This week, Matt Reed and Dan Keech have travelled to Bergen in Norway for a key first meeting as part of the the consortium that makes up the ‘URBANFARMS’ project.
The aim of the URBANFARMS project it to ‘elaborate effective strategies for professional farmers in cities and peri-urban areas to make use of the vicinity of the city to increase added value from their production in an economically, socially and environmentally sustainable way. The project shall identify land resources that are not in optimal use, and demonstrate business models that increase the use of local nutrients and of the nearby city’s market and purchasing power.’
Two city regions in Norway (Bergen and Oslo) and one in England (Bristol) will be focussed upon in the project, which is comprised of staff from NIBIO and NORSØK and the CCRI. In addition to these, Bristol Food Network, the Norwegian Farmers Association and Organic Norway participate as stakeholder groups participating in the project.
Regarding the visit, Matt Reed, Reader in Food Citizenship said “the importance of this meeting is that for the first time we are going to meet all of the farmers who are the heart of the project. As well as understanding the marketing for local and sustainable food we will also be auditing the footprint of each farm. It is going to be a fascinating few days of listening to each other and making plans for our research together”.
More details about the project can be found on the NIBIO website.
