European Urban Farming Initiatives
In the bustling metropolises of today, there's a growing need for fresh, nutritious food in a crunch for space. Urban farming, a solution that's gaining momentum, might be just the ticket! Here's a lowdown on some EU-backed projects dedicated to this eco-friendly endeavor.
ARBUATEM
A project funded to the tune of €195,454.80, ARBUATEM aims to raise awareness about the risks associated with using wastewater for urban agriculture in low and middle-income countries.
CityZen
With a EU grant of € 873,975.95, CityZen aims to influence various policy goals by introducing urban farming as a booming industry to policy makers. The project is being carried out in collaboration with countries like Bulgaria, Germany, Greece, Portugal, and Spain.
EFUA
Short for European Forum for a Comprehensive Vision on Urban Agriculture, EFUA received €2,039,437.50 from the EU and boasts an impressive lineup of Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, Germany, Italy, and Netherlands as its collaborators. The aim is to investigate and promote the role of urban agriculture in the agricultural and food sector, as well as the urban economy.
FoodE
Similar to EFUA, FoodE has a budget of €2,039,437.50, all courtesy of the EU. This project, which operates in the same six countries as EFUA, seeks to investigate and promote urban agriculture's role in the sector and in the urban economy.
FOOD TRAILS
Contrasting the previous projects, FOOD TRAILS boasts a mighty budget of €11,937,057.50 (€12,185,827.14 in total) from the EU. Over a span of four years, the project plans to transform urban food policies into measurable, long-term progress towards sustainable food systems to ensure EU citizens have access to affordable, balanced, and healthy food.
Gardens of Possibilities
This €210,000.01 project from Finland and Sweden aims to offer opportunities for social inclusion by including individuals at risk of exclusion in gardening activities and educational programs.
INFARM
Based in Germany, INFARM aims to revolutionize local food systems by removing the distance between the farmer and consumer, ensuring fresh, natural produce free of chemical pesticides. The project secured €1,931,884.50 from the EU.
OpenAgri
This €4,996,745 EU-funded project focuses on attracting investment to an underprivileged part of the city, boosting social inclusion, and increasing the availability of sustainable, locally-produced food in Greater Milan and beyond.
PROTEAN
A research project funded with €172,932.48, PROTEAN intends to develop environmental impact assessment models for urban agriculture to make it more environmentally sustainable.
ROMI
ROMI, a €3,868,186.25 project, aims to develop an open and lightweight robotics platform for microfarms to reduce manual labor and increase productivity. This project has collaborators from France, Germany, Netherlands, and Spain.
RU:RBAN
RU:RBAN, with a €500,599.32 grant from the EU, aims to improve the design of sustainable urban strategies and action plans by implementing a management model of Urban Gardens in Rome in other EU countries.
SiEUGreen
SiEUGreen, with a budget of €8,377,867.50, has partnered with ten countries—Bulgaria, China, Denmark, Greece, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey—to enhance EU-China cooperation in promoting urban agriculture for food security, resource efficiency, and smart, resilient cities.
SUPURBFOOD
The SUPURBFOOD project, with a budget of €1,858,114.60, aims to improve sustainable urban food planning and support the invention and implementation of relevant strategies. collaboration of seven countries—Belgium, Italy, Latvia, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, and the UK.
SustUrbanFoods
Funded by €168,277.20, SustUrbanFoods seeks to develop an interdisciplinary methodological framework to assess the sustainability of urban food systems to offer tools and data for supporting policies and decisions on sustainable urban food systems towards local and green economies.
URBAG
The URBAG project, with €1,893,754 in funding, aims to evaluate the best combinations of urban green infrastructure, urban agriculture, and green spaces for optimal contributions to urban sustainability. This project is based in Spain.
From healthy citizens to social inclusion, urban food systems stand to unlock numerous benefits for our cities. These EU-financed projects support the idea that urban agriculture is an area of interest for modern cities, championing the green, fresh, and sustainable future of urban living.
If you've enjoyed this list, be sure to check out our other explorations:
- EU Projects Striving for Greener Cities
- These EU-funded projects, such as ARBUATEM, CityZen, EFUA, FoodE, FOOD TRAILS, Gardens of Possibilities, INFARM, OpenAgri, PROTEAN, ROMI, RU:RBAN, SiEUGreen, SUPURBFOOD, SustUrbanFoods, and URBAG, focus on food-and-drink and home-and-garden aspects of urban lifestyle, promoting sustainable, locally-produced food, reducing waste, and enhancing urban living.
- Urban agriculture projects like ARBUATEM, CityZen, EFUA, FoodE, FOOD TRAILS, SUPURBFOOD, and SiEUGreen aim to improve lifestyle choices by ensuring access to affordable, balanced, and healthy food, while projects like Gardens of Possibilities and RU:RBAN strive to offer opportunities for social inclusion.
