On June 1st in Marseille, France, partners, stakeholders and institutional representatives met for the final conference of MADRE, the European project on urban and peri-urban farming. The conference – Metropolitan agriculture and food systems in the Mediterranean – was the opportunity to present MADRE’s results to a wider audience.

The Best Practice Catalogue, the Agri-Madre digital platform, the White Papers and the Policy Paper represent the key outputs of MADRE project. The signature of a Memorandum of Understanding for the creation of a Mediterranean network on metropolitan agriculture and food systems comprises the commitment to continue working together after the project’s end.

Roundtables were organised. The first roundtable dealt with the challenges and interests of the creation of a Mediterranean network on metropolitan agriculture and food systems, and the second one involved cities and metropolises interested in the development of the Mediterranean network.

MADRE project represents a network of actors engaged in making agriculture a key driver for sustainable economic development and gives a structure to cities for their next agricultural and food policies. The co-design of food and agriculture policies and the transition from a top-down to a bottom up approach strongly emerged, as well as the importance of linkages between rural and urban areas and food policy with social and economic policies.

The rising Mediterranean network on Metropolitan agriculture and food systems represents the commitment of public authorities, farmers, academia researchers and civil society organisations to work together for the promotion of urban and peri-urban agriculture initiatives and policies beyond MADRE project.

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Press release

MADRE project