Urban Future’s Post

More on food! 🥗🍎🌱 How can local farms tackle food challenges?  Well, have you heard of "community supported agriculture" or CSA?   Like farmers' markets, CSA is a chance to reduce food miles by selling directly to consumers - but with a twist.🌀 Take the example of Jaklhof - a family farm outside of Graz, Austria, run by three generations of women - which offers weekly food boxes as part of an annual subscription. 📦 Customers get good, locally-grown food, and the farm benefits from a guaranteed income - supplemented by sales at the local markets and a farm shop. Cities that encourage CSA benefit too: small, independent peri-urban farms boost local food security by diversifying crops, replacing long (vulnerable) supply chains, and appealing to what local consumers want to eat. 👉🏾 For more on this story - and to learn how Jaklhof's traditional practice of seed work may prove essential in a changing climate - head to: https://lnkd.in/dYKwRyRJ  

Hej, hej Sweden! 💙💛 Our CEO Gerald Babel-Sutter has been named an honorary consul of the Swedish Consulate in Graz! The Swedish consulate is officially open at the Urban Future office! 🇸🇪   Since our conference in Helsingborg, we have stronger connections to Sweden - this is an example of the power of holding conferences in different parts of the world every year. Now, those who need our services can come by on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 10:00 to 12:00! How cool is that? 🪪   We're always looking for ways to expand our international ties and get to know unique people from all over the world. 😊 Embassy of Sweden in Austria #SwedishConsulate #Graz #SwedeninAustria

Once upon a time, not even that long ago, people treated their stuff differently.    But in our throwaway culture today, binning a broken object and buying a replacement is often the easiest and cheapest solution. This take-make-waste economy has serious costs – for the environment and also for the community. 😖   So, what would the alternative look like?    We visit a repair café in Graz, Austria, to understand what it means to give an item a new lease of life, and why it often pays to repair rather than simply recycle. 🛠️⚙️    With more than 2,500 repair cafes around the world, it's morphing into a movement - heralding a broader interest in repair culture and the right of ordinary people to be able to fix and extend the life of their items.   “We are not a service place for electronics. We are a community that helps people, to help themselves.” - Andreas Höfler   🎧 Tune in to the CityChangers.org Podcast and be part of the change: https://lnkd.in/dvtSrpFU 💖

Which video from our "Better Ways" Campaign spoke to you the most? 🤩 📽 🤓 Watch all of them in the comments or here: https://lnkd.in/d4ebQakQ

WE WON!!! 🤩 We learned last night that YOU voted for our "Better Ways" video campaign! 😊 Your votes - in combination with a jury decision - sent us home with the first-place prize in the field of Society and Culture (Gesellschaft & Kultur) from the PR-Panther! 🎉 We're so excited and proud! Thank you PR Panther for the honour!  Thank you to HENX Filmproduktion & Videomarketing for the fantastic collaboration.  And thank you, community, for all the positive feedback on this campaign.  (Here it is again!: https://lnkd.in/d4ebQakQ)     Stay tuned for more videos coming your way this Fall 😉

A third of fruit and vegetables in Europe get thrown away because of their 'ugly' appearance. 🥬🥒🍅  Why and how should this change?   First, because that's a huge source of CO2. Second - people are still going hungry.   Most of us have an ideal image of what fresh produce should look like. (Thanks advertising!) Anything that doesn't make the grade gets binned! But it's just as tasty and nutritious 😋   Portuguese non-profit, Fruta Feia CRL is taking a stance. They bypass supermarkets by purchasing misshapen produce from farmers and distributing it directly to customers at a fraction of the price. “From an initial network of only about 10 farmers, it’s grown," says João Eustáquio. Now operating in 16 cities around Portugal, "we work with about 320 farmers” and sell to more than 8,000 members. This has saved an estimated 6,000 tonnes of food waste and almost as much C02, while putting €1.6 million back in the pockets of farmers. It seems we're not as superficial as some suppliers make out. 🙌🏽 👉🏼 Read the full story - including why farmers initially resisted the idea and how the organisation has convincing social advantages too - on CityChangers: https://lnkd.in/dNhhRDny

Revitalising cities takes ingenuity - an ability to look beyond what's there and envision everything it could be. 💡🔮    The floating community of Schoonschip in Amsterdam demonstrates this well.   This neglected former industrial waterfront property has been transformed into a 46 home neighbourhood - making economical use of space and embracing environmental stewardship & community values. It’s complete with heat pumps, solar panels, shared (green) spaces, and collective decision-making.   What a fine example of how urban spaces can be reclaimed and revived by a group of like-minded citizens! 🫶   Thank you CrAft - Creating Actionable Futures for allowing CityChangers.org to replicate this inspiring story: 👉 https://lnkd.in/dDZMVZ3U

Copenhagen's public canteens use 90% organic ingredients. 🤯 🥗 🍽️ Are you wondering how they did that? Spoiler alert: by changing municipal procurement processes. From schools to prisons and government offices, municipal kitchens feed a LOT of people, so the potential for benefits was massive! Betina Bergmann Madsen played a crucial role in defining Copenhagen's new food procurement policies so that suppliers responding to tender who offered healthy, sustainable food would receive more points - increasing chances of a contract. “I actually think that’s the way of helping – gentle nudging,” Betina says. “It’s all about how I can support our suppliers to be the best version of themselves.” Going organic was just the beginning. It's also improved nutrition and water quality, and led to a 25% reduction in carbon emissions in the city's food procurement processes. Read the full story - including how Betina won over Copenhagen's public kitchen staff and why it's important not to focus on procurement in isolation - on CityChangers.org: 🥕https://lnkd.in/dvbknsmK