Post by Francois Jégou

When national policies stall, cities move. And they move fast. From 3–6 February in Mouans-Sartoux, we kicked off the URBACT Transfer Network Eat4Climate with a simple, slightly uncomfortable question: How can cities cut their carbon footprint quickly—while improving health and quality of life? The answer is not a futuristic tech fix. It’s food! Food represents around 25% of GHG emissions—as much as transport or housing. Yet it remains one of the most underused policy levers at local level. Eat4Climate starts from a pragmatic observation: cities already have the tools—canteens, land, procurement, education, local markets. They just need to be aligned. Led by Mouans-Sartoux (FR), URBACT Good Practice city and pioneer with the MEAD (Sustainable Food Education Centre), the network brings together Cagliari (IT), Faaborg-Midtfyn (DK), Idanha-a-Nova (PT), Liège (BE), Ljubljana (SL), and Rozdilna (UA) to transfer a method, not a model. The results speak louder than strategy papers. In the last 5 year: • 71% of residents changed eating habits • –23% meat consumption • –30% ultra-processed food • +28% organic food • –26% average food-related carbon footprint No moralising. No green guilt. Just designed public policies that reshape everyday choices - from 100% organic school meals to municipal farms, food challenges, social groceries and citizen engagement. As Gilles Pérole, Deputy Moyor put it: “Food is one of the fastest and most accessible levers cities can activate.” And as designers of public action know: if it works at city scale, it can travel. Over the next 30 months, Eat4Climate will test, adapt and transfer. Because climate transition won’t trickle down from the top. It will be designed, prototyped and scaled by cities. #Eat4Climate #URBACT #FoodPolicy #ClimateAction #PublicPolicyDesign #CitiesLeading URBACT Stéphane VINCENT Dométhilde Majek Silvère Mercier Julien Nessi Léo Merly Karine Sage , Virginie Besrest Christophe Gouache , Max Mollon - PhD Thibaud Griessinger Gilles PEROLE Mélanie Duron @Lea Sturton Clémence Montagne Emmanuel Couet Nadia Wolff Hélène VARLET Amandine Babarit Mylène Gonçalves Benoît Vallauri Alexandre Pennaneac'h Valerie Chanal Eric Fache Camilla Have Johanne Holten @Mette Abrahamsen @Tânia Sofia Flores Andrade @Ana Rita Gaspar Manteigas Viviana Durão Gregor Stangherlin Davide Arcadipane Véronique Biquet @Valerii Shovkaliuk Kateryna Fedkovych Nadija Afanasieva Isabella Ligia @Rachele Garau @Lea Stojanovic Maruška M.

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