Diversity of European cities and regions creates barriers to the demonstration of systemic food-related innovative approaches valuable in so different contexts. Objective of FoodE is to accelerate the growth of citizen-led City/Region food systems (CRFS) by bringing local initiatives across Europe together, as well as co-developing and disseminating a range of tools - co-designed with academia, citizens, and food system start-ups - to ensure that the most up-to-date cross-sectorial knowledge is applied. Start-ups will also provide an in-depth understanding of the needs of the key stakeholders, making resilient citizen-driven food systems happen. The key challenge is then to aggregate the most sustainable models of CRFS and enable co-creation of innovative pilot experiences, fostering the health and wellbeing of European citizens. This challenge will be tackled by setting a co-created mechanism, based on Citizen Science and Responsible Research and Innovation principles, where public authorities, citizens, business actors and non-profit organisations share ideas, tools, best practices and new models, supporting cities in becoming innovative food hubs. The outputs of FoodE will impact on job creation, promotion of local economy, strengthening the role of local communities in complying with Sustainable Development Goals, as well as identifying and strengthening relations between the different actors of the food chain. The way used by FoodE to achieve this goals consists of the following steps: - Define an operational methodology for the assessment of CRFS. - Promote cross-pollination between European CRFS. - Contribute to increase access to affordable, safe and nutritious food. - Create a tool mobilising CRFS stakeholders in sustainability assessment. - Upscale the output to other EU cities.

The systemic use of urban landscapes for food production is a major step towards more sustainable, liveable and healthier cities. A multitude of initiatives around the World, however fragmented, are prospering, forming a global movement of Edible Cities. Their products, activities and services – the Edible City Solutions (ECS) - empower local communities to overcome social problems by their inclusive and participatory dynamics and to create new green businesses and jobs, and thereby generating local economic growth and fostering social cohesion. EdiCitNet will leverage the substantial benefits that ECS effect today at local level and catalyse their replication EU- and world-wide by launching a fully open and participatory network of cities, empowering their inhabitants by a common methodology a) to systematically explore the wealth and diversity of existing ECS, b) to adapt, plan and implement successfully proven ECS in their specific urban context. To make this happen, EdiCitNet will close knowledge gaps in the effective implementation of ECS and their transformation into sustainable, innovative business models. This new insight will feed into a openly shared and globally accessible knowledge base and methodology to enable sustainable and evidence-based integration of ECS into the long-term urban planning of cities covering a large spectrum of urban, climatic, social, environmental and cultural contexts. 5 Front Runner Cities (FRC), supported by a highly interdisciplinary consortium of city authorities, SME, NGOs and academia, will demonstrate their unique experience with own Living Labs and transfer their knowledge to 7 dedicated Follower Cities (FC), determined to replicate ECS for the benefit of their inhabitants. The carefully selected group of FRC and FC allows to study and monitor implementation in large variety of environments and also ensures truly global outreach with city partners based in Central America, Africa and East Asia