AD-In: Giving everyone the right to sustainable food in France and Belgium

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Over the course of the project, hundreds of lives were touched, and many more will continue to enjoy the benefits, thanks to our ambassador programme and to the different tools and recommendations developed for professionals and local authorities.Helen Barthe Batsalle, Director of the Observatoire de la Santé du HainautThe project combined several approaches, at individual, collective and territorial levels. For example, ‘food challenges’ were organised to help educate and inspire households, training programmes were developed to help professionals working with at-risk communities drive local sustainable food projects. An ambassador programme was established to share knowledge and expertise of gardening and cooking techniques.The result of the project is a robust methodology, that, along with a series of tried-and-tested resources, can be extended to other territories.Understanding strengths and weaknessesBefore developing targeted action plans, the project needed to understand each territory’s existing food policies and dynamics. To do this, detailed ‘territorial diagnoses’ were carried out.As well as helping the project understand the strengths and weaknesses of the territory, this important step identified and brought together local actors and stakeholders. In doing so, valuable networks were created that will help strengthen the project’s activities.The goal of the diagnoses was to capture a snapshot of the territory’s situation. This could be easily updated by local actors to include new information and to record progress made in the journey towards more sustainable food practices. The detailed diagnoses, and a shorter summary, were published on the project’s comprehensive website:https://ad-in.eu/.Multiplying the benefitsIn addition to instructor-led training, the project developed a six-week online course for professionals working with communities with little access to, or knowledge of, sustainable food. Through a series of modules, this practical course is designed to help teams of 2 to 4 people develop a sustainable food project.With step-by-step support, teams develop a 3-month plan for their project and a map representing their network of actors.Another way in which the project ensures a wide reach is through its ambassador programme. Across the pilot territories, 55 ambassadors received trained in gardening, cooking and sustainable food, and in facilitation skills for running workshops and other structured activities. Ambassadors are typically animators, educators, or social workers, but also include anyone passionate about sustainable food and its benefits for the population and the environment. The project developed a range of support materials, such as videos and posters, which ambassadors can access via purpose-built web portal.VideosAD-In’s ambassador programme - promoting sustainable food and sharing knowledgeTotal investment and EU fundingTotal investment for the project “AD-In” is EUR 2 141 954, with the EU’s European Regional Development Fund contributing EUR 1 070 977 through the “Interreg V-A - Belgium-France (France-Wallonie-Vlaanderen)” Operational Programme for the 2014-2020 programming period. The investment falls under the priority “Promoting social inclusion and combating poverty”.