Assessing sustainable food and nutrition security of the EU food system-An integrated approach

Steering the EU food system towards a sustainability transformation requires a vast and actionable knowledge base available to a range of public and private actors. Few have captured this complexity by assessing food systems from a multi-dimensional and multi-level perspective, which would include (...

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Main Authors: Zurek, Monika, Hebinck, Aniek, Leip, Adrian, Vervoort, Joost, Kuiper, Marijke
Format: Journal Article
Language:Inglés
Published: MDPI 2018
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10568/171211
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author Zurek, Monika
Hebinck, Aniek
Leip, Adrian
Vervoort, Joost
Kuiper, Marijke
author_browse Hebinck, Aniek
Kuiper, Marijke
Leip, Adrian
Vervoort, Joost
Zurek, Monika
author_facet Zurek, Monika
Hebinck, Aniek
Leip, Adrian
Vervoort, Joost
Kuiper, Marijke
author_sort Zurek, Monika
collection Repository of Agricultural Research Outputs (CGSpace)
description Steering the EU food system towards a sustainability transformation requires a vast and actionable knowledge base available to a range of public and private actors. Few have captured this complexity by assessing food systems from a multi-dimensional and multi-level perspective, which would include (1) nutrition and diet, environmental and economic outcomes together with social equity dimensions and (2) system interactions across country, EU and global scales. This paper addresses this gap in food systems research and science communication by providing an integrated analytical approach and new ways to communicate this complexity outside science. Based on a transdisciplinary science approach with continuous stakeholder input, the EU Horizon2020 project ‘Metrics, Models and Foresight for European SUStainable Food And Nutrition Security’ (SUSFANS) developed a five-step process: Creating a participatory space; designing a conceptual framework of the EU food system; developing food system performance metrics; designing a modelling toolbox and developing a visualization tool. The Sustainable Food and Nutrition-Visualizer, designed to communicate complex policy change-impacts and trade-off questions, enables an informed debate about trade-offs associated with options for change among food system actors as well as in the policy making arena. The discussion highlights points for further research related to indicator development, reach of assessment models, participatory processes and obstacles in science communication.
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publishDate 2018
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spelling CGSpace1712112025-01-29T12:57:52Z Assessing sustainable food and nutrition security of the EU food system-An integrated approach Zurek, Monika Hebinck, Aniek Leip, Adrian Vervoort, Joost Kuiper, Marijke sustainability food security nutrition food systems interdisciplinary research participatory approaches systems analysis Steering the EU food system towards a sustainability transformation requires a vast and actionable knowledge base available to a range of public and private actors. Few have captured this complexity by assessing food systems from a multi-dimensional and multi-level perspective, which would include (1) nutrition and diet, environmental and economic outcomes together with social equity dimensions and (2) system interactions across country, EU and global scales. This paper addresses this gap in food systems research and science communication by providing an integrated analytical approach and new ways to communicate this complexity outside science. Based on a transdisciplinary science approach with continuous stakeholder input, the EU Horizon2020 project ‘Metrics, Models and Foresight for European SUStainable Food And Nutrition Security’ (SUSFANS) developed a five-step process: Creating a participatory space; designing a conceptual framework of the EU food system; developing food system performance metrics; designing a modelling toolbox and developing a visualization tool. The Sustainable Food and Nutrition-Visualizer, designed to communicate complex policy change-impacts and trade-off questions, enables an informed debate about trade-offs associated with options for change among food system actors as well as in the policy making arena. The discussion highlights points for further research related to indicator development, reach of assessment models, participatory processes and obstacles in science communication. 2018 2025-01-29T12:57:52Z 2025-01-29T12:57:52Z Journal Article https://hdl.handle.net/10568/171211 en Open Access MDPI Zurek, Monika; Hebinck, Aniek; Leip, Adrian; Vervoort, Joost; Kuiper, Marijke; et al. (2018). Assessing sustainable food and nutrition security of the EU food system-An integrated approach. Sustainability 10(11): 4271. https://doi.org/10.3390/su10114271
spellingShingle sustainability
food security
nutrition
food systems
interdisciplinary research
participatory approaches
systems analysis
Zurek, Monika
Hebinck, Aniek
Leip, Adrian
Vervoort, Joost
Kuiper, Marijke
Assessing sustainable food and nutrition security of the EU food system-An integrated approach
title Assessing sustainable food and nutrition security of the EU food system-An integrated approach
title_full Assessing sustainable food and nutrition security of the EU food system-An integrated approach
title_fullStr Assessing sustainable food and nutrition security of the EU food system-An integrated approach
title_full_unstemmed Assessing sustainable food and nutrition security of the EU food system-An integrated approach
title_short Assessing sustainable food and nutrition security of the EU food system-An integrated approach
title_sort assessing sustainable food and nutrition security of the eu food system an integrated approach
topic sustainability
food security
nutrition
food systems
interdisciplinary research
participatory approaches
systems analysis
url https://hdl.handle.net/10568/171211
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