Edible Neighbourhoods knowledge exchange: Barcelona’s Espigoladors and ECOLISE visit EU4Advice in Utrecht

On February 26 and 27, a delegation from Espigoladors Foundation and ECOLISE will embark on an exciting study visit to Utrecht, Netherlands, to explore local innovative practices in food community engagement and connect with the EU4Advice Living Lab for Central Europe, managed by Amped and which is also active in Utrecht.

The itinerary for this visit was established with the help of the Municipality of Utrecht, which is a city hub for the CULTIVATE project.

The first day includes a tour of the Rijnvliet Edible Neighborhood (supported by CULTIVATE), a pioneering example of an edible community designed to integrate green spaces into urban living. Participants will have the opportunity to engage with local experts who will share insights into sustainable gardening practices and the importance of community involvement in maintaining these spaces. This hands-on experience will provide the guests with a Dutch perspective on how urban areas can be transformed into thriving ecosystems that promote both biodiversity and food security.

The second day the delegation will meet with the team of Amped, involved in building local/regional food systems, community building, stewardship and governance, through the EU4Advice Living Lab for Central Europe. The Living Lab is eager to share its experience with their Barcelona counterparts and learn from each other.

The collaborative nature of this visit promises to foster valuable discussions and inspire new ideas for tackling challenges in local food systems.

Espigoladors Foundation
The Espigoladors Foundation focuses on reducing food waste by recovering surplus produce from farms and urban areas. They engage volunteers in gleaning activities to harvest leftover fruits and vegetables, which are then redistributed to charities. The foundation is expanding its efforts to urban gleaning, mapping edible fruit trees in cities to transform waste into food resources. Espigoladors is partner of CULTIVATE, a project led by Trinity College of Dublin, which brings together universities, municipalities and community food initiatives in 9 European cities with the aim of being a driver of innovation in the field of ‘food sharing’ by building more sustainable and resilient local food systems.

ECOLISE
ECOLISE, headquartered in Brussels, is the European Network for Community-Led Initiatives on Climate Change and Sustainability, and a partner in the Communities for Climate (C4C) project, supporting sustainability initiatives in 11 countries across Europe, including Spain. Since 2014, they have been supporting community-led initiatives, their networks and partners to catalyse systemic transformation within and across society.