6761394312

The FEW-meter

an integrative model to measure and improve urban agriculture, shifting it towards circular urban metabolism

Lidia Poniży^a, Runrid Fox-Kamper^b, Silvio Caputo^c, Nevin Cohen^d,

Joshua Newell^e, Baptiste GrarćP, Lilianę Jean-Soro, Benjamin Goldstein ^e, Kathrin Specht^b

°Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, ^bILS - Research Institute for Regional and Urban Development, ^cSchool ofArchitecture, University of Portsmouth, ^dThe City University of New York, ^eUniversity of Michigan, fAgroParisTech, 9IFSTTAR

Background:

Urban agriculture has received much attention over the last two decades as a practice with multiple benefits, including healthy food and lifestyles, food security, reduction of food miles, higher biodiversity and community building. Nevertheless, to datę urban agriculture remains one of the few alternatives to the predominant agro-food system that mostly delivers on urban markets standardized products and relies on long food supply chains. UA, apart from shortening the producer-consumer distance is also an opportunity to develop efficient strategies to minimise urban inputs by reduction of goods supplied from outside the city and utilise urban outputs as resources and move towards a circular metabolism. UA could also deliver provisioning services, which are less typical in the cities of global north than the cultural and regulating services. Scaling up UA is an opportunity to reach the balance between these three categories of ecosystem services delivered by urban green infrastructure.

ASSOCIATIONS

!

Adam Mickiewicz University - PL Poznan University of Life Sciences V P Portsmouth School of Architecture -\U, ęity University of New York - US /niversity of Michigan - US

Soda! Farms & Gardens - UK Landesverband Westfalen und Lippe der Kleingartner - D Polski Związek Dziaikowcó\ / j /

LEAP micro AD Itd - UK

MUNICiPALITIES

ity of Gorzów Wlkp - PL ity of Nantes - F

RESEARCH CENTERS

AgroParisTech - F IRSTV - CNRS - F ILS-D

)

i

FEW-meter consortium:

Perceiving these above opportunities, an international team composed of representatives of research institutions, administration units, non-governmental organizations and business from Poland, Great Britain, Germany, France and the United States joined the SUGI FWE Nexus programme (Sustainable Urbanization Global lnitiative, Food-Water-Energy Nexus) with The FEW-METER project.

!

i

i

i

!

i

i

Approaches/methods:

Aim:

To develop a truły comprehensive system to measure existing Urban Agriculture practices (FEW-meter).

Objectives:

A key need is to ensure that the nexus of food, energy, and water is optimized in order to utilise urban resources in a sustainable way. This project will ask farmers to measure the efficiency of urban agriculture case studies by quantifying usage of energy, water and other resources as well as production of produce and compost. The methodology to measure and analyse data from case studies will be co-created with urban farmers.

j to develop and co-create the FEW-j meter methodology

! community of urban j farmers to gather data

to gather and analyse data from case studies

Data gathered will be used to model the resource flows of urban agriculture in six cities, also will be extrapolated at an urban scalę through materiał flow analysis, a methodology that we will use to identify the potential for a circular urban metabolism of urban agriculture.

An on-line platform will be created to collect data from urban farmers as well as share knowledge generated within the project in order to increase the resource efficiency of urban food production methods.

j to develop scenarios of optimal use of urban resources, j using materiał flow analysis.

i j j

i

j j j j j

j to develop two experiments: soil i j remediation and use of anaerobic J j digestion

Expected results and impacts:

■    A refined model to measure and improve UA; a theoretical and practical instrument for futurę research.

■    Contribution to advance UA towards a morę resilient, resource-efficient practice. In particular, impact is expected by advancing approaches that focus on cropping methods, better use of renewable energy and urban waste, social cohesion and a promotion of short supply chains, with economic benefits.

■    A network of urban farmers based on mutual learning.

Duration of the project: June 2018-May 2021, contact: [e-mail], website: www.fewmeter.org

Photo: P. Wilms    Photo: S. Caputo    Photo: P. Wilms    Photo: S. Caputo

Sustainable Urbanisation Global lnitiative (SUGI)

OOD-WATER-ENERGY NEXUS

BELM^NT URBAN EUROPE

FORUM

	m	European 1 Commission 1