Suchergebnisse

Sempre più diffusamente la transizione verso sistemi alimentari più sostenibili è ricondotta all'attivazione di percorsi di democratizzazione della governance alimentare. In tale direzione la scala locale risulta un livello particolarmente interessante. Nei territori si possono trovare condizioni favorevoli alla sperimentazione di soluzioni innovative orientate al coinvolgimento di tutti gli stakeholders e all'utilizzo di metodologie avanzate di democrazia partecipativa, quali quelle che introducono i meccanismi della democrazia partecipativo-deliberativa. In questo capitolo ci concentreremo sulla capacità dei governi locali di attivare questi processi attraverso i due principali meccanismi della governance alimentare locale: le Strategie Alimentari e i Consigli del Cibo. In particolare analizzeremo i due processi partecipativi sviluppati nel Comune di Livorno e nella Provincia di Pisa, focalizzando sui fattori di natura strutturale, procedurale, sociale e culturale che intervengono. L'obiettivo è identificare elementi che possano essere utili nella promozione di tali percorsi. ; The democratization of the food system is presented as a way forward to challenge the economic, social and environmental crisis of the global food system. Indeed, the "local" becomes a central political space to develop innovative and democratic food governance arrangements to lead the transition towards just and sustainable food systems. From a governance perspective, there are two main mechanisms adopted at local level to implement change: the establishment of Food Policy Councils and the drafting of Urban Food Strategies. The capacity of local governments to generate these governance mechanisms is influenced by a combination of structural, procedural, cultural and social factors. In this chapter, we analyse the experiences of the Municipality of Livorno and the Province of Pisa. The scope of the paper is to evaluate the democratic local food governance capacity in order to identify insights useful for other local governments interested in developing new democratic food arrangements in their territories.

Health and sustainability concerns related to food production and consumption involve a multiplicity of actors and responsibilities. New models of interaction and decision making are increasingly experimented to fine tune context based solutions. These new forms of food governance develop along three types of relationships: civil society and the food chain; the public sector and the food chain; policy makers and civil society. The 7thFP Foodlinks project aimed at exploring new modalities of science policycivil society interaction in the domain of sustainable food production and consumption. Looking at the experience across twelve European countries, the project deepened the specific innovative pathways undertaken along each of the three governance axes, by experimenting with Communities of Practice (CoP) as a dedicated space for interaction. Here we summarize the challenges emerging from the interface between civil society and the food chain (the "Short Supply Chain CoP"). What changes do the new societal demands require to producers and production systems? What contribution from public policies and what institutional innovation could be useful to meet the new claims? Based on the case studies within the project, we discuss implications emerging about specific issues.

A wine route can be seen as a network established around the theme of wine. The impressive economic impact that the establishment of the Costa degli Etruschi wine route has had on the farms involved is traced back in this article to the collective action that produces synergies and coherence. Synergies can be defined as linkages between two or more entities, whose joint effort produces quantitatively and qualitatively higher effects than those produced by the efforts of the same entities alone. Coherence is a quality belonging to the elements that constitute the context of action in successful rural development practices: natural and man‐made environment, social networks, and symbolic systems. The process of creating coherence is not without conflict, and the article contends that the establishment of coherence needs a hegemonic strategy that involves all sources of empowerment and particularly cultural codes.

AbstractThis article aims at analysing the features and the dynamics of those alternative agri‐food networks in which consumers act as initiators. Drawing on a survey of ongoing initiatives at national level and on evidence from empirical fieldwork in a specific territorial context showing a variegated and dynamic reality at this regard (Tuscany), the article analyses consumers' evolving attitudes and behaviour, around and even beyond food, unfolding during their involvement in these initiatives. In particular, it focuses on the experience of the solidarity‐based purchasing groups, consumers' organisations promoted by groups of citizens aiming at getting control of the food they consume. Using an actor–network perspective, the article analyses how purchasing and consumption routines change when consumers join these initiatives. The article also discusss the potential of these initiatives as drivers of change along with the following questions: to what extent do these initiatives challenge dominant food practices and system governance? On what basis are these initiatives sustainable and are replicable in different contexts? How can they foster other forms of civic engagement? In this regard, the article tests a transition management approach, considering solidarity‐based purchasing groups as socio‐technical niches within broader socio‐technical regimes in a macro landscape characterised by the globalisation of the food system. In particular, it analyses the critical points where niches enter in conflict with existing socio‐technical regimes, and the way in which these groups act to remove legal, technological and cultural barriers to their development.

- This paper offers a contribution to the analysis of the processes of transition of the food systems, that are sustained by the innovations introduced by reflexive consumers. After reviewing the literature on consumption as driver of change, the authors propose to explain consumption models and consumers' identities in the Summaries framework of innovation theories. The analysis is applied on consumers solidarity purchasing groups. Their innovative role is expressed by the capacity of coproduce, together with other actors, new structures, material and immaterial, for everyday life. This implies as well a re-definition of boundaries between consumption and production, commodities and services, private and public, domestic and civic. Key words: innovation networks; transition theory; critical consumption; sustainable development; solidarity purchasing groups; citizens-consumers.

Current food systems and associated agricultural practices have led to a loss of crop diversity. The widespread adoption of genetically uniform crop varieties may also increase the vulnerability of production systems and reduce their adaptability to new environmental challenges. DIVERSIFOOD has explored different approaches aimed at increasing crop genetic diversity, and as a result, make biodiverse food available to consumers. These approaches have the potential to promote sustainable, locally adapted farming systems, provide autonomy to farmers, support local short and fair supply chains and reconnect farmers and consumers. In order to support these approaches, the following policy changes are needed: 1) The legal status of heterogeneous cultivars for food diversity needs to be secured to increase the resilience of our food system. 2) Policies for more diverse cropping and food systems in the current CAP reform and national implementation are needed. 3) Networks of multiple actors are crucial to embedding crop genetic diversity in food value chains and should be supported. 4) Raising the awareness about biodiverse food of all actors of the agri-food system and this requires investment in farmer skills, well-informed citizen-consumers and a new food culture involving society at large. 5) To understand and support this process a multi-actor and integrated research approach is needed, based on participatory and democratic methods, inter- and trans-disciplinarity, and a systemic approach.