New Report: Food 2030 Research and Innovation – Pathways for action 2.0

This publication provides an update on the European Commission’s Food 2030 initiative and aims to guide future research and innovation policy reflections related to Horizon Europe, the farm-to-fork strategy, the European Green Deal and beyond.

It sets out eleven pathways for action where research and innovation can concretely deliver co-benefits related to nutrition, climate, circularity, and communities, at multiple levels: from local to international:

1. Governance for Food Systems Change
2. Urban Food Systems Transformation
3. Food from the Ocean and Freshwater Resources
4. Alternative Proteins for Dietary Shift
5. Food Waste and Resource-efficient Food Systems
6. The Microbiome World
7. Nutrition and Sustainable Healthy Diets
8. Food Safety Systems of the Future
9. Food Systems Africa
10. Data & Digital Transformation
11. Zero Pollution Food Systems

It also underlines that a systemic interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary approach to research and innovation is crucial for success and improved impact.

The Food 2030 pathways are being deployed via Horizon Europe, the EU’s framework programme for R&I (2021–2027), which provides funding to support a diversity of projects and initiatives, in Europe and beyond. The modernisation of the pathways was supported by a participatory expert workshop held on 10 March 2023 in Brussels, where about 90 experts with diverse backgrounds and experiences were invited to collectively reflect on the way forward.

Read the report