València, 19 October 2017. The first day of the 2017 Annual Gathering and Mayors’ Summit of the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact (MUFPP) was dedicated to the motto “Dialogue between cities: sharing goals, experiences and results”. In two working sessions, the participating mayors and city delegates were given the opportunity to share good practices in promoting sustainable food systems and to discuss the role of the Milan Pact in the current international development agenda.
In the first working session which was moderated by Stephanie Loose, Associate Human Settlement Officer at UN Habitat, the cities of Maputo, West Sacramento, Lyon, Venice Seoul, Almere and Birmingham shared their experiences in promoting sustainable food systems through food and nutrition interventions. This innovative, inclusive approach – across administrative boundaries, sectors and levels of government authority and including all relevant stakeholders such as civil society organizations, academia and the private sector – is urgently needed to ensure sustainable urban development.
The session showcased successful practices that have been applied in the cities represented as either panellists or discussants. Other city representatives shared their good practices during the debate, too.
Issues of common concern included coordination of sectors and actors, challenges of cross-sectoral collaborations, resources needed during the process and evaluation of results and impacts on both urban and rural populations.
The purpose of the second session, moderated by Maruxa Cardama, Urban Adviser at Cities Alliance, was to discuss how current city food policies are linked to the global policy frameworks, namely the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development including the sustainable development goals and the Habitat III New Urban Agenda.
The session began with invited speakers from Sao Paolo, Toronto, Dakar, Medellin, Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Quito, Tel Aviv and Denia who shared the very different approaches their cities are taking in consideration of these international frameworks. The initial speakers were joined by representatives of other cities dealing with similar challenges.
The participants called for the building of a common framework for action beyond the city, across jurisdictions and different level s of government. At present, the voices of cities working on food systems are not sufficiently heard by national delegations and international organizations. It was therefore stressed that it is important for all the different actors to work together to tackle the common problems in today’s food management systems in an efficient way.
In the first working session which was moderated by Stephanie Loose, Associate Human Settlement Officer at UN Habitat, the cities of Maputo, West Sacramento, Lyon, Venice Seoul, Almere and Birmingham shared their experiences in promoting sustainable food systems through food and nutrition interventions. This innovative, inclusive approach – across administrative boundaries, sectors and levels of government authority and including all relevant stakeholders such as civil society organizations, academia and the private sector – is urgently needed to ensure sustainable urban development.
The session showcased successful practices that have been applied in the cities represented as either panellists or discussants. Other city representatives shared their good practices during the debate, too.
Issues of common concern included coordination of sectors and actors, challenges of cross-sectoral collaborations, resources needed during the process and evaluation of results and impacts on both urban and rural populations.
The purpose of the second session, moderated by Maruxa Cardama, Urban Adviser at Cities Alliance, was to discuss how current city food policies are linked to the global policy frameworks, namely the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development including the sustainable development goals and the Habitat III New Urban Agenda.
The session began with invited speakers from Sao Paolo, Toronto, Dakar, Medellin, Rivas-Vaciamadrid, Quito, Tel Aviv and Denia who shared the very different approaches their cities are taking in consideration of these international frameworks. The initial speakers were joined by representatives of other cities dealing with similar challenges.
The participants called for the building of a common framework for action beyond the city, across jurisdictions and different level s of government. At present, the voices of cities working on food systems are not sufficiently heard by national delegations and international organizations. It was therefore stressed that it is important for all the different actors to work together to tackle the common problems in today’s food management systems in an efficient way.
