In the current context, the creation of a more inclusive and sustainable socio-economic system represents a crucial challenge. Addressing issues related to food security and sustainability is essential to ensure a fair and prosperous future for present and future generations.
EU Food Security Hub has recently hosted the last two European Exchanges and Peer-Learning Workshops, in Milan (Italy) and Athens (Greece), continuing our efforts in strengthening upcoming food security initiatives among EU countries, learning from each country good practices.
Both events, together with the previous exchanges in El Prat de Llobregat (Spain), Palermo (Italy) and Lyon (France), have provided a valuable platform for participants to exchange best practices, explore innovative approaches, and test training modules from EU Food Hub’s dedicated program.
Milan Workshop — January 2025
Cascina Cuccagna, in the heart of Milan, was the first reality visited, a hub for community-driven projects cantered around sustainable lifestyles, healthy diets, urban agriculture, and social inclusion, bringing together individuals and organizations as EMERGENCY and EStà, working for ensuring food security of the neighbourhood families and beyond, responsible businesses as The nursery (a store for plants when relationships grow) and even a Farmer’s market to form the Cuccagna Community. In the same place, participants had the opportunity to test the module on Sustainable Agriculture, which provided an interactive look at how local food production can foster community resilience by strengthening the vital links between agricultural producers and consumers. After a refreshing lunch, we toured CasciNet’s innovative FoodForest and wrapped up with a social aperitivo at their AgriRistoro.
The second day began at So.De. – Social Delivery Hub, a pioneering social enterprise dedicated to sustainable food logistics and ethical consumption, where we exchanged ideas with its passionate team. We then connected with Rob De Matt, a community-driven initiative that transforms food spaces into vibrant hubs for social inclusion and creativity. Last sessions were dedicated to go through the Inclusive Team Management and Sustainable Food Systems modules, focusing on challenging and dismantling stereotypes in diverse teams, fostering an environment of collaboration and mutual respect, and offering an immersive exploration of the complex interplay between climate change and food supply chains and how to create adaptive, sustainable food systems for the future.
Athens Workshop — February 2025
Athens’ workshop kicked off with a visit to Shedia Home—a vibrant, 100% inclusive café and restaurant that empowers marginalized communities and fosters social participation through its innovative business model, based on training workshops that teach disadvantaged individuals to upcycle unsold street paper and other recyclable materials into useful products, thereby fostering environmental awareness and creating new retail and job opportunities. They also offer multi-purpose spaces for these activities and provides vocational guidance and support services to help people experiencing homelessness, poverty, and social exclusion reintegrate socially and occupationally.
Following this inspiring start, we dove into Inclusive Team Management module, where we focused on conflict prevention and management, before wrapping up the day with an engaging exchange with the Mobile Unit of IASIS at Centro X Metamorphosis, offering not only food services but also dignity to homeless population in the town. On the second day, our journey continued with a visit to Odyssea, a social services organization dedicated to supporting vulnerable communities offering free training opportunities to change their working situation. We then shifted gears to examine sustainable food supply chains and consumption through the Sustainable Food Systems module, and later engaged in the Entrepreneurship module, which equipped us with practical tools to develop a robust food security business plan.
Participants’ Reflections
Participating in these workshops was truly inspiring—I witnessed firsthand how sharing ideas and learning together can spark innovative solutions to food security challenges in very different contexts. I was deeply moved by the hands-on experience of testing training modules in real-world settings and gathering fresh insights from diverse European perspectives, reaffirming our shared commitment to forging meaningful connections and powerful tools that will tackle food insecurity initiatives across Europe.
Even as the project draws to an end, the final conference at El Prat de Llobregat on June 18th-19th promises a vibrant celebration of our shared journey, where partners, stakeholders, and 30 representatives from European food safety organizations will reflect on past learnings, explore exciting field visits and collectively debate through roundtable discussions how public administrations and public-private partnerships can boost food security across diverse regions, guided by EU Food Policy Guidelines.
Do you want to know more about it?
- For more information about the project: https://impresasocialeland.org/project/eufoodsecurityhub/
- EU Food Security HUB website and social media: https://eufoodsecurityhub.org/project/ , Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/eufoodsecurityhub/
The EU Food Security Hub project, funded by the Erasmus+ program, is running from January 2023 and June 2025, in collaboration with: IASIS (Greece); Land Impresa sociale (Italy); Estrategies de Qualitat Urbana (Spain); ACRA (Italy); Reseau International Urgenci (France).
For further information, please visit eufoodsecurityhub.org/ or read the project fact sheet.