The Edible Cities Network – an international initiative that promotes urban food and agriculture to create more sustainable and resilient cities – has announced the winners of its annual awards. The program is supported by RMIT Europe, which provides research expertise, technical support, and project management services.
“These projects demonstrate that community gardens and urban food initiatives can not only provide fresh produce to urban communities but can also be a catalyst for social and environmental change,” RMIT Europe Research Fellow Nevelina Pachova said.
Winners of the 2023 Edible Cities Network Awards were rated based on their social, environmental, and economic impacts, as well as on their demonstration of inclusivity and innovation.
The 2023 winners are:
- Most Innovative Individual Action – CUIB in Romania is a plant-based bistro and a community-space that functions as a hub for sustainability in the city of Lași;
- Most Innovative Individual Action (Local Hero) – Trees de Bruyne in Belgium founded bark.today, an NGO which focuses on exploring the potential of food forests for creating new connections and knowledge about urban food in the city of Aalst and across Belgium;
- Most Innovative Social Engagement Process – The Centre of the Earth in Athens, Greece is an urban farm which has been operating for more than 10 years. It focuses on educational activities and serving vulnerable groups;
- Best Overall Edible City Approach – Edible City in Cologne, Germany has a citywide strategy working to make the city more ‘edible’ by promoting edible initiatives in public green spaces and bringing gardens into schools, housing associations, and companies.
Winners are awarded free attendance at the Edible Cities Network Conference in Barcelona in March of this year, where their projects will be presented in front of other sustainability pioneers.