Metropolitan Agriculture for Developing an innovative, sustainable and Responsible Economy
According to the FAO, a paradigm shift in both urban and agriculture development, planning and policy formulation is required in order to ensure access to urban food security, improved environmental management and enhanced rural-urban linkages. Although recognized as a major lever of eco-innovation for metropolis' sustainability and competitiveness, metropolitan and periurban agriculture (MPA) still suffers from a "mainstreaming gap", remaining overlooked by policy makers, academic research and the general public. As a result, the environmental price of food is an invisible but nonetheless major burden for cities. The MADRE project aims to meet this challenge : supply MPA with key players (from the quadruple helix) and create a transnational cooperation in the MED aerea. Aiming at fostering a change process in the metropolitan food supply model, the project will capitalize on the wide set of academic knowledge, pilot actions and policies, networks and transnational cooperations in order to allow MPA reaching a critical level in the MED area. Indepth assessment of available material will provide the baseline for an empowerment of MPA stakeholders and then to a formal committment to initiate a transnational clustering processs. Such a capitalization process will involve a multidisciplinary, pluralistic and multilevel partnership from 4 different MED countries (Spain, France, Italy, Greece) and Albania (IPA), each partner representing a flagsghip metropolitan area.