This Food Systems Summit Dialogue will be the first of two, aiming at advancing a common understanding of the complex environment of Sustainable Food Systems (SFS) in the Mediterranean region. This will foster an inclusive discussion on future pathways for sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean, and commitments towards supporting their transformation, ultimately advancing progress on the 2030 Agenda in the region.

It will allow to set the stage for a multi-stakeholder collaborative effort in the Mediterranean, to identify science-based and local knowledge pathways for coping with the interdependent environmental, economic, socio-cultural, educational and health/nutrition challenges that the region is facing, through a context-specific approach for the Mediterranean. This dialogue will convene a wide variety of stakeholders and provide them with an opportunity to exchange on the themes and pathways that will contribute to shifting to more sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean.

Following high-level remarks by selected speakers and the Curator’s briefing, the dialogue will carry on with the discussion in breakout sessions, including a variety of voices with different perspectives, from all shores of the Mediterranean. Regional initiatives, programmes, projects and tools relevant to food systems transformation in the region will be considered.

The objectives of this first Dialogue are:

• Ensuring a deeper understanding of the interconnections and interdependences within Mediterranean food systems at every stage (from production, processing, distribution, marketing to the consumption of food, including food waste), based on consolidated scientific evidence and local knowledge;
• Catalysing joint action, using the Mediterranean Diet as lever to improve the sustainability and resilience of Mediterranean food systems, by bridging Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP);
• Engaging a wide network of food systems stakeholders within the broader frameworks of green, blue and circular economy, to design future scenarios of sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean region.

The outcomes of this first dialogue will flow into the second of the cycle on 3 June 2021, which will further delve into the actions needed to advance food systems transformation in the Mediterranean.

For further information on the two Independent FSSDs on Sustainable Food Systems in the Mediterranean, please refer to the concept note (in English and French).

The plenary sessions will be live-streamed on CIHEAM’s Facebook page at this link.