London, 4^th February 2015

The UNDP ART Initiative participated in the event together with Senior Representatives of different entities, including national and sub-national governments (Canada, Germany, Italy, South Africa, etc.), networks of local and regional governments (ICLEI and ORU FOGAR), other UN Agencies (FAO, IFAD, UN-Habitat and UNEP) and universities. The conference was hosted by the HRH The Prince Charles, The Prince of Wales, who delivered a speech emphasizing the importance of considering agriculture and food production as a complex and interrelated system, where the linkages between urban, periurban and rural areas must be considered.

The event aimed at analysing the role of City-Region Food Systems (CRFS) with regards to food production, processing, marketing and consumption to ensure food and nutrition security.

In the context of an exponential population growth and shift from rural to urban areas, it was reiterated the need of localizing and promoting innovative food policies, while strongly considering the linkages between cities and their peri-urban and rural areas, promoting multi-dimensional dialogues and scaling up positive local experiences.  During the event, 3keel presented a report commissioned by the Prince of Wales's International Sustainability Unit on Food Systems on the current state of knowledge on CRFS, pursuing a city regional approach to food policy and planning. The concept of CRFS is about making the linkages between urban centers and their surrounding rural areas more effective at delivering sustainable socio-economic returns and a range of critical public goods. The rural-urban linkages that need attention span three dimensions: ecological linkages in the form of ecosystem services and appropriate land-use planning; socio-economic linkages, including shorter, more direct supply chains; and governance linkages, bringing together urban and rural governance structures in a democratic and participatory way.

The conference was also part of the process towards the signature of the Urban Food Policy Pact, an initiative promoted in the framework of the Expo 2015 by the Municipality of Milan (Italy), and of which the UNDP ART Initiative is part of the Advisory Group.