The meeting was attended by the following local stakeholders:

  • Pause Atelier dei Sapori
  • Unimore University
  • Bonifica Emilia Centrale
  • Eduiren
  • CRPA
  • Università Verde
  • Insieme per Rivalta
  • High School Zanellli
  • Order of agronomists
  • Visit Emilia

Participants: 17 people

The meeting was opened by Carlotta Bonvicini, Deputy Mayor for Sustainability of the Municipality of Reggio Emilia.

The main goal of the meeting was to sum up and deepen the good practices presented by the City of Ghent in the framework of the study visit.

Particular attention was dedicated to highlighting the links between Ghent and Reggio Emilia, in terms of both local challenges and strategic priorities for the sustainable development of the territory. Specifically, the cities share common perspectives in the field of local food promotion and enhancement of ecological and recreational connections between the rural area and the city centre.

Local stakeholders underlined the importance for Reggio Emilia to adopt a longer-term and multi-stakeholder approach when it comes to initiatives dedicated to food and agriculture. At the same time, more efforts should be made in creating a synergic framework for the manifold activities organized at local level on such topics. For this reason, the example of Ghent was very much appreciated, especially the good practice about Food Policy Council.

The discussion on the good practices of the city of Ghent opened up new scenarios about policies and actions and provided new ideas to improve local policies for the development of peri urban areas.

Finally, in preparation to Reggio Emilia study visit, a very first draft of the agenda was shared and discussed with stakeholder to ensure a good representation of Reggio Emilia’s actors and experiences.