Policy Recommendations for Strengthening a Sustainable Rural-urban-nexus

Event: Workshop
Date: 29 November 2018
Location: Berlin, Germany

The development of regional food strategies and cooperative approaches between urban and rural areas to reduce land take represent a suitable approach to the development of sustainable rural-urban linkages. Concrete policy recommendations can be found in the discussion paper of the Rural-Urban-Nexus project led by Ecologic Institute, which was discussed in the final workshop on 29 November 2018.

The development of regional food strategies represents a field of action with high synergies with other areas of sustainable development (health, education, regional added value, environmental protection, etc.). To support food policies and food strategies through federal policy in Germany a number of options have been identified:

Regulation of the land market and to secure land for regional food supply (e.g. amendment of the land transaction laws of the Länder)
Use of the scope of procurement law for community catering
Utilisation of the possibilities for action offered by spatial planning and land use planning, e.g. through sectoral plans for urban agriculture and green infrastructure
Formulation of a federal food strategy and support for the coordination of regional food initiatives (e.g. through food councils)

Further information about the project and the event can be found on the project website of the Rural Urban Nexus Project.

The development of regional food strategies and cooperative approaches between city and countryside to reduce land take is a particularly suitable approach for the development of sustainable urban-rural linkages.

Regionale Ernährungssysteme und nachhaltige Landnutzung im Stadt-Land-Nexus

Year 2019

Publication:Report

This working paper identifies the main overarching trends affecting the food supply system, sets out the environmental and socio-economic implications of spatial decoupling of food production, consumption and disposal, and addresses the particular role of urbanisation in changing supply systems. The effects in industrialised and developing countries are considered in equal measure.

Nachhaltige Ernährungssysteme in Zeiten von Urbanisierung und globaler Ressourcenknappheit

Herausforderungen und Handlungsmöglichkeiten

Year 2019

Publication:Article

The German article "Seven at one blow! Regional Food Strategies as key to more sustainable Urban-Rural cooperations" deals with the role of regional food strategies as a promising approach for an integrated, sustainable development of urban and rural areas. The article, written by Stephanie Wunder, Coordinator Food Systems at the Ecologic Institute and Franziska Wolff, Head of Environmental Law & Governance at Öko-Institut summarizes the results of the UBA project "Rural Urban Nexus", led by Ecologic Institute. The text is part of "The Critical Agricultural Report". Since 1993 "Der kritische Agrarbericht" is an annually published flagship book, that critically reflects about agriculture in Germany in the context of the EU Common Agricultural Policy. The 2020 edition focused on the changing relationship between rural and urban areas.

Sieben auf einen Streich

Regionale Ernährungsstrategien als Schlüssel für eine nachhaltigere Stadt-Umland-Kooperation

Year 2020

Publication:Report

The report "Integrated approaches for sustainable urban-rural development" published by the German Federal Environment Agency at the end of 2019 summarizes the results of the three-year research project "Rural Urban Nexus – Global Land Use and Urbanization" (RUN). The findings of the project, that was led by Ecologic Institute, show that there is already a wide range of strategic approaches, instruments and institutional forms for better collaboration between cities and their surrounding areas. Rather than establishing new instruments, administrations and policy makers should make greater use of existing possibilities – especially informal instruments of regional planning – and to integrate sustainable urban and peri-urban development into existing policies. In particular, the development of regional food strategies can be an important entry point and catalyst for achieving sustainable urban rural development.

Rural Urban Nexus – Globale Landnutzung und Urbanisierung

Integrierte Ansätze für eine nachhaltige Stadt-Land-Entwicklung

Year 2019

Publication:Report

The report first presents non-institutional factors that influence the relationship between urban and rural areas. In the second part, it provides an overview of institutional framework conditions and instruments for the design of sustainable urban-rural linkages. The third section of the report analyses existing instruments and policies for the sustainable design of urban-rural linkages. It covers instruments at the German, EU and international levels. Examples of good practice from European and non-European countries in the field of "regional food systems" have a complementary, illustrative function.

Rahmenbedingungen und Instrumente für die Gestaltung nachhaltiger Stadt-Land-Verknüpfungen

Year 2019

Presentation:Speech

"More organic, more regional food, fit for the future – Transition of food systems through urban-rural cooperation" was the motto of this year's STADTLANDBIO Congress. Stephanie Wunder presented the policy recommendations of the research project "Rural Urban Nexus". She focused on the relevance of secure access to land for regional food producers.

Regional Food Systems in the Rural Urban Nexus

14 - 15 February 2019
Stephanie Wunder

Event:Workshop

The workshop "Regional Food Systems and Sustainable Land Use in the Rural Urban Nexus" on 11 April 2018 discussed the potential that food systems can play to improve rural urban linkages. The workshop aimed to discuss the available insights at international level about success factors of regional food policies and if these are also relevant in the German context. To do so, the workshop brought together local policy makers, federal policy makers as well as participants from research and civil society. Stephanie Wunder, Senior Fellow at the Ecologic Institute and project leader of the Rural Urban Nexus project, presented success factors known from international examples and studies that promote rural urban linkages through regional food systems.

Regional Food Systems and Sustainable Land Use in the Rural Urban Nexus

11 April 2018
Berlin, Germany

Project

The project "Rural Urban Nexus – Global Land Use and Urbanisation" is developing approaches and policy recommendations directed at an integrated and sustainable rural and urban development.

Rural Urban Nexus – Global Sustainable Land Use and Urbanisation (RUN)

Dec 2015 - Mar 2019

Funding: German Environment Agency (UBA), Germany
Organizer: Ecologic Institute, Germany
Team: Stephanie Wunder

Karl Lehmann
Date: 29 November 2018
Location: Berlin, Germany
Language: German
Project: Rural Urban Nexus – Global Sustainable Land Use and Urbanisation (RUN)
Project ID: 2577
Keywords: Cities

Governance

International Development

Land Use

Food

Events

city region food systems, food policy, rural development, sustainable urban development, food policy councils

Germany

Attachments

run_politikoptionen_2018-nov-29_for_web.pdf (1013.23 KB)

Further Links

Project website: Rural Urban Nexus – Global sustainable land use and urbanisation

PresentationSpeechRegional Food Systems in the Rural Urban Nexus

"More organic, more regional food, fit for the future – transition of food systems through urban-rural cooperation". That was the motto of this year's STADTLANDBIO congress on 14 and 15 February 2019 that took place as part of the BIOFACH – the international trade Fair... Read more

Speech:Regional Food Systems in the Rural Urban Nexus

Date: 14 - 15 February 2019
Location: Berlin, Germany

EventWorkshopRegional Food Systems and Sustainable Land Use in the Rural Urban Nexus

Workshop:Regional Food Systems and Sustainable Land Use in the Rural Urban Nexus

Date: 11 April 2018
Location: Berlin, Germany