The aim of this Work Package is to ensure a well-managed project by providing an effective day-to-day co-ordination and strategic leadership. The specific objectives are to ensure:
- That project research and innovation activities are managed and coordinated effectively.
- Effective financial management and distribution of funds to project partners.
- High quality deliverables are produced.
- Effective knowledge management, ethical considerations and protection of IP.
- A project kick-off meeting is hosted and to oversee subsequent project coordination meetings.
- All periodic and final reports are prepared correctly and submitted on time to the EC.
The objective of this work package is to maximise the impact of the project’s results through effective knowledge exchange and communication with a wide range of relevant audiences (consumers, schools, food supply chain practitioners, policy makers and academics).
Tasks include:
- Development of a communication strategy.
- Development of a graphic identity and website.
- Production of dissemination material, including project leaflets, newsletter articles (in different European languages), webinars, podcasts and press releases.
- Establish a Knowledge Exchange Platform to communicate, inform, create dialogue and promote use of the project results.
- Dissemination via websites and social media.
- Establishment of a Stakeholder Advisory Platform to ensure active involvement of key stakeholders.
- Organisation of a final conference to present the final results to key target audiences such as opinion leaders/regulators, the media, educators, agri-food producers (including SMEs), consumer organisations, the scientific community and the general public.
The main objectives of WP3 are to develop the conceptual framework for the project, thereby ensuring consistency of approaches and comparability of findings across geographical regions, FQS, PSFP analysis and SFSC. To achieve this, the work of WP3 is divided into four sections with the following sub-objectives:
- To develop the conceptual framework for the project and prepare literature reviews to ensure the subsequent Work Packages take our project significantly beyond the state-of-the-art.
- To define the methodological framework and related core and bespoke quantitative indicators for: measuring economic, social and environmental impacts needed for subsequent WPs devoted to analysing the impact of FQS, PSFP and SFSC, consumer research and pilot actions (W5, WP6, WP7, WP8 and WP9 respectively).
- To confirm the selection of WP5-7 case studies, that are representative for the project’s needs.
- To ensure these proposed methodologies and core and bespoke indicators for capturing social, environmental and economic impacts are suitable for wider use in WP5-7, they will be ‘road-tested’ in four pilot case studies.
The aim of this work package is to analyse existing datasets (such as those collected in all EU member states through the Farm Accountancy Data Network and the DOOR registry of geographic indications and traditional specialties) to understand farmers’ current engagement in food quality schemes (FQS)and short food supply chains (SFSC) and their impacts on farm performance, as well as price transmission and trade patterns for food quality schemes.
Tasks within this WP include:
- To analyse the extent and determinants of farmer engagement in FQS and SFSC in the EU.
- To determine the impact of farmers’ engagement in FQS and SFSC on farm performance.
- To assess price transmission for different FQS products along the food chain and the potential of FQS to reduce price volatility.
- To study the relationship between FQS and international trade flows.
The aim of WP5 is to improve our understanding of the impact of EU Quality Schemes (FQS) for food chains and rural territories (i) assessing the social, environmental and economic sustainability of different FQS (PDO, PGI, TSG and organic products); (ii) assessing the contribution of different FQS (PDO, PGI, and Organic products) to rural economies and territorial cohesion and (iii) identifying the determinants of the sustainability, and variations in the impacts, of different FQS at the food chain and rural areas.
The aims of the WP will be achieved completing three tasks:
- To assess the social, environmental and economic sustainability of FQS.
- To assess the contribution of FQS to rural economies and territorial cohesion.
- To identify the determinants affecting the social, environmental and economic impact of FQS on food chains and rural areas and cross comparison among case studies.
Work package leader: The University of Edinburgh (UEDIN)
WP6 will investigate how different public sector food procurement policies may impact on nutrition, food supply chains and local economies, with specific focus on the provision of primary school meals in five countries (Croatia, Serbia, Italy, Greece and UK). Three Tasks will be undertaken:
6.1. Understanding contracting processes for public procurement.
This Task will collate evidence of how institutions make arrangements for public procurement contracts, with the aim of categorising different types of arrangement and how these are shaped by, or reflect, policies on sustainability.
6.2. Evaluating the impact of public sector food procurement strategies on the nutritive value of school meals utilising food composition analysis.
This Task will evaluate the nutritive value of daily menus at selected school canteens, using national food composition data supplemented by the FoodExplorer by EuroFIR national food composition database.
6.3. Evaluating the impact of public sector food procurement strategies on the social, environmental and economic sustainability of rural territories.
Using a case study approach, this Task will evaluate the impacts of a mix of public procurement models for school meals, from ‘lowest price’ (where cost to the tendering institution is the main driver), to ‘local/short chain organic’ (where institutions procure food which is both locally sourced and organic).
The main objective of this work package is to better understand the impact of Short Food Supply Chains (SFSC) on rural territories by evaluating concrete case-studies in six European countries: France, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Poland and the UK. SFSC are here defined as food systems with direct producer-consumer relations. This includes different types of direct sales such as farm outlets, farmers markets or community supported agriculture (CSA) or initiatives with one or more intermediaries such as food box schemes or local food shops.
The work is divided into two tasks aiming at identifying factors that support or deter the development of SFSC. First, we will make a qualitative assessment of the organizational development of SFSCs by studying the motivations and practices among practitioners within 12 selected SFSCs in the six participating countries. Second, the economic, environmental and social impacts of SFSC will be assessed in all the selected cases.
WP8 aims at providing a thorough understanding regarding consumers’ knowledge, perception, confidence and valuation of quality labels (e.g. regional, organic, fair-trade, animal welfare and local products) and consumers’ food practices and purchase behavior with respect to products promoted by those labels across different consumer groups, (food) cultures and settings.
Consumers’ surveys and ethnographic fieldwork will take place in seven European countries (France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Norway, Serbia and UK). The former will investigate consumers’ perceptions of products promoted by quality labels and investigate the impact of policy measures to enhance confidence in and consumption of Food Quality Schemes (FQS) products. The latter will investigate how European consumers understand, perceive, value, use and trust food quality labels to provide insight into gaps between consumers’ stated valuation of products promoted via EU FQS and their actual food practices including planning, acquisition, storage, cooking, eating and disposal. Based on the results of the surveys and ethnographic fieldwork innovative research using a virtual supermarket setting investigates the effectiveness of potential policy interventions on food purchasing behavior.
The obtained insights generated in WP8 support the design of effective policies to enable consumers to make better-informed purchasing choices regarding products promoted by FQS.
The objectives of this work package are to demonstrate and validate the potential of policies and schemes to stimulate development of new quality markets and local food chains to include improved nutritional benefits of PSFP and to evaluate their likely sustainability through pilot actions. WP9 is based on action research with academics and stakeholders working together to implement research-informed interventions (innovation). The WP9 runs for the full five years of the project to allow sufficient time for thorough background research, implementation of new strategies, and detailed evaluation, communication and sharing of outcomes.
The tasks include:
- School meals pilot initiatives in Serbia and Croatia to improve the nutritional qualities of school meals catering procurement and associated benefits.
- Pilot action on mainstreaming local food supply chains.
- Pilot action on improving FQS sales in Poland.
- Pilot fishing short foodsupply chain initiative in the UK.
- Pilot action on stimulating producer co-operation andregional food labelling.
- Pilot action on Food Fairs and Farmers’ Markets in Italy.
The aim of this work package is to provide policy and practical recommendations arising from the project at the EU, international and national levels with particular emphasis on QSs, SFSC and public food procurement. The main target groups are policy makers at different administrative levels (region, Member States, EU) involved in quality policy schemes, and agri-food supply chain practitioners.
The tasks include:
- Synthesis of the project’s findings.
- Development, refinement and verification of policy and practical recommendations.
- Strategic Guides for Practitioners and identification of good practices.
- Creation of technical support systems and decision making tools for agri-food chain practitioners and policy makers.
- Development of Education Resources for Schools.