HFT Stuttgart, the University of Hohenheim, Reutlingen University and Heidelberg University are pooling their expertise to create an interdisciplinary and international network of players from the fields of health, agriculture and nutrition in Baden-Württemberg. The official funding decision for the joint HEAL.
The HEAL project is being funded by the Baden-Württemberg Ministry of Science, Research and the Arts (MWK) for a period of two years as part of the "BEGIN - Participation in major European projects and initiatives" initiative with 792,000 euros.
The aim of the joint project "HEAL - Health-oriented Agri-Food Systems Transformation Network" is a health-oriented and sustainable agricultural and food policy. The project is based on the WHO strategy "Health in All Policies". The Heidelberg Institute for Global Health at Heidelberg University is leading the project. The partners involved contribute their expertise in the fields of health, politics, agricultural science, IT, logistics, data analysis and simulation.
The BEGIN funding will create an interdisciplinary network to drive forward the transformation of agricultural and food systems. In order to develop project concepts, the partners are planning visits to "living labs" or modeling workshops - for example to simulate agricultural and food systems. Future European research proposals are to be drawn up via this network. The overarching goal of the network is to promote cutting-edge research and innovation in Baden-Württemberg in order to enable a fair and sustainable, health-oriented transformation of agricultural and food systems.
Background: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) estimates that the indirect costs of the agricultural and food system at a global level will amount to around 10 percent of global gross domestic product in 2020, which corresponds to around 11.7 trillion euros. These costs are caused by avoidable, man-made factors such as greenhouse gas and nitrogen emissions, unhealthy eating habits and food waste.
Science Minister Petra Olschowski commented on the new BEGIN funding in a MWK press release: "Our state universities are at the forefront of the competition for European research funding. We want to strengthen this position with the BEGIN funding and contribute to the Europe-wide and international visibility of Baden-Württemberg's research landscape. The selected research and networking projects contribute to solving current challenges and are excellent examples of future-oriented and application-oriented innovation projects made in Baden-Württemberg."
The network aims to close existing gaps and promote the cross-sectoral, multi-level integration of solutions. The aim is to anchor health issues in all policy areas ("Health in All Policies") and develop solutions for all sections of the population ("Health for All Policies") in the agricultural and food systems.
The project will be implemented in two phases: In the first phase, the network will develop initial project concepts for "Horizon Europe" in the CL3-Food-Security and CL6-Communities clusters. Each partner will take the lead on a specific topic. In the second phase, the network will be consolidated, the results disseminated and further funding opportunities explored, particularly within the framework of the EU mission "A Soil Deal for Europe" and the "EIT Food Collaborative".