FOODPREP - resilient food supply in eastern mid-Swedish municipalities

Description

The project contributes to research on food supply, food preparedness, and preservation of agricultural land, focusing mainly on municipal policy, planning, and practice in the 88 municipalities in Eastern Mid-Sweden. It aims to study how municipal policies and plans address food supply in relation to food preparedness and agricultural land, and how these are translated into practice. Further, the project seeks to explore how/if municipalities contribute to, and what potential there is for, fostering integrated policy, planning, and practice on local food supply, food preparedness and preservation of agricultural land; to identify barriers, opportunities and goal conflicts in municipal work at the intersection of these issues; as well as to examine innovative approaches and opportunities for strengthening collaborations within and between municipalities, and between municipalities and other local and regional actors.

The research is conducted through analysis of data from a survey and text analysis of municipal policies and plans in the municipalities studied. In-depth studies are then conducted in three of the 88 municipalities to gain a deeper understanding of how municipalities work with issues related to food supply, agricultural land, and food preparedness. In the selected municipalities, interviews with civil servants and other actors will be conducted, and co-production workshops will be carried out with in collaboration with municipal representatives and other stakeholders.

This research project is one of two transdisciplinary projects that received FORMAS funding (read more about the other project RESFOOD). The project is part of the research area food systems planning, an emerging field that engages policy makers, planners, planning organizations, civic leaders, stakeholders in the food chain, as well as academic scholars worldwide.