– The funding project ‘Zukunft aufgetischt! Shaping nutrition together’ supports ten pilot initiatives for the design of healthy and sustainable food systems in seven federal states over a period of two years.
– Forward-looking concepts that develop and test new ideas for local access to healthy food together with citizens were selected.
– Municipalities in Bavaria, Brandenburg, Lower Saxony, North Rhine-Westphalia, Saxony-Anhalt, Schleswig-Holstein and Thuringia will receive funding totalling 1.4 million euros.
Stuttgart/Germany, January 20, 2025. Today, the Robert Bosch Stiftung is hosting a major kick-off event for the ‘Zukunft aufgetischt!’ project in Berlin. It marks the launch of ten model initiatives in Germany that aim to use their innovative and participatory approaches to provide answers to key challenges of the food transition – including climate protection, the reduction of food waste and equitable access to healthy food.
The winning municipalities prevailed against 43 applicants and will now receive funding from the Robert Bosch Stiftung for two years to engage in dialogue with local people and shape regional food systems sustainably with the help of various participation formats.
‘Most people want to eat a healthy and sustainable diet. With our nutrition strategy, we want to make this easier for them, for example in community catering. With our model region competition, we are helping regions to serve more regional, seasonal and organic food in canteens and cafeterias, daycare centres and schools and to implement the quality standards of the German Nutrition Society,’ explains Dr Ophelia Nick, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture. She supports the project and will give the laudatory speech at the launch event. ‘The more regions that follow our example, the better. I am therefore delighted about the Robert Bosch Stiftung’s commitment to supporting the ideas of other regions.’ This would enable the local regions to create the necessary framework conditions for people to eat healthily and sustainably.
Key role of the municipalities
The ten selected municipalities were able to convince the independent, seven-member programme jury – consisting of experts from agriculture, science and civil society – with their diverse ideas and set very different priorities. The Bavarian district of Ostallgäu, for example, wants to network local stakeholders in order to create sustainable and regional catering systems in businesses, daycare centres and schools. In Oberhavel, Brandenburg, the focus is on inspirational workshops and inter-communal cooperation to make health-promoting forms of nutrition tangible and accessible to everyone. And in Verden, Lower Saxony, the focus is on creating places of learning, educational programmes and innovative communication formats to promote a lasting connection between producers, processors and consumers.
Citizen participation and local networking as success factors
Close cooperation between politics, civil society, agriculture and citizens is at the centre of the ‘Zukunft aufgetischt!’ project. When selecting the municipalities, particular emphasis was placed on ensuring that all local people and stakeholders can actively participate. Equally crucial was a clear political will to establish new strategies, structures and processes in the long term.
‘The ‘Zukunft aufgetischt!’ project offers municipalities the opportunity to develop model solutions for the pressing challenges of the food transition through inclusive negotiation processes,’ says Ottilie Bälz, Head of Global Issues at the Robert Bosch Stiftung. ‘It is one of the first projects in Germany to bring this important topic to rural areas across the board. This is precisely where there is a lack of customised strategies that work on the ground. Our aim is not to promote ready-made concepts, but to develop sustainable, regional approaches in order to actively involve the local population in these processes and thus contribute to strengthening democratic values.’
During the two-year funding phase, the municipalities receive up to 175,000 euros as well as professional support to jointly analyse the local situation, further develop and optimise their projects. The implementation partners include the consulting firm B.A.U.M. Consult GmbH, the Bundesverband der Regionalbewegung e.V. and the communications consultancy IKU_Die Dialoggestalter.
About the project
The ‘Zukunft aufgetischt!’ project is an example of the link between health, climate protection, regional development and resilience. It offers municipalities the opportunity to develop innovative answers to the pressing questions of the food transition – and thus make a decisive contribution to a sustainable future.
The municipalities in the funding programme:
– Amt Temnitz | bEsser an der Temnitz | Brandenburg
– Bad Bevensen | Good food for all | Lower Saxony
– Braunichswalde | ‘Taking good care and being taken care of together!’ | Thuringia
– Gülzow, Kollow, Krukow | Dörp Kök – Rethink! | Schleswig-Holstein
– District of Ostallgäu | MAHLZEIT – Strengthening the use of regional (organic) products in Ostallgäu kitchens | Bavaria
– Leichlingen | Leichlingen Future Buffet – Climate | North Rhine-Westphalia
– Oberhavel | Brandenburg Lake District – jut leben, jut essen – für ALLE | Brandenburg
– Papenburg | At the table of possibilities – shaping sustainable food together | Lower Saxony
– Tangerhütte | Future kitchen – Eating well in Tangerhütte | Saxony-Anhalt
– Verden | Brückenschlag Wertschöpfungsnetz Ernährung für Verden und Dörverden | Lower Saxony
About the Robert Bosch Stiftung
The Robert Bosch Stiftung works in the areas of health, education and global issues. With its funding, it is committed to a just and sustainable future. The Foundation is non-profit, independent and non-partisan. It goes back to the legacy of Robert Bosch. In it, the entrepreneur and founder formulated the dual mission of ensuring the continued existence of the company and continuing his social commitment.
The Robert Bosch Stiftung GmbH maintains its own facilities, develops innovative projects and provides support at both international and local level. The foundation contributes the findings from its support to the professional world and the public debate.
The foundation holds around 94 per cent of the shares in Robert Bosch GmbH and is financed by its dividends. The company and the Foundation act independently of each other. Since its establishment in 1964, the Robert Bosch Stiftung has spent around 2.3 billion euros on its charitable work. (www.bosch-stiftung.de)
Further information:
(https://www.bosch-stiftung.de/de/projekt/zukunft-aufgetischt/kommunen)
ImageSource
Monfocus, Pixabay
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