Track 2 Urban - Rural Continuum Successful Linkages Between Peri - Urban Food Production and Urban Market

At the core of the current agricultural system is a clear focus on increasedproduction, with increased intensification as the answer to current global societal andenvironmental issues. It is clear to many however that following a business as usual pathwill put increased tension on the already stressed planetary boundaries. Climate change,economic and demographic evolutions will even further increase the pressure on theglobal and local food system which will challenge its resilience. In parallel to themainstream, dominant system, alternative food systems exist and develop with differentbeliefs and goals. There is a growing interest in the promises of these alternative foodsystems, which among others aim at re-joining producers and consumers, and thisgrowing interest can be seen throughout the world. In Belgium, systems like CommunitySupported Agriculture (CSA), food basket schemes and urban and peri-urban agricultureenjoy increased attention from citizens, academics and local authorities. In order to assess the strengths and weaknesses of different alternative food systemsin Belgium, a research consortium was established between three universitiesrepresenting the three regions in Belgium; Wallonia, Brussels and Flanders. The projectset out to analyse the constraints and opportunities of different components of thealternative local food systems and to compare them between the different regionsunder study, in order to learn the crucial characteristics for success. The specific aim ofthis study is to analyse the local food networks in 7 geographic and city regions inBelgium, focussing on the governance mechanisms, motivations and network