Our FOODITY team met in Porto, Portugal, on 1 and 2 February 2023 for the project’s kickoff meeting, which marked its official launch. The gathering brought together representatives from all our partner organisations and set the foundation for a collaborative and impactful journey.

The occasion allowed us to meet in person, strengthen our connection as a team, have fruitful exchanges, agree on how to collaborate effectively going forward and set out our priorities and next steps — focused on developing an ecosystem of digital solutions for food and nutrition that respects citizens’ data sovereignty.

We did a comprehensive review of the FOODITY rationale and objectives, the main actions and deliverables we will carry out during the next three years and the project’s status after the first month since it began​​, ensuring a clear understanding of what our joint work will entail.

All partners were able to have a deeper understanding of each other’s role in the project and share their vision and input on the key tasks we will focus on in the coming months, which is crucial in shaping our success.

The main activities each partner will work on will be related to

  • data and components for data-driven solutions in food and nutrition,
  • architectures and infrastructure for managing online identity and personal data,
  • outreach, sustainability, and open calls management, 
  • citizen engagement and multi-stakeholder involvement, 
  • and value-added services for innovators: training, mentorship and technical support.

We conducted workshops on stakeholder mapping and exploring sustainable food systems and discussed potential synergies and collaboration opportunities with our sister project, DRG4FOOD, with its coordinator, Kai Hermsen.

In addition, we delved into the policy context that underpins FOODITY with Daniela Lüth, Policy Officer at the European Commission, who provided valuable insights into the policies driving the project’s focus and significance. Also, we received advice and recommendations for successful project implementation from our Project Officer, Javier Martin-Membiela, Research Programme Manager at the European Research Executive Agency (REA).

Overall, this kickoff meeting was an excellent opportunity to accelerate and strengthen our collaboration as we begin this exciting journey to improve food and nutrition systems.

Read our launch press release to learn more about FOODITY.

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