The Urban&Local – Future Food Ecosystem project promoted the creation of the “Edible City” in the Helsinki Metropolitan Area. The aim was to make local and ecological food a seamless part of city dwellers’ everyday lives and the cities’ own services. It was essential that, in the future, sustainable local food would not only be a livelihood but also a factor that increases urban livability and resilience.
The project had three main objectives: increasing regional security of supply, supporting the competitiveness of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through new production, market, and distribution models, and building a vibrant actor network of companies, cities, and researchers. The sustainable food system was developed through experiments, knowledge sharing, and network building.
Experiments in real environment
Practical work was carried out through versatile experiments where cities and educational institutions acted as genuine testbeds, or living labs. The project organized new kinds of food events, optimized indoor cultivation technologies based on the circular economy, developed new food products, such as snack products from apple pomace, and tested innovative distribution solutions, such as the Mobile Local Food Kiosk, short-term market hall spaces, and direct sales platforms. Special attention was paid to the utilization of digitalization and logistics so that the products of small actors could find their way to marketplaces, market halls, and consumer pickup points more efficiently. Alongside events and inventive sales venues, the project supported cooperation between public entities and SMEs by promoting the use of the Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS). Through it, small local food entrepreneurs can offer their products to the public sector, such as hospitals and care homes. The business know-how of SMEs was also strengthened through mentoring and dialogues between entrepreneurs and buyers, so that companies could survive even better in a changing market situation.
Guiding the creation of Edible City
On a strategic level, the project highlighted topics related to a sustainable food system from the local level all the way to National food strategy and EU policy. The project’s expertise was utilized in, among other things, the preparation of the Helsinki City Strategy, the Helsinki-Uusimaa Regional Council’s regional strategy, as well as in national and EU-level food policy discussions. This work strengthened the role of cities as pioneers and enablers of the sustainable food transition.
As a result of the project, permanent cooperation models and concrete tools were created, which have been compiled into two comprehensive guides. One is aimed at entrepreneurs (Towards the Edible City) and the other at city developers (Enablers of the Edible City). These guides provide a wealth of resources for implementing the “Edible City”. Over three years, Urban&Local demonstrated that close RDI cooperation between the public and private sectors is essential to turn research data into profitable business and scalable service models.
- Towards the Edible City (Kohti syötävää kaupunkia) – A guide for entrepreneurs
- Enablers of the Edible City (Syötävän kaupungin mahdollistajat) – A guide for city developers
Urban&Local was funded by the European union.
Photo: Ananya Tanttu