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On June 1-2, close to 100 participants gathered in Brussels at Maison du chant d’Oiseau for the COACH final dissemination event.
The day kicked off with policy roundtables outlining recommendations from our five COACH policy briefs based on four themes;
- the European Sustainable Food Systems Law,
- costs and benefits for small farmers engaged in short food chains,
- public procurement of healthy, sustainable food sourced from small farmers and
- free school meals for all children sourced from small-scale farmers
DG Agriculture and DG Health representatives from the European Commission shared their perspectives on the recommendations put forward by COACH.
Watch Wim Debeuckelaere from DG Santé sharing his views on food sustainability in this COACH video.
COACH: Policy brief panel
Next, lightning presentations covered outcomes and key themes addressed by the project: from intersectional feminist approaches to food, accessibility in AMAPs, food social security to food policy councils, participatory guarantee systems, mentoring, alternative grain economies and the project’sCommunication, Learning and Innovation Platform(CLIP). Following these short teasers, participants delved deeper into their preferred themes in the World Café.
COACH : ESSRG lightening presentation
In the evening, a delegation of Maasai representatives raising awareness about the humanitarian crisis impacting the Maasai in Tanzania following their eviction by the Tanzanian government for conservation, tourism and trophy hunting. One member of the delegation sang a beautiful song about their struggle.
The first day ended with a screening of COACH short films and local refreshments, including an amazing craft beer made from heritage grains by traditional Belgian lambik brewery Fonteinen working with COACH beacon Granennetwerk Pajottenland.
The second day focused on creating bridges between the COACH project and the Nyéléni Europe and Central Asia Food Sovereignty Network based on common themes of interest for food system transformation.
A short film on the final dissemination event is in the making, so stay tuned, we will share it as soon as it is available.