Belgium
Duration
2025-2027
Lead institutions
Universiteit Gent
Universidad de Cuenca , Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry and Trade , Nelson Mandela African Institution of Science and Technology , Rikolto - Vredeseilanden
Academic partners
Carl Lachat
Angelica Ochoa Avilez , Lien Phan , Clara Mollay , Charlotte Flechet
Project status
Ongoing
Programme
ICP Connect
Total budget
744,730.80
Summary
There is a renewed interest in developing sustainable food systems that ensure healthy diets and nutrition for all. Cities are at the forefront of this endeavour. The project will demonstrate the power of cities to transform local food systems. It will create a new partnership between higher education institutions (HEI) in Belgium, Ecuador, Tanzania, Vietnam and an international NGO (Rikolto). Rikolto’s Good Food for Cities programme supports urban food systems in 18 countries around the world through multi-stakeholder food policy councils. Rikolto’s work in Quito, Arusha, Vinh Phuc and the city of Ghent on food policy will provide context and learning opportunities for this project. Local multi-stakeholder urban food councils will be supported in each country.
We will develop a tailor-made challenge-based course to develop evidence-informed and context-specific solutions for urban food systems transformation for healthy diets and nutrition in the MSc programmes in the HEI. This will include a three-week urban food lab in each country, supported by the universities’ alumni, local urban food councils and the local Rikolto office.
Food systems cannot be sustainable if they are not inclusive. The project will respond to this call and develop an approach to provide the necessary evidence. The project will support the engagement of underserved populations in urban food systems and higher education. Inclusivity will also be ensured at the level of international and local partners through a balanced partnership and the involvement of stakeholders from different backgrounds and perspectives. Students from underserved countries and population groups will be targeted for scholarships and contribute to the quality of the learning experience. The approach will be developed, tested, and optimised at Ghent University (UGent) in the first phase and later consolidated and integrated into the curricula of partner countries in the South to strengthen the regional and local dimensions.
