(02 February 2021) – In the context of the SHERPA project, Gianluca Brunori (University of Pisa) explores the necessary transition towards sustainable food systems that ensure access and availability to healthy and appropriate food while not harming ecosystems.
The 5th SCAR Foresight Exercise Expert Group launched in 2019, was set to explore research needs related to a safe and just transition, with the aim of providing a reference frame for national research strategies, EU-level partnerships and joint programming initiatives.
Through workshops, expert input and deliberation, healthy and sustainable diets for all, circularity in food systems, and diversity, were selected for their transformation potential. These three transitions provide the basis for innovative practices, technologies, policies.
We need the ability to leave “traditional” or “usual” paths and try new ones that may lead to stable but resilient and reliable roads into the future. And we need the stakeholders to come on board.
If managed properly, these three pathways, can lead to a more safe and fair world that is less vulnerable to catastrophe. Research and innovation can, and indeed must, point the way.