat and serving more fruits and vegetables” explained Chiara Mandelli, from the Food Policy Area of the Municipality of Milan. The city also achieved significant waste reduction through several measures, from shifting the times when fruits are served at schools, to offering “doggy bags” for children’s leftovers. To challenge the taste of children – often used to processed food and lower vegetable consumption – an educational campaign was launched, featuring booklets and games.  

As Chiara also explained, Milan recently participated in the European Food Trails project to renovate school canteens; and in the EU project “School Food for Change” to create educational programmes for children on local food heritage. Finally, a recent partnership with the University of Pavia seeks to bridge the scientific assessment gap and learn how to best use existing data to inform future policy choices.  

The Circular Food Hub in Roeselare 

The Circular Food Hub in Roeselare (Belgium) extends beyond just providing affordable food. It includes a social grocery store; an eco-café serving low-price meals made with local products; a shared kitchen for workshops on cooking cheap, healthy and sustainable meals; and other amenities.  

Designed as a space for inclusion and for strengthening social linkages among different groups, the place opened in 2020. It quickly succeeded in attracting a variety of users – from the beneficiaries of the social grocery store to participants in food workshops and other training initiatives.  

The Circular Hub is in a former post office owned by the city. “The building features large meeting spaces available to residents and the city administration for future projects, including around food” explained Bo Vanbesien, expert in subsidies and external relations from the City of Roeselare. 

Sharing cities' experiences in Mouans-Sartoux (FR). 

4. Show the impact of your actions 

For Thibaud Lalanne, MEAD Coordinator, impact assessment forms the foundation of the practice of sharing that Mouans-Sartoux has championed. Evaluation is important in two regards: first for internal legitimacy, as public spending is involved; then to advocate and spread good practices to other cities. 

In 2022-23, Mouans-Sartoux’s good practice underwent three assessment exercises: first, the 2022 survey conducted by the Municipal Observatory of School Canteens, focusing on changes in families’ food habits; second, a comprehensive study (in French) based on the a specially-developed evaluation framework for sustainable food projects (Syalinnov method), touching upon a variety of dimensions; and third, a study on environmental impacts conducted by PhD researchers from Nice University. Thanks to these efforts, Mouans-Sartoux is able to quantify the impact of its food policies: a 92% reduction of its carbon footprint according to the Nice study. 

What is main challenge when it comes to evaluation? “The lack of resources” says Thibaud. “There is a contradiction between the necessity of evaluating the policies and the reality of carrying out the surveys.” Evaluation exercises take time, involve many people, and cities can lack the technical competences. To cope with these challenges, “get support to conduct assessments, narrow down the scope of research, and allow yourselves some flexibility, as there is no ‘one size fits all’”. 

5. Check out the next URBACT / EUI networking & funding opportunities 

As Gilles Perole recalled: “the transformation that took place in Mouans-Sartoux can happen in other European cities, whatever their size.” The experience of the URBACT network Biocanteens #2 clearly demonstrated this, by enabling the transfer of Mouans-Sartoux’s good practice to cities like Liège, Wroclaw and more. Cities that vary in size and features of course, but with some key characteristics in common that made the transformation possible: awareness about the stakes related to local food systems; political ambition to change things; and willingness to promote healthier food to the citizens. 

- Download the presentation made at EU City Lab on Local Food Systems #1

- Interested in learning more on the sustainability transition of local food systems? Join us in Liège on 29-30 May 2024 for the next EU City Lab on Public Procurement for More Local, Seasonal and Sustainable food. Register now! 

- Does your city administration have a good practice on this or other topics? Then tell us about it from 15 April to 30 June 2024, during the URBACT Call for Good Practices which seeks good practices that bring positive local impact, that are participatory, integrated and transferable to other cities. More information about this Call will be available on urbact.eu/get-involved 

Additional resources:

- Portico knowledge resources

- Lab speakers/cities or any other urban pratictioner with an interest on food in cities can be contacted via the Portico community 

This article was authored by:

Chiara Petroli, Events Officer at URBACT.

Eva Timsit, Ben Eibl and Nicola Candoni, Students at Science Po Paris.