Cities and towns worldwide are growing at different rates and increasingly carry the burden of food and nutrition insecurity. They can develop sustainable food systems to reduce food waste, create livelihood opportunities for producers, promote sustainable production, processing and marketing, and ensure food security for all. Urban policy and planning have paid little attention to food systems, but cities are increasingly involved in local, national and international discussions about the future of food and nutrition security. The City Region Food Systems approach focuses on the complexity of the food system within a city region and its stakeholders. This approach has only recently been integrated into research.

The main objective of the project FoodE (Food Systems in European Cities) is to accelerate the development of sustainable and resilient citizen initiatives in European urban food systems. Involving various stakeholders, including citizens, start-ups, local authorities, and educational institutions, FoodE has implemented activities outlined in this EU Guidebook.

The results provide recommendations and guidelines for policies aimed at improving interactions among the stakeholders of the food chain, empowering local communities and cities to become sustainable food hubs. The first chapter provides a basic introduction to the topic of European urban food systems. Chapter 2 presents 13 different European pilot projects that aim to promote the transformation of the food system in Europe. These projects and their respective concepts can serve as inspiration to implement similar projects. Chapter 3 focuses on the vision of future food systems. It looks at how the CRFS could develop by 2050 if their transformation would take place successfully. It concretises this vision by breaking down four possible areas of innovation (policy, social, economic, technical) in terms of current and possible future developments. Finally, the results of the Guidebook are summarised in the Chapter 4.

FoodE (Food Systems in European Cities) led by the University of Bologna, brings together a highly qualified consortium of 24 organisations. The consortium includes universities, research institutes, SMEs, NGOs, as well as City Councils spread across eight EU countries. FoodE is financially supported by Horizon 2020, the EU's Research and Innovation Framework Programme.