COACH Spotlights

Spotlights are cross cutting themes that illustrate innovative aspects of collaborative agri-food chains in territorial food systems.

The spotlights are embedded throughout the project activities and also form part of the case study Living Library search function, allowing visitors to access resources and information linked to individual spotlights.

Virtual Spotlight Encounter meetings facilitate collaborative knowledge exchange focussed on a particular spotlight theme. A detailed analysis of the different ‘spotlights’ drawing from Spotlight Encounters and Beacon (case study) experiences has been prepared by COACH partner, ESSRG.

Policy & Advocacy…

outlines approaches, strategies and proposals for triggering policy change at different scales to create an enabling environment for collaborative food initiatives in territories, ensuring conditions for the meaningful participation of people and groups most impacted by policies and food system issues.  

Costs & Benefits…

provides insights on economic and non-economic (e.g. social, environmental) costs and benefits incurred by small-scale farmers and businesses operating in short food supply chains.

Accessibility & Social Equity… 

explores strategies and practices to address inequity in the food system and to enable better access to fresh, local food for people on low income or excluded and marginalized groups.

Education and Information… 

refers to effective techniques adopted by food producers to develop and communicate their identity, market positions and unique selling point (e.g. environmental sustainability, health and nutrition) by connecting producers with consumers via open days, producer events, and food education in school curricula.

Innovative governance… 

showcases new forms of governance that are driving highly impactful collective action at the territorial level, across different actors, in particular linking initiatives on sustainable public food procurement (state) with short food supply chains (market) and civic food networks (non-profit, civil society).

Digital Innovation

this focuses on the use of digital technology breaking new ground for logistics, communications, accessibility, social equity and other factors that assist small-scale farmers and operators in scaling up the short food supply chain. 

Gender Equity & Equality

opens up discussion about practices and approaches that can achieve gender equity and equality in food systems.

Public Food Procurement… 

showcases innovations in sustainable public food procurement (SPFP) practices, in particular efforts to source healthy and high-quality food from small-scale farmers and food businesses in a legally sound way.