Public procurement has the potential to drive transformative change in the contemporary food system. The procurement system holds great potential as a change agent toward a more sustainable food system, and it is a valuable tool to drive positive change. The work of this report has contributed to the understanding of good measures that are already being taken but also revealed several challenges that should be of focus when trying to increase the sustainability of public procurement. An overview of the challenges faced by small-scale producers aspiring to participate in public tenders is provided. These challenges collectively limit the participation of small-scale producers in public procurement. A combination of strategies can be employed, including dividing contracts into smaller lots, implementing Dynamic Purchasing Systems (DPS) for increased supplier flexibility, providing adequate resources to procurement officers, enhancing their understanding of the task at hand, and developing the local market for sustainable food procurement through education of kitchen staff to demand more fresh products in season. The establishment of local facilitators is recommended in order to implement these recommendations, as the actions are interdependent. By adopting these recommendations and embracing a holistic approach, regions and municipalities can contribute significantly to the local development of social and environmental sustainability while promoting equitable opportunities for small-scale farmers and encouraging a well-functioning and resilient local food system, as well as increasing the sustainability of our food systems.
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Connecting COnsumers and producers to REbalance farmers’ position through AmbassaDOrs trainings
Agricultural run-off and subsurface drainage tiles transport a significant amount of nitrogen and phosphorus leached after fertilization. alchemia-nova GmbH in collaboration with University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna developed two multi-layer vertical filter systems to address the agricultural run-off issue, which has been installed on the slope of an agricultural field in Mistelbach, Austria. While another multi-layer addressing subsurface drainage water is implemented in Gleisdorf, Austria. The goal is to develop a drainage filter system to retain water and nutrients. Both multi-layer filter systems contain biochar and other substrates with adsorption properties of nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus). The filter system can be of practical use if an excess of nutrients being washed out is of concern in the fields of the practitioner by keeping the surrounding waters clean. This approach may result in economic value by re-using the saturated biochar as fertilizer and improving the soil structure, thus increasing long-term soil fertility. Link: https://wateragri.eu/a-bio-inspired-multilayer-drainage-system/
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No 858735This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program under Grant Agreement No 858735. FACTSHEET NANOCELLULOSE MEMBRANES FOR NUTRIENT RECOVERY Key information Functionalized nanocellulose membranes can take up nitrate and phosphate. These membranes can be put in a water treatment unit. As the membranes are biobased, degradable materials, they can after use be added to the soil, thus returning the leached nutrients back for their original purpose providing fertilizers (nutrient recycling).
This case study is drafting new legislation that allows renting forestland for multiple purposes in order to increase economic efficiency and maintain a balance between all ecosystem services. This Russian case works on regulation mechanisms so that people renting forestland can use it for multiple purposes, and to include ecosystem services in the Forest Code.