Kontext

Europe’s food systems are under growing pressure from climate change, biodiversity loss, soil degradation, diet-related health challenges, and social and territorial inequalities. Although EU and national strategies set ambitious goals for more sustainable and resilient food systems, implementation in practice often remains fragmented and uneven. For practitioners and end-users such as regional authorities, farmers, SMEs, food businesses, researchers, innovation intermediaries, and civil society organisations, a key challenge is the lack of effective governance structures that connect policy goals with local action, innovation uptake, and stakeholder participation.

At the same time, this challenge creates an important opportunity. Regions can play a stronger role in food system transformation if they are supported to organise collaboration, identify priorities, and scale promising solutions in a more coordinated way. VISION4FOOD addresses this need by working with five European regions with different innovation ecosystem maturity levels to strengthen regional food innovation through Food Innovation Platforms. Using a Quadruple Helix and Responsible Research and Innovation approach, the project helps connect public authorities, businesses, research organisations, and civil society, enabling better informed decision-making, knowledge exchange, and the co-creation of tailored regional acceleration agendas for sustainable and inclusive food system transformation.

Objectives

VISION4FOOD aims to enhance the sustainability and resilience of EU food systems by developing and testing innovative governance models that improve decision-making, social engagement, and innovation uptake at regional level. The project works with five European regions with different levels of innovation ecosystem maturity to strengthen their capacity to organise and accelerate food system transformation.

A central objective is to support the creation and operation of Food Innovation Platforms that bring together public authorities, businesses, research organisations, and civil society through a Quadruple Helix approach. These platforms are designed to help regions identify shared priorities, connect actors who often work separately, and create the conditions for more inclusive and coordinated innovation processes.

The project also aims to apply Responsible Research and Innovation principles and open science practices in the co-creation of regional strategies and actions. Through knowledge exchange, networking, mutual learning, and the use of tailored tools and services, VISION4FOOD will help the participating regions define acceleration agendas adapted to their specific needs and opportunities.

A further objective is to monitor and evaluate how these governance models perform in practice, generating evidence on their effectiveness and impact. Based on this work, VISION4FOOD will provide guidance, practical tools, and transferable lessons that can support other regions in building more innovative, inclusive, and sustainable food systems.

Activities

VISION4FOOD carries out a set of interlinked activities to strengthen regional food innovation ecosystems and support food system transformation in five European regions: Finland, Spain, Italy, Greece, and Poland. The project first maps and analyses regional research and innovation ecosystems, food system dynamics, value chains, bottlenecks, and opportunities, together with existing governance models and policy frameworks relevant to sustainable food systems.

Building on this analysis, VISION4FOOD develops and applies an innovative Quadruple Helix governance model that connects public authorities, businesses, research organisations, and civil society. A central activity is the creation and support of Food Innovation Platforms (FIPs), which act as regional collaboration hubs where stakeholders can jointly identify priorities, define missions, and shape more inclusive and effective innovation processes.

The project also co-creates tailored regional acceleration agendas that reflect the needs, strengths, and opportunities of each participating region. These agendas are supported by practical tools and services, including knowledge exchange, networking, mutual learning, stakeholder engagement methods, and access to the Knowledge Exchange Platform and project toolkit. Through these activities, VISION4FOOD helps regions identify, adapt, and scale innovations that can contribute to more sustainable, resilient, and inclusive food systems.

A further set of activities focuses on implementing and testing these approaches in practice across the five regions, while monitoring and evaluating how the governance models operate and what impacts they generate. This includes gathering evidence on participation, coordination, innovation uptake, and the effectiveness of regional collaboration structures.

Finally, VISION4FOOD promotes cross-regional learning, synergies with other initiatives, dissemination of results, and the development of practical guidance for wider replication. In this way, the project not only supports the pilot regions directly, but also provides transferable knowledge and recommendations for other regions and policymakers across Europe.

Other comments

VISION4FOOD supports food system transformation by helping regions build stronger governance structures for collaboration, innovation, and decision-making. A key enabling factor is the use of Food Innovation Platforms that connect public authorities, businesses, research organisations, and civil society around shared regional missions. Another facilitating element is the project’s Quadruple Helix and Responsible Research and Innovation approach, which helps ensure that innovation processes are more inclusive, reflexive, and better aligned with societal needs.

At the same time, important challenges remain. Regional actors often work in parallel rather than through a shared governance structure, and differences in institutional capacity, stakeholder representation, and ecosystem maturity can make coordination difficult. Another challenge is balancing predefined project objectives with the need for flexibility so that each region can respond to its own priorities and opportunities.

Through its activities, VISION4FOOD will generate practical guidance, tools, and lessons for regions seeking to design more inclusive and mission-oriented food innovation ecosystems. The project’s key message to end-users is that food system transformation requires long-term collaboration, clear governance arrangements, and continuous learning across policy, research, business, and society.