SUSTAINABILITY SPOTLIGHT | 32 SUSTAINABILITY SPOTLIGHT | 33 EIT Food wanted to get a vision and consensus from Adding a layer of sophistication across a significant number and diverse range of and understanding stakeholders from across Europe on how to make As a result of the workshops, EIT Food now have a set progress in three priority missions: Healthier Lives of reports and recommendations that are shaping the Through Food; A Net Zero Food System; and Reducing strategy for the EU’s food system, not least when it Risk for a Fair & Resilient Food System. IfM Engage comes to setting priorities for the allocation of funding. provided strategy support in relation to the final two missions in collaboration with Queen’s University “We have a new funding framework published in Belfast. September 2023, which takes a needs-based approach Andrew Carlin, Director of Missions and Strategic for the first time and is fundamentally dierent from Programmes at EIT Food, highlights the range how we’ve done it before.” Andrew refers to this of insights they were looking to incorporate into as being “technology agnostic”. “It centres on the their strategy: “We have hundreds of stakeholder change and the societal impact we need to see and organisations across Europe that we wanted to ensure works backwards from there instead of the classic were consulted and involved in how we are funding research funder model, which starts from pushing the the future of food. We also wanted to make sure that technology forward. we were utilising and building on existing insights from “Once you perceive yourself as an impact funder rather academic papers, case studies and subject-matter than an R&D funder, you open dierent possibilities for experts.” workshops, as well as informing the associated reports. The case of regenerative agriculture answers being found in dierent places. For example, Andrew says that the IfM’s help and support in Andrew points to regenerative agriculture as an you might look towards funding the development of Roadmapping was seen by EIT Food as the right developing EIT’s thinking and approach to the project existing technologies from other sectors into the food approach for this challenge. Roadmapping is a strategic became most visible during the in-person workshops in example of how the workshops created the right planning technique used extensively across industry, environment for discussions on how EIT Food can sector, cutting 4 or 5 years of development time so Paris. operate most eectively for its stakeholders. “For years that people experience the benefit much quicker,” says government and academic organisations to bring clarity Andrew. to complex problems and alignment of purpose. “The IfM’s very robust roadmapping methodology farmers have been seen as being the central figures in helped us to turn information into insight. We were driving change. The assumption has been that if the “I always felt it was possible. The question was getting right training or technology was oered, everything Conodence and collaboration able to sift [through] and contextualise the mass of would change for the better. The project has also allowed EIT Food to “make a much ourselves organised to do it. This is where the structure information out there to be able to grasp urgency and and the approach that the IfM brought came in. I always importance and the potential for societal impact. We more confident kind of statement about our role,” says felt that with the right forum and the right approach, were able to move from the wider picture to a narrower “The workshops gave farmers the opportunity to outline Andrew. we would be able to unlock that and move relatively set of priorities and do that in a very structured way the reality on the ground and some of the barriers they quickly, because the passion was there and the over the course of a couple of days.” are facing. If supermarkets are tying them into 5-year EIT Food are now “an organisation that believes expertise was there,” says Andrew. production contracts, they simply don’t have the space in the power of open innovation and collaboration One of the aspects of IfM’s Engage process that to alter crops for regenerative agriculture. However as the key to success, and they are willing to say Making sense of complexity Andrew finds particularly valuable is “the element of much they may want to make changes, circumstances we’re comfortable enough in our skin not to insist IfM’s roadmapping process helped to transform the explicitly bringing choices into the strategy setting”. He prevent them. on exclusivity. We’ve got an amazing community, an available data into a manageable number of potential continues: amazing network, and actually we can bring the power projects and programmes that EIT Food could put its “It made us realise that our job is to build an ecosystem of that to help other organisations. That’s been really footprint on. To facilitate this, over 100 people came “You’re dealing with a very complex field. The issues around farmers that makes the change as supported important for us, and it’s allowed us to present a much together in a 2-day roadmapping workshop in Paris. can be so big that there’s almost a fear of saying ‘this is and as incentivised as possible. Supermarkets need to more open face to the world,” says Andrew. more important than that at this point in time’.” buy dierently, banks have to fund dierently, insurance Ahead of the workshops, IfM Engage and Queen’s companies have to change their policies. EIT Food are now working more closely with University Belfast worked together with EIT Food The process created an environment where people organisations that are explicitly engaged in the issues to bring together insights from over 350 academic could think about preferences and priorities for action. “Having farmers sitting in the room with somebody they are trying to solve. “The process has meant we are and industry publications, 250 questionnaires, 100 “We were able to move from ‘this is all too complex, from a bank or a venture fund means that nobody can now closer to the needs rather than to the technology, case studies and 70 in-depth expert interviews. This we don’t know where to start,’ to ‘we have to start ignore what’s being talked about. You get into the working with more NGOs and social enterprises. We’ve pre-work created insights and data that formed a somewhere and these are the things we need to start dialogue very, very quickly, and we all learned a huge been able to stretch the boundaries of our own network robust foundation for discussions at the roadmapping with’.” amount from having those voices in the room,” says to bring dierent perspectives in. That diversity is Andrew. hugely important in innovation,” says Andrew.