Urban agriculture may not be new, but it is enjoying renewed popularity for its multiple benefits at a time of unprecedented demographic change and global instability. The new issue of Urban Agriculture Magazine, published in partnership with the European Forum on Urban Agriculture (EFUA), showcases innovative actions, emerging policies, and unexplored angles that are shaping the future of food production in cities.
The EFUA project, funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreement no. 101000681) is now in its final year. The project’s mission has been to unlock the potential of UA through better networking, better knowledge, better deployment, and better policies in the field. The EFUA partners have working to develop stakeholder engagement to inform decision-making and mainstream UA into European, mainstream and local policy, and to identify and address gaps in knowledge, awareness and best practice.
While the core programme has focused on Europe, there is great potential for mutual exchange and learning between the EU and other countries, in both the Global North and the South.
The new magazine includes articles on UA in European contexts (both from EFUA colleagues and other practitioners and advocates) and from other countries. It seeks to address four key questions:
- What challenges and opportunities lie ahead for EFUA and for UA as a whole?
- What are the future pathways for UA development?
- What promising policy perspectives are emerging?
- Which networks will help to articulate and valorize the multiple benefits of UA?
The magazine begins with a tribute to the late Joaquim Moura, devoted UA advocate and RUAF associate, including an article by his hand that reminds us that the future of UA starts with young people.
The remaining articles are structured literally according to the issue’s theme – linking articles that discuss a future policy direction for UA, with articles that describe next practices that are tackling these very same issues on the ground.
“Browsing this issue from start to finish, you will notice that these policy debates gradually move from an international level, towards national, regional and urban levels, before finally zooming in on the urban farm level,” write Sara Smaal and colleagues in the editorial.
Clusters of articles focus on EU-level policy instruments and experiences, including the need to integrate UA into discourses on Nature-based solutions; urban planning and identification of potential spaces for UA; evidence of the multiple benefits for various communities and groups in society (including black and indigenous women, and migrants); and support and network needs of UA farms and initiatives.
Upcoming ACTION Conference
Urban Agriculture Magazine #41 will be formally launched at the EFUA ACTION Conference – Presenting a future vision of urban agriculture, taking place in Brussels on 25th and 26th September 2024.
The conference will have a participative agenda, and will be an opportunity to discuss and build upon the insights and angles presented in the magazine. The focus on tackling real world challenges and putting research and policy into practice.
The conference will also be the occasion to launch the EFUA EU Manifesto, ‘Let’s Grow Together’, with discussions on how to sustain a wider, ongoing forum to support UA beyond the end of the EFUA project.
For more information and to sign up to the EFUA Action Conference click here.
Photo: Daniel Muenderlein
