Explore Official Dialogue Feedback

Divergences were hardly identified in working group discussion. Possibly, this is a positive outcome of the cross-sectoral health targets, which were established 10 years ago. In general it was hardly possible to find divergences. One group tried to discuss potential divergences by cooperating with other stakeholders, not attending the Dialogue and they came up with the issue of funding for different nutrition-related initiatives/ programmes. Calls for proposals for projects on food topics (e. g. health promotion) are not based on common criteria, or the often desired interdisciplinarity is no... Read moret visible on the part of the funding bodies (ministries do not fund through joint calls). It is difficult for initiators to obtain permanent funding for the mentioned projects/ initiatives, and in general, projects often do not find their way into regular operations. The divergences within different organizational frameworks seem to be possible challenges here. Read less

TOPIC 5 “Social food environment” • Nutrition is more than the satisfaction of nutritional needs, moreover it is an emotional topic and creates identity (should always be kept in mind) • Nutrition and eating often takes place in social contexts and this consideration can be helpful when designing initiatives • In terms of communication it is necessary to “pick people up” from their starting points (need for target group orientation) • The different nutritional cultures should be appreciated and respected when planning strategies, initiatives, and so on. • As early as possible... Read more the food literacy should be improved (starting in kindergartens and schools). • In general, the group discussed the extension of nutrition competence to enjoyment competence Read less

TOPIC 4 “Food production and trade” • Health Literacy is the basis for responsible decisions when buying food (e. g. development of health literacy in schools) • Austria should take on an international pioneering role in research an innovation (know-how must be available and shared) • Cooperation between production, trade, and the public sector is especially important for being successful. • The retail sector plays an important role in advertising and therefore persuading consumers to choose healthy and sustainable products (cooperation with this sector is mandatory) • The confli... Read morect of interest between production, trade, the public sector and consumers has been discussed (for example economic interests are often in the foreground). Read less

TOPIC 3 “Sustainable supply infrastructure” • During the discussions it could be identified, that community catering is a essential lever in terms of sustainable supply infrastructures • Large community caterers have the potential influencing many groups of the population and have different effects there (e. g. protecting the elderly against malnutrition, improving food literacy among children and young people) • Large community caterers can additionally support local and seasonal product choice. • Municipalities have a special role, due to the power on framework conditions (in ter... Read morems of zoning) • Production conditions and marketing channels are shaped by zoning and therefore also by the governance (subsidies for communal direct marketing, delivery services and support of communal catering would be necessary) • Municipalities could intervene in a formative way (in schools, kindergartens, farmyards, etc.) • Quality standards for the online food market has been discussed as well. Read less

TOPIC 2 “Affordability” • It is necessary to provide appropriate infrastructure (markets, direct marketing, food boxes) to make healthy and sustainable nutrition accessible • The cost-true pricing of products (climate, health and social) is immediately necessary to cover aspects of human and animal health and the environmental aspects • Taxes/vouchers could be a supportive short-term measure for a healthy and sustainable diet • Next to vouchers, community catering is seen as essential in a short-term perspective to increase affordability • In addition, food literacy is mentioned ... Read moreas an important topic to improve food patterns (e. g. how to shop, how to store, etc.) Read less

TOPIC 1 "Intersectoral food system" • A cross-sectoral and commonly agreed definition of food systems would be useful to establish a common sense on micro and macro level • Definition should relate to EU specifications • Stakeholders should have knowledge on their impact on and role in sustainable food systems • Public procurement should be a good practice example • A set of indicators to monitor national food systems is needed • Discussion on concept of regional origin of food: is not necessarily climate-friendly; what is considered to be regional within very small country

For the necessary transformation of the food system, it is fundamental to act in a coordinated and well-balanced way in terms of definitions and intersectoral cooperation. This means: • The development of a homogenized/agreed set of indicators for planning, monitoring and evaluating • Capacity building at all levels among all players in the food system, including policy-makers (from production to the trade) • Since nutrition and eating having a strong social dimension, enjoyment should be considered when speaking about the food system • A curriculum with different topics on health (e. ... Read moreg.) nutrition) should be implemented as early as possible, starting in kindergarten or primary school up to high school • Aiming in maximising cost truthiness and transparency to make the healthy and sustainable choice the easier one, this is meant in terms of appropriate taxation and subsidization. • Communal catering functions as a major lever in offering a healthy, sustainable and fair food approach and this should be used meaningful fro policy-makers • Developing measure to reduce avoidable food waste Read less

The Competence Center Climate and Health (CCCH) at the Austrian National Public Health Institute is working on Co-Benefits on Climate and Health, with a recent focus on aspects of healthy and sustainable food systems. CCCH organised a National Independent Food Systems Dialogue aiming to bring together national stakeholders in the field of nutrition, agriculture, policymaking, science and communication together. By targeting the action Track 2 (Shift to sustainable consumption patterns) and considering a system-thinking-approach we invited stakeholders to identify future steps and perspectives ... Read morein terms of “Steps towards a healthy, sustainable and fair food system in Austria in 2030”. The Dialogue is overlapping with other FSD-Action Tracks (e. g. ensure access to safe and nutritious food for all). We designed five discussion groups and covered as many topics as possible in terms of the food system in Austria. The titles of the discussion groups where: • In 2030, Austria has achieved the common and intersectoral goal of being a European leader in the field of nutrition-related co-benefits. • In Austria, all people will be equally able to meet their food needs in a healthy and sustainable manner in 2030. • A nationwide supply infrastructure will ensure that in 2030, healthy and sustainable food will be the easiest choice for consumers. • Healthy and sustainable food systems are the foremost principle of the Austrian supply chain in 2030. • In 2030, social cohesion is at the forefront of a cross-cultural and cross-generational food culture. Read less

Not identified in this dialogue.

Farmers Issues and information needed : In general, all representatives reported facing farming and cocoa productivity issues related to climate change, specifically, they stressed out that strong weather fluctuations, prolonged droughts or heavy rainfall greatly affect production of cocoa. In most cases, important issues are pest related, as they perceive outbreaks being more common under these weather fluctuation conditions. Most representatives are already establishing mitigation strategies to improve farm resilience to climate change, being crop diversification, soil protection, integrated... Read more pest control, and organic fertilizers the most commonly discussed. However, representatives mention the lack of financial support (such as credits), or difficulties to access them, from funders and governments to invest in climate-related mitigation. Read less

Communication and knowledge exchange using Technology: During the dialogue we were able to observe that representatives shared similar views on the channels to reach farming information, being messaging apps, internet and non-government association the most common. Most representatives agreed that having access to the internet, most commonly through mobile phone data-services, was helpful to communicate between farmers, associations and share relevant information facilitating their farming activities. Representatives shared their interest in having direct contact with other stakeholders, such ... Read moreas government, industry and researchers, while they agreed that most communication channels are difficult to access or not existing, generating dependance to others (e.g. middle man in case to commercialize their cocoa to industry, or lack of knowledge of government financial support). Representatives showed interest in also creating communication bridges between farmers of other cultures and countries, being the language barrier the only limitation. Read less

In general, representatives agree in sharing similar views related to the information, knowledge and communication challenges they are currently using, being the internet the most important tool. According to representatives, one of the major challenges for smallholders lies in creating communication bridges to government, industry and researchers. They argued the need to promote communication to other stakeholders, in particular for reaching scientific based information (researcher stakeholder), financial support (government stakeholder), and better selling prices for their cocoa (industry). ... Read moreRepresentatives also show interest in having communication with other farmers from different cultures and countries, but the language barrier remains the main limitation. Overall, representatives agreed on sharing the same farming and production problems related to climate change, in particular strong weather fluctuations heavily affecting production as pest and disease outbreaks proliferate. Major actions need to be taken, and many representatives provided several agroecological management examples ongoing within the farmers representing, but financial supports, extension services are strongly needed. Read less

In this dialogue, we convened cocoa farmers representatives in Southern Bahia, Brazil as the region remains the top producer of cocoa in the country. Our overall objective was to determine the most effective way to contact the farmers and to disseminate the knowledge they need for improving their livelihoods. We also facilitated a dialogue to understand smallholder farmers issues related to climate change on crop management, yields, and livelihoods, along with the knowledge needed to solve these issues and ensure that the knowledge disseminated by scientists match to their needs. Therefore, we... Read more divided the dialogue into two parts: 1) Communication and knowledge exchange using technology: Here, we aimed to understand the most effective way to contact the farmers and to disseminate the knowledge they need to improve their livelihoods as identified below. We also discussed the potential communication and knowledge transfer between farmers. 2) Farmers Issues and information needed: Here, participants discussed the main issues related to climate impacts on crop production and livelihoods. This information will then be used to formulate knowledge requirements that will help them to tackle their most pressing issues. Read less