27.10.2017

The latest on CITYFOOD

Since operationalizing the ICLEI-RUAF CITYFOOD Network in May 2017, 15 local and regional governments have formally committed to the network and several are following suit. Current CITYFOOD Network members include:

• Cagayan de Oro City (Philippines)
• City of Malmö (Sweden)
• City of Santa Rosa (Philippines)
• Colombo Municipal Council (Sri Lanka)
• Commune Urbaine d'Antananarivo (Madagascar)
• Gangdong-gu Municipal Government (Republic of Korea)
• Local Government Unit of Catbalogan City (Philippines)
• Melbourne City Council (Australia)
• Municipality of Belo Horizonte (Brazil)
• Municipality of Dumangas (Philippines)
• Municipality of Ede (The Netherlands)
• Municipality of León de los Aldama (México)
• Municipality of the Metropolitan District of Quito (Ecuador)
• Quelimane Municipality (Mozambique)
• Tokyo Metropolitan Government (Japan)

We congratulate Antananarivo, Madagascar and Ede, the Netherlands for winning the Milan Pact Award for their innovative and sustainable food policies! They received their prizes at the 3rd Annual Gathering and Mayors' Summit of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (Valencia, Spain - October 2017). The full award ceremony can be watched here. 

CITYFOOD is working step-by-step with ICLEI regional and country offices and local RUAF partners, facilitating outreach and on-ground work in all regions. Activities include, but are not limited to, offering policy advice to cities implementing food systems assessments, design of territorial food strategies, training workshops for cities and the design of monitoring frameworks. A first CITYFOOD webinar on city region food systems will be organized on November 3rd and is open to all CITYFOOD members to participate.

Over the last months CITYFOOD has also joined efforts with other city networks and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO) to:

 

• Enhance access to information on one dedicated website: www.fao.org/urban-food-actions/en/
• Support development of a monitoring framework for the Milan Urban Food Policy pact
• Provide cities with an international podium to engage and publicize their food systems activities at: the Urban Food Forum at the Resilient Cities Congress (Bonn, May), the International Urban Farming Conference (Berlin, September), and the Regional Conference on Peri-Urban Ecosystems for Enhancing Urban Resilience (New Delhi, September).

Strong partnerships with UN agencies, including FAO, and initiatives such as the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact will continue informing the CITYFOOD Network work plan over the next months. Together, ICLEI and RUAF offer more than 20 years of expertise and CITYFOOD will continue engaging local and regional governments on sustainability and city region food systems.

For more information, please visit the website where you can download the CITYFOOD brochure and commitment form (available in English, Spanish and Portuguese).

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