Foresight4Food and the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub are co-convening a Global Learning and Strategy Workshop, co-convened at the FAO Headquarters in Rome. This pivotal event aims to explore how foresight can drive food systems transformation, empowering countries to achieve national food systems transformation pathways.
About the Event
The Global Learning and Strategy Workshop workshop responds to the growing recognition of foresight as a critical tool for navigating the complexity of food systems transformation. Building on the experiences of national and global initiatives, participants will share knowledge, develop synergies, and create actionable strategies to enhance the use of foresight in designing and implementing transformation pathways.
By fostering participatory co-creation, systems thinking, and active learning, the event aims to close gaps in data, processes, and collaboration needed to achieve effective and sustainable food systems change.
Workshop Objectives
- Understand Necessities: Clarify how foresight can support food systems transformation and address national gaps in foresight capabilities.
- Explore Offerings: Showcase foresight tools, services, and successful applications to inspire action.
- Foster Alignment: Identify opportunities for synergies between foresight initiatives and data/knowledge platforms.
- Enable Deployment: Develop actionable plans for joint initiatives to accelerate national and regional transformation efforts.
Workshop Highlights
The workshop is an in-person meeting in Rome on Thursday 30 and Friday 31 January 2025. The event will be co-convened by the Foresight4Food Initiative and the UN Food Systems Coordination Hub (leveraging the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Hub), in collaboration with other relevant initiatives. The role of Foresight4Food in the convening is enabled through support from the Government of the Netherlands and IFAD. The role of the Hub is enabled through support from the FAO.
The workshop will build on the following principles:
- Participatory Co-Creation and Co-Design
The foundation of the workshops is based on participatory methods that actively involve all experts in the co-creation and co-design processes. This approach ensures that the resulting frameworks and action plans are inclusive, context-specific, and sustainable. The workshops will employ facilitative techniques such as Open Space Technology (OST), World Café, and Delphi method to engage participants in collaborative discussions and synergetic activities.
- Systems Thinking and Integration
Systems thinking will be central to understanding the complex interactions in food systems and how foresight helps the understanding of a systems approach. This approach helps in identifying leverage points for intervention and promoting holistic solutions. Integration frameworks, such as the Nexus Approach, will be utilized to address the interdependencies between the various elements of food systems and the diverse tools of foresight.
- Synergetic action through Active Learning
Action planning will follow an experiential learning model, incorporating case studies, simulations, and brainstorming. This method ensures that participants not only gain theoretical knowledge but also practical skills applicable to their contexts.
Participants
The organisers will bring together a range of global experts and national partners with experience on implementing foresight and food systems transformative initiatives. Participants will have backgrounds in foresight, food systems data, systems change facilitation and convening multi-stakeholder dialogues around food systems. Participants will include:
- Foresight and food systems experts connected through the Foresight4Food
- National Food Systems Convenors with experience in foresight
- Representatives of relevant UN agencies at regional and global levels
Given the focus and small scale of the event, participation is by invitation only.