The roots of the city. Creative food systems in European small towns

This communication presents the results of AGRI-URBAN, an EU-funded project, where a group of eleven European small and medium sized cities with a relative specialization in agrifood production have explored ways to rethink their food systems. The project was led by policymakers in each city and has engaged stakeholders and most importantly local citizens in every stage of the planning and implementation of initiatives. The main objectives have been to develop an inclusive, coherent and reflexive urban-rural food governance system through municipal integrated action plans; to deploy a more solid social and physical infrastructure to reduce the distance between producers and consumers and to promote circular economy; to create reliable markets for quality food producers, resulting in new opportunities for SMEs development; to experiment new forms of entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector, and to create new jobs and skills linked to the agri-food system. The project added value has been to facilitate city-to-city learning with ‘transnational’ visits that enabled participants to engage in peer discussions and develop a deeper understanding of shared issues as well as to utilize opportunities for examining relevant local good practices in host cities and create networking opportunities. The communication displays the different local level and bottom-up initiatives these cities have activated by means of innovation and new business models and strategies, organized around four cross-cutting topics: Ensuring short circuits; Smart land use; Business development of SMEs and Local public procurement, and how these initiatives have been articulated in sustainable urban food agendas.


Introduction
Food is actually one of the main urban challenges, but food is also at the centre of the debate on sustainable development (UNEP, 2016). Food systems are essential for sustainable development: they are at the nexus that links food security, nutrition and human health, the viability of ecosystems, climate change, and social justice (Caron et al., 2018).
More than 7500 million people need to be fed healthily, equitably and affordably while maintaining the ecosystems on which life depends. The evidence of the impact of diet on the health of people and the planet has grown enormously during recent decades, yet changing consumer eating habits, even for public health alone, not to mention planetary health, is proving difficult.
Agri-food production is a mature industry that continues to play an important role in terms of GDP, employment and environmental sustainability. Power in the food system is becoming increasingly concentrated with mega-mergers in the seed, agri-chemical, fertilizer, animal genetics and farm machinery industries; this reinforces the industrial farming model, exacerbating its social and environmental costs. Globally, farmers are increasingly reliant on a handful and suppliers and buyers, squeezing their incomes. There is an urgent need to connect research and policy around an innovative and more integrated sustainable food security agenda.
That is why new growth potentials must be activated by means of innovation, new business models and strategies. Small and medium size European cities, especially those located in rural areas and with a local economy linked to agriculture and the agri-food system can play a leading role to face this urban challenge.
This communication presents the results of AGRI-URBAN, one of the 21 URBACT III Action Planning Networks that has explored the role of 'rural towns' in addressing agri-food production. URBACT is the European Territorial Cooperation programme that aims to foster sustainable integrated urban development in cities across Europe. URBACT's mission is to enable cities to work together and develop integrated solutions to common urban challenges, by networking, learning from one another's experiences, drawing lessons and identifying good practices to improve urban policies. The project has been developed by 11 European cities working towards sustainable food systems, with the aim to stimulate resilience, employment and job creation.
AGRI-URBAN rationale has been about rethinking food systems in small and medium-sized cities that have a relative specialization in Agri-food production. The network vision has been to place small and medium-sized European cities at the core of a growing global movement that recognizes that the current complexity of food systems based on economies of scale is causing economical, societal and environmental challenges to cities and rural areas. Closer links between mediumsized rural cities and nearby cities are not only societally and environmentally beneficial, but also ensure regional economic development.
Network members ranged from some of Europe's leading exponents in this area -such as Mouans-Sartoux, a long-standing pioneer and Sodertalje with its innovations in public procurement -to others addressing a systemic food policy for the first time. All these cities have worked together for nearly three years, sharing knowledge, learning from each other and creating a durable and important legacy.

AGRI-URBAN cities
AGRI-URBAN covered a wide geographical distribution across Europe. The eleven partner cities have worked through a double path. On the one hand, each city had proposed a specific Integrated Action Plan (IAP) to be implemented in a short time period. On the other, the network and the expert team supporting the cities during the development of the project have focused their activities on a theme with the hope to identify good practices and stimulate good solutions to face actual challenges. The cities involved are presented in Figure 1. Table 1 describes the cities and their visions.

Cities on the move. The role of IAPs
Since the beginning, IAPs were not conceived as administrative exercises but as strategic tools that combine short-term actions with long-term visions in response to the themes of the network. One of the key insights of the project has been the involvement of policy makers working together with practitioners, local inhabitants and entrepreneur in each partner city to develop IAPs. Each IAP is unique, in terms of local context, theme and coverage, but the cities have not operated in isolation, rather they inter-twinned forces and learnt from each other. Cities have continuously interacted, organizing joint activities, field visits, entrepreneurs and policymakers exchange experiences, transnational visits, etc.
Four different themes were set up at the beginning of the project. All of them were considered as essential parts of creating successful local food systems, and at the same time they are strongly interlinked; focusing on any of them will automatically enforce the other themes as well. These themes are: Ensuring short circuits; Smart land use; Business development of SMEs and Local public procurement.
The actions included in the IAPs aimed to develop inclusive, coherent and reflexive urban-rural food governance systems through municipal integrated action plans; to deploy a more solid social and physical infrastructure that reduce the distance between producers and consumers and promote circular economy; to create reliable markets for quality food producers and opportunities for SMEs development; to experiment new forms of entrepreneurship in the agricultural sector, and to create new jobs and skills linked to the agri-food system. Table 2 summarises the different actions included in each of these four themes.

IAPs action ENSURING SHORT CIRCUITS Cesena
The AGRI-URBAN Markets for the sale of agri-food products (farmer markets) Mapping to Connect -create a network of producers, consumers and universities Jelgava LM Development of a local products and services support system Facilitation of the recognition of products and services from the municipalities Provision of support instruments for the development of local business activities Mollet del Vallès Promote local, organic and seasonal menus in city restaurants Increase the availability of local products in the municipal market Set-up a stand at the weekly outdoor market in Mollet to sell local products Build a Food Hub (logistics centre and warehouse) to distribute local products Create a route of "Eat Well in Mollet" eateries across the city Create an online store in which orders are filled by the food hub Abergavenny Development of a Food Hub -To promote economic growth in the food sector Petrinja Use a facility (the Green House) for promotion and marketing of the agrifood products. Fundão Mapping of Supply and Demand -Know the local supply and its potential to meet the needs of canteens (products, quantities, delivery regularities).

Sensitization and Training actions -Fundão APP local products -Stimulate the activity of local producers through institutions that provide school meals Baena
Baena Food Hub Social Orchards -food production and consumption for the benefit of Baena's families. "Social Harvest of Baena". Support for food production and consumption by NGOs and associations of cultural and social interest Promote the practice of production and consumption of local and ecological foods accessible to all citizens Editable city. Planting of trees, aromatic and edible plants Pyli Provoke the turn of the agri-food and forestry production to modern ways of high value and quality but still traditional products.

Mouans-Sartoux
Link between local production and the municipal social grocery store Food security and sustainable agriculture promoting access for everyone to quality food and a nutritional balance Supporting short food supply chains and direct marketing for farming produce Support and involvement in fair trade (local and with southern countries)

Pays de Condruses
Visibility and local consumption -Reinforce the visibility of the territory actors that are developing activities to stimulate short circuit practices SMART LAND USE

Mollet del Vallès
Develop a guide to manage school gardens in Mollet in collaboration with primary school directors Facilitate access to land to attract young agricultural producers interested in organic agriculture Abergavenny Access to Land -This plan refers to "Old Lands" Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as one example of landowners wanting to use his land for agro-ecological farming, veg boxes etc.

Södertälje
Municipal vegetable farm -To be able to serve meals in Södertälje's schools, kindergartens and elderly care homes Baena Technical study, regulatory proposal and promotion campaign for the creation of a Bank of local land. School Gardens: Participation of schoolchildren in a school garden experience either on their own educational center or in another suitable space for this purpose Mouans-Sartoux Developing organic farming for sustainable water resource management Preservation of natural and farming areas to increase territories' resilience. Ecosystems conservation: Mouans-Sartoux is a 0 pesticide 100% organic city. Petrinja Establishing an agricultural zone in Petrinja´s rural areas to stimulate the agri-food production Pays de Condruses Agricultural production system based on a better use of ecological functionalities in order to "produce more and better with fewer natural resources".

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT OF SMEs Cesena
Start-up School -"new way" of doing business is feasible also in agriculture Mollet del Vallès Launch an agricultural incubator for young entrepreneurs Develop the "Eat Well in Mollet" -as a symbol of nutritious, local, organic and sustainable food.

Promote food tourism Abergavenny
Education -to support advisory and training services on sustainable food systems Petrinja Building the facilities for processing, production and packaging of meat and vegetables (Cooperative Banovina) #Made_in_Petrinja as a project that will aim on branding, marketing and promotion of the local agri-food products Setting-up the Agri-Food sector database Producers Club -will help the agri-food producers from rural areas to place their products on the market and increase their sale. One Stop Agricultural Shop -will be an agri-food info-point located in the headquarters of Petrinja´s development agency PETRA Educational course for fruit growing and wine production Södertälje Farming Incubator -To lower the threshold for commercial farming in Södertälje & stimulate more locally grown produce New-Old Knowledge -A range of courses open to the public which focus on sustainable food production, homesteading and animal husbandry Baena Farming incubator to support young business to grow Dynamization of the Baena Olive brand to promote agro-food culture. Pyli Biomass use for thermal production Organize the producers to cooperative formations Education -Knowledge on European laws, new products, new techniques Promote eco-tourism as secondary activity by promoting eco local products.

Mouans-Sartoux
Farming Incubator Support to farmers -Create the good conditions for farmers' settlements. Support farmers to develop sustainable business models.

Pays de Condruses
Sustainable Agribusiness Projects -Professionalization of our local ecosystem to support sustainable agri-food projects. Jelgava LM Creation of a Smart Resource Board for the development of business activity in the Jelgava municipality Development of knowledge-based business activities

Mollet del Vallès
Implement a food model in the Mollet Health Foundation based on the "Eat Well in Mollet" values -promote healthy dietary habits amongst local citizens Improve the quality of foods and beverages offered in public vending machines Define food indicators for the public canteens Fundão Pilot school -Meal preparation at the Silvares canteen with the introduction of organic food (10%) and local production (80%).

Health & organic food in schools Baena
Pilot plan in school dining rooms Pays de Condruses Organic and local school canteens -develop and improve the local Bio school canteen project. Cesena "Organic Canteen Nearby" acts on the concept of sustainable school canteen, enhancing the educational aspect and low environmental impact Moauns-Sartoux Social pricing of the school canteen meals according to families' income for all the school going children, so that they have access to a 100% organic meal every school day Source: authors.

AGRI-URBAN added value
The project has delivered actions and reflections in several important topics: the need of sustainable diets, the role of European cities in Food Policy, the importance of reinventing local food systems and the need to reinforce the integrated connections between food and urban plans.
As can be appreciated in the list of actions described in Table 2, the project has embedded the concept of 'sustainable diets' (Gussow and Clancy, 1986;Mason and Lang, 2017) in the rationale of the local food systems. To be sustainable, diets need to be healthy for people, the planet and be accessible and affordable for all, providing fair returns, decent jobs and good working conditions with fully internalized costs. Sustainable diets must be culturally acceptable and of appropriate quality.
AGRI-URBAN towns have committed to develop local food strategies, public procurement for schools and hospitals sourcing healthy, sustainable food and using short supply chains wherever possible, and making the best use of land to produce a diversity of healthy, low environmental impact food.
The project has analysed the policy implications of sustainable food system. A recent study by the European Commission (Food in Cities 2017) aimed at promoting, from an innovative focus, the sustainability of food production and consumption in cities, has found a series of gaps in food plans taking place in European cities. Among these failures, it points out the lack of internal integration, the diffuse division of jurisdictional competences, the lack of multi-level governance, the absence of contact between research, policy and practical implementation or the difficulties of attracting critical actors within the food sector policy. In general, a direct relationship has been confirmed between these deficits and the multiple restrictions derived from the different areas of competence between levels of administration, as well as between the sectors or actors involved. Given this situation, the partner cities have responded with innovative alternatives based on approaches such as: 1. Strengthening the decision-making capacity that consumers and the local public administrations can exercise.
2. Encouraging participatory governance systems. 3. Claiming the role of local politics. 4. Supporting the strengthening of short marketing channels. 5. Promoting the systemic approach. By making the food chain more visible, local governments find it easier to develop an approach that overcomes the classic division between production and consumption that characterizes food policies.
6. Trans-localism as a tool for cooperation between cities and territories, creating networks that allow the transfer of knowledge and that can also stimulate territorial approaches. Table 2 gathered the main actions overtaken to rethink the local food systems. Several innovations linked to the development of network associative models by organic producers have contributed to creating a new dimension of quality food, as well as an important social and economic value from a renewed territorial and productive approach (Hochedez, 2013).
The incubation of small business and self-employment initiatives has been successfully tested by some of the partners, in particular in Condruses and Södertälje, while other cities just started to do so. Other actions are linked to the commitment to a circular economy model, focused on efficient and sustainable production while reducing waste around the food chain, and to offer an optimal space for the creation of new jobs along the entire food chain.
Additionally, AGRI-URBAN partner cities have committed to implement a global and integrated vision of the concept of 'sustainable food systems' as defined by Blay-Palmer (2015). This concept takes into account an integrated approach of the following elements: policy context (participatory democracy / multifunctionality, subsidiarity), environment (biodiversity and agro-biodiversity, soil and water, conservation, energy, food waste reduction ...), economy (land tenure, fair trade, market supply, food loss and waste, access to land, public procurement, migration and labour ...) and society (justice and equity, food access, food skills and literacy, traditional food knowledge, sustainable diets …).
Other transversal elements considered key for the design of these territorial food systems are: i) a reinterpretation of the concept of Food Hub, understood as a useful organisational and socio-economic instrument interconnecting actors and technical / logistical solutions and designed from a scaling up perspective; ii) sustainable diets that consider the social and healthy dimensions for a holistic alternative; iii) breaking the borders -looking beyond urban boundaries and creating regional food systems and iv) smart use of technology and social innovations to promote food systems able to connect actors (governance) and to overcome barriers (market, natural boundaries, and jurisdictional boundaries, social and cultural exchange …).
As a final output of the project the partner cities have elaborated a Policy Declaration signed by all Mayors of the network: Local food policy and employment in small and medium sized European cities Manifesto (see Appendix).

Final reflections
AGRI-URBAN cities have developed actions and initiatives to nurture their specific visions. But their contributions have also nourished the conversation on the situation of local and territorial food systems, the challenges they face and the initiatives that can contribute to sustainably re-connect food and territories. The engagement and commitment of local policymakers in the project has guaranteed the political support to the action plans generated by each city.
The project outcomes reflect the vitality of the network of cities and the satisfactory cooperation generated between the actors. They have reached a high degree of shared knowledge and a good capitalization of it that has been expressed in the concrete content of the IAPs created.
These small cities are showing bigger cities the way forward. Their approaches take the urban and rural perspectives together -rather than seeing them as adversaries and their perspectives rise above the narrowly sectoral.
The actions proposed contribute to the sustainable development and the resilience of these territories but also to advance in the implementation of the EU Urban Agenda giving answer to themes such as jobs and skills, sustainable use of land, circular economy and urban poverty.