On November 25th and 26th 2024, the INSUAH team visited the headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Rome, Italy. The purpose of this visit was to engage in collaborative discussions, share expertise, and explore avenues for strengthening the role of urban agriculture globally, with a particular focus on its heritage dimensions. This engagement highlights the FAO’s commitment to fostering international cooperation and promoting knowledge exchange to address the interconnected challenges and opportunities within urban agriculture.
The visit was an important step in INSUAH’s ongoing mission to deepen the understanding of urban agriculture as a dynamic system that integrates food security, sustainability, and cultural heritage. Over two days, the INSUAH delegation engaged with key FAO teams and initiatives, fostering mutual understanding and identifying synergies for future collaboration.
Engagements and Discussions
The INSUAH delegation’s first engagement was with Dr. Guido Santini, Programme Coordinator of the “City Region Food Systems” (CRFS) Programme within FAO’s Plant Production and Protection Division. This meeting also included Guido’s team and representatives from related FAO initiatives such as World Agriculture Watch and the Green Cities Initiative.
During this exchange, the FAO team introduced two critical tools developed to address urban agriculture challenges:
- The Urban and Periurban Agriculture City Region Food System Toolkit: Designed to support national and local governments in integrating agriculture into urban systems and enhancing food security.
- Green Cities: Building Sustainable and Resilient City Region Food Systems: A framework for fostering resilient, inclusive, and sustainable urban environments.
The discussions focused on enhancing urban food security, addressing the impacts of climate change, and preserving biodiversity, with a particular emphasis on the cultural and heritage aspects of urban agriculture. The FAO and INSUAH teams agreed that the INSUAH project’s case studies from five countries could offer valuable insights into identifying potentials and challenges related to urban agriculture.
Specific areas of collaboration identified included:
- Exploring how ordinary urban heritage contributes to sustainable urban solutions.
- Advancing culturally and economically inclusive circular economy models.
- Building resilient food systems rooted in traditional agroforestry practices.
The discussions also highlighted challenges that require further attention, such as security of land tenure for urban agriculture practitioners and the need for technical assistance that incorporates traditional food culture and knowledge systems.
Collaboration with the GIAHS Programme
The second engagement involved a dialogue with the FAO Climate Change Department, represented by the Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) team, led by Programme Coordinator Clelia Maria Puzzo. The GIAHS programme focuses on identifying and safeguarding traditional agricultural systems that have significant cultural, ecological, and agricultural value.
This exchange provided an opportunity to explore the role of heritage in urban and peri-urban agricultural systems. The discussions emphasized balancing modernization with the preservation of traditional practices, addressing the dual objectives of innovation and conservation. The INSUAH team presented their midterm findings and explained their hypotheses and learnings based on identified cases from the 5 INSUAH living labs. Among them heritage-based UA initiatives in Tokyo, Bandung, Havana, Germany and also from a 40-year temperature study of urban gardens in São Paulo, Brazil, which demonstrated that heritage gardens based on traditional agroforestry systems are 6–7°C cooler than the urban average.
A practice partner of the German team, Dr. Sabine Gross from the Nuremberg Metropolitan Region, also made the trip to Rome especially for this event. The meeting provided her with the opportunity to present her team’s thoughts on a prospective GIAHS application. This discussion of the GIAHS programme and the associated application process using a specific example gave all participants a clearer grasp of the GIAHS programme and also provided an opportunity and insight into the INSUAH team’s recommendation to place a special focus on agricultural heritage systems in urban settings.
FAO’s concept of “Dynamic Conservation,” which emphasizes the living, evolving nature of heritage systems, resonated strongly with the INSUAH team’s perspective on heritage as a dynamic and inclusive process rather than a static entity.
Key Outcomes
The visit yielded several key outcomes that will shape the future direction of the INSUAH project:
- Case Study Integration: Agreement to identify specific cases from the INSUAH project to inform FAO tools, including the Sourcebook and Toolkit, to integrate knowledge on traditional and innovative farming practices in urban areas.
- Capacity Building: Proposals to organize workshops, training programmes, and webinars to facilitate the sharing of expertise and strengthen capacity among stakeholders within FAO-supported networks.
- Research Collaboration: Commitment to develop a collaborative research agenda that aligns with the FAO’s goals for sustainable urban agriculture, focusing on the intersections of food systems, sustainability, and heritage conservation.
Reflections on INSUAH’s Contributions
The visit reinforced the importance of addressing two critical themes central to the INSUAH project: the urban dimension of food systems and the integration of heritage perspectives. The discussions provided valuable insights into the principles underlying FAO’s initiatives, particularly the CRFS approach and the GIAHS concept of Dynamic Conservation. These approaches align closely with INSUAH’s objectives of broadening the scope of urban agriculture to include less prominent but culturally significant heritage systems.
By fostering dialogue on these topics, the INSUAH team was able to share preliminary findings and contribute to shaping a more comprehensive understanding of urban agriculture’s heritage dimensions.
Future Directions
The collaborative discussions with FAO teams opened new pathways for research, policy development, and practical applications. Moving forward, the INSUAH project aims to:
- Strengthen partnerships with FAO and other international organizations to address urban agriculture challenges.
- Develop tools and resources that integrate heritage dimensions into urban agriculture frameworks.
- Expand its community-of-practice initiative to facilitate knowledge-sharing among researchers, policymakers, and practitioners worldwide.
Conclusion
The INSUAH team’s visit to FAO headquarters was a highly productive endeavor, underscoring the importance of international collaboration in addressing the complex challenges of urban agriculture. By engaging with FAO’s CRFS Programme and GIAHS team, the INSUAH delegation contributed to advancing the dialogue on sustainable food systems and the role of cultural heritage in urban settings.
These collaborative efforts represent a significant step toward developing holistic solutions that integrate sustainability, food security, and heritage preservation. As these partnerships evolve, they will contribute to building resilient, inclusive, and sustainable urban food systems, fostering innovation while honoring the rich heritage embedded in agricultural practices worldwide.
