Task A: Foundation building, framework development & mapping
Conceptual development of a food sharing typology has been developed and published in several SHARECITY Briefing Notes (No.1-3) and SHARECITY Working Papers as well as in international peer reviewed journals, book chapters and a Special Issue for Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy and Society (2017). More than 4,000 initiatives have been mapped and categorised on the SHARECITY100 database, which has been accessed 17,190 times from 93 countries. The SHARECITY100 enables, for the first time, comparable analysis and identification of patterns and trends in ICT-mediated urban food sharing across cities, countries and continents. It is highly productive; creating a picture of why, where, what and how contemporary food sharing takes place. The SHARECITY100 provided the foundation for more in-depth explanatory and comparative scholarly analysis.
Task B: In-depth investigation of food sharing initiatives
In-depth data collection of food sharing initiatives in contrasting contexts within and beyond Europe has been completed in nine cities: Dublin, Melbourne, Berlin, Singapore, Barcelona, San Francisco, New York, Athens and London. City Profiles derived from the SHARECITY100 Database and literature and policy reviews have been developed and are available from the project website. Results from the analysis of the rich body of ethnographic data have been published in peer-reviewed journal articles, book chapters, a Special Issue (Geoforum) and an open access monograph (Policy Press).
Task C: Developing SHARE IT
A co-designed on-line assessment tool – SHARE-IT – was developed to enable the sustainability impact of food sharing practices to be detailed and examined. SHARE IT has three components: the Toolshed, which provides a guided sustainability assessment process for food sharing initiatives; the Talent Garden, which serves as an online space for food sharing initiatives to share their impact assessment summaries; and The Greenhouse, a matchmaking service for food sharing initiatives to exchange knowledge and experiences. Results have been published in peer reviewed journals (e.g. EIAR). SHARECITY participated in the Horizon Results Booster scheme to develop a business plan for rolling out SHARE IT and a grant of €15,000 was awarded by the Enterprise Ireland Commercialisation Fund Programme to explore its market potential.
Task D: Food sharing futures
Drawing on four years of empirical data, the future-facing element of SHARECITY identified barriers and opportunities to develop sustainable urban food sharing. Policy was identified as a key arena of action and a multi-stakeholder workshop - SHARING FUTURES - took place in 2019 bringing together academics, food sharing practitioners, and policy shapers. Drawing on the findings of these activities and inspiration from the three horizons and backcasting approaches to futuring, three scenarios of future urban food sharing were developed. These future scenarios were visualised, and disseminated through stakeholder engagement with young people and policy makers to: 1) destabilize the view that futuring is an elite activity; 2) provide a novel means to engage differently with policy makers who rarely see food sharing initiatives as part of their everyday work; and 3) engage young people about future possibilities for sustainable food sharing. A manifesto for sustainable food sharing is the culmination of the project.
