March 2020

Author:Daniela PattiUIA Expert

The URBAN SOIL 4 FOOD project Journal N° 4

Project led by the City of Maribor

CIRCULARECONOMY

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The Urban Soil 4 Food project

The URBAN SOIL 4 FOOD will test a model of urban soil-based economy circle in order to increase local food self-sufficiency and to minimize the city’s environmental footprint. The aim is to use cities’ internal waste – particularly excavated materials from construction sector – as input material to produce recycled, standardized and certified soil for meeting cities’ needs, and notably to be reintroduced to the ground in order to improve soil quality and increase food production. A pilot system for urban soil production including wastes from different sectors will be tested, and urban community gardens will be developed using the standardized soil produced. In parallel, food distribution will be structured around the creation of an urban food chain and local urban food labels, and an Agri Living Lab will be set up where different experiments relating to social innovation, urban environment and agriculture will take place.

Partnership:

• City of Maribor

• Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship

• E-institute for comprehensive development solutions

• AKTIVIRAJ SE Development of social projects and promotion of active life association

• Snaga

• Wcycle Institute Maribor

• Deltaplan

• Slovenian National Building and Civil Engineering Institute (ZAG)

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 4

2 WHAT HAPPENED 5

2.1 OpenInnovationTrainings 6

2.2 Urbangardens 8

2.3 Webplatformtoorganisesustainableofferanddemand 12

3 ANALYSIS OF THE PROJECT CHALLENGES 13

3.1 MariborandtheUS4Fprojectduringthecoronavirus 13

3.2 OpportunitiesandthreatsinthefaceofCOVID-19 14

3.3 MappingtheUS4FprojectagainstUIAchallenges 15

4 TAKE-AWAYS 18

5 COMING NEXT! 19

6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 20

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1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted globallythe functioningofour cities,obviouslyMariborand the Urban Soil 4 Food project have beengreatly impacted too.Within the drama of thecurrentcrisis,theUS4Fprojecthasshedalightonhowcitiesshouldorganisetheirfoodproductionanddistributionsystemstorespondresilientlytosuchexternalshocks.

The current journal can give apicture of whathappened as planned in the project up untilthe end of February and provides insights onthereactionandstallwithinthecityduringthepandemic, yet whatwill be the short and longtermeffectsisstillunknowntoalltheprotagonistsontheground.

We hereby look into what has happened tothe urban gardens, mainly focusing on thepossibilitiesofthefutureregulationstobeputinplace;onthetrainingsprovidedtoentrepreneursandstakeholders,aspartoftheInnovationCycle;andontheShortFooddistributionplatform.AninterviewwascarriedoutwithIgorKosfromthe

Wcycle Institute to discuss about the reactionof the city and the project to the COVID-19crisiswithinthewebinarseriesCooperativeCityinQuaratine.

Asweareheadingtowardstheendoftheproject,the results are becoming evident and tangible,reason why during the Cities Forum 2020 inPorto,Portugal,theCityofMariborwasawardedfortheworkcarriedoutincirculareconomyalsothroughtheUS4FprojectandwithintheCircularEconomyUrbanAgendaPartnership.

We have very challengingmonths ahead of us,notonly tohopefully recover from the sanitaryeffects of the pandemic, which fortunately inSlovenia was not severe, but also to face thesocial and economic crisis, which is hitting theworldandEuropeasaresultofthecoronavirus.Atthisstage,wecanonlyposemanyquestions,which will be hopefully addressed positively inthenextjournal.

Allwillbefineifweworkonittogether!

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2 WHAT HAPPENED

1 https://circulareconomy.europa.eu/platform/en/strategies

WhenIlastvisitedMaribortomeetthepartnersanddiscussaboutthedevelopmentoftheprojectattheendofFebruary2020thediscussiononthecoronavirusstillfeltasadistantmenacebutonlya few weeks later the sanitary emergencyoutbrokeharshly. It isnoteasy to tellwhathashappened in the US4F project without askingoneselfwhatwillhappenafterthiscrisis,butwecan only raise questions which cannot yet beanswered. So this journal attempts to describethe activities up until the end of February andconcludes with open questions on what theeffectswill be on theUS4F project but also onMariborandallcitiesinEuropeandglobally.

During the Cities Forum 2020, I had a veryinterestingconversationwiththeViceMayorofMaribor,Dr.SamoPeterMedved,whoexplainedtomewhythecitymakessuchalargeinvestmenttowards circular economy, through the US4Fprojectandmanyothers. Inhistory,manycitiescollapsedeconomicallyanddemographically,justas Maribor did in the early ‘90ies, so circulareconomy is an opportunity to developa sustainable economic system that will beresilienttoshocks.ThecityofMariborisworkingon getting people involved and understandingthepotential, for instancetheurbangardensoftheUS4Fprojectareusedbyover60people.

TheViceMayoralsohighlightedhowimportantitwas to increase the exchange with otherEuropeancities,astherearemanynewideasandpotentialforcooperation.

Connectedtothis,duringthesameCitiesForum,Igor Kos from theWCycle Institute in Maribor,explained how they developed the circulareconomystrategy1ofthecity,integratingalltheopportunities availablewithin a comprehensivestrategyforthecity.ThisworkwasalsotheresultofaconstantdialogueandexchangewithintheEuropeanCircularEconomyStakeholderPlatform,a joint initiative by the European Commissionand the European Economic and SocialCommittee.Particularlyinsightfulinthediagrambelowisthedistinctionbetweenimplementationand governance,whichhighlights the approachcarriedoutinMaribor.

CITIES Forum 2020 Award Certificate - URBAN SOIL 4 FOOD

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2.1 Open Innovation TrainingsThe e-Zavod institute is responsible for thedevelopment of the innovation trainings andworkshopswithin theproject.Due to thegreatinterestintheseactivities,moreworkshopsthanplannedwere carried out and the partners arenow thinking about how to prolong theseactivities beyond the planned period. Forinstance,therewerefiveplannedworkshopsforexchange of experiences in innovative urbangardeningbut insteadsix tookplacedueto thehigh demand. The topics of interest identifiedwere many, some lately selected for theworkshops for exchange of experiences ininnovativeurbangardening:

● Organicgardening

● Sustainablegardeningwithoutdigging

● Composting

● Planting through the season, crop rotation,goodneighbors

● Growingseedsonourown

● Fruittrees

● Biologicallydynamicwasofgardening

The workshops firstly made poster sessions toidentifyneedsandobstacles.On12thFebruary2019was the first one, “do it yourself – urbangardening for everyone”, which was an openpublic event with 64 participants. There wasspeakerMs.MišaPušenjak,whoisawellknownand established agricultural consultant andvegetable specialist at the Agricultural andForestryInstituteMaribor.TheUS4Fprojectwasalso presented in the show. The second eventhadthesamespeakerswith33peoplebutwasdifferent from theprevious onebecause itwasheld in a retirement home – the active peopleinterestedinhavingagarden.Thethirdworkshopwasheldon17thApril2019forschools,with30peoplewithteachers,parentsandsomestudentsaged 13-14 years. In fact, there used to betraditioninSloveniatohavegardensinschools,whichisnowstartingupagain.

Concerning the innovation in urban gardeningworkshops,duringthefirstmeetingsparticipantsselected50topicsandfromtherethetop6wereselecteddependingonneeds:

• Why grow organic in your community gardens. Speaker Martina Bavec was the responsible

Diagram on Timeline of circular economy development in Maribor.Source: Wcycle Institute

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person for organic labelling in Slovenia.Participantswerepeoplewithurbangardensand therewas a buffet by a social companypreparinglocalfoodproducts.

• Sustainable gardening without digging soil. There were 42 participants, which werepotential tenantsof theurban gardens. ThiswasapracticalworkshopintheurbangardenMariborCultureCapital,withwhomthere isagoodcooperation.

• Composting – key steps.Thespeakerwasthepresidentofpermaculture in Slovenia, therewere 30 participants and again it was verypracticalbyusingwormsintheUIAgarden.

• Planting through the season – importance of crop rotation.Ithad30participants,anddueto the rain itwasheld in thepavilionof theCapitalCulturegarden.

• What seeds can we grow on our own tookplace on 5th September 2019 in the UIAgardenand22participantsattended.

• Planting food trees in biological dynamic way,was an extraworkshopwith 22 participantswhoplantedappletrees.

Overall, participants were 60% women ofdifferent ages, who attendedmainly for hobbyandtogethealthyfood.

The workshops for social innovation actions ofurban gardeningwere 3workshops held in theCity Mabior hotel and a local farm, whereparticipants were focusing on procedures ofpermits,businessmodelsonhowtoputproductson the market. There were 58 participants,mainly farmers and students from agriculturefaculty,predominantlyyoungpeople.Therewasa presentation by a best practice, a honeyproducer,andthenparticipantsbrainstormedinsmallergroupsanddevelopedtogetheranidea.

It was originally planned to have 200 peopleparticipating to the workshops but there wereover 350 instead. There were 12 workshops in2019andastheyarenowover,therearerequestsformore,whichcouldbepossiblycarriedoutincooperation with Aktiviraj.se and possiblyarrangingmorebudgetbyshiftingsomeexpenseswithintheUS4Fproject.

E-Zavod project developed an Urban Cropscompetitionwith an open call promoted by allprojectpartners,especiallyZIP,sothatselectedprojectswillbesupportedwithacrowd-fundingcampaignandtobuildupideathroughbusinessand market plans. Ten participants will beselectedthroughasimpleformfocusingon:whatthe idea is, how it is connected to circulareconomy,ifcompostcanbeused,whatthemarketpotential is, if one is willing to participate incrowdfundingactivities.

Currently the activity is paused due to theCOVID-19emergency.

Photos from workshops. Source © E-Zavod

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Based on this experience, the learnings fromEZavodare:

● Thereisagrowinginterestinlocalagriculture,this was lost over the past decades butisreturning;

● Itwillbeveryinterestingwhatwillhappeninthe next modules with SMEs. In thecrowdfunding campaign it will be veryimportant to identify the most importantaspects,thiswillbedeterminingtheroleandrecognition of importance of localfoodproduction;

● In the first workshop, there was very wideaudience with a very specific questions ontheirspecificneedsaswellasbroadquestions.

Partnerscanhandlethisaudienceiftheyarewellpreparedtoanswerquestionsandneeds;

● Thesecondslotofworkshopswasappreciatedbytheaudience,asitfocusedonhowtheEUissupportingconcretelocalprojects.Althoughit is hard for people to understand non-infrastructural projects funded by EU, it isgoodagainstEU-skepticism;

● The activitieswere “food” for politicians, astheycanshowtheycanimpactonqualityoflifeofpeople;

● Finally, the US4F Project was awardeda certification and presented to the EUCommissioner for Cohesion and Reformsduring Porto Cities Forum, which was veryimportanttoensurepoliticalsupport.

2.2 Urban gardensGiven the winter season, there was not muchaction within the urban gardens, aside ofpreparing the ground and plants for the nextspring.Forthisreason,itwasanopportunityforAkriviraj.setofocusonmoreorganisationalandgovernanceissues,suchasthepreparationofthe

longtermsustainabilityplanofthegardensafterthe end of the US4F project. All of this is stillunder discussion, reason why an overview ofsome of the urban garden agreements (fromRome,ParisandBrussels)wasprovidedinordertoinspirethestakeholders.

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Rome, Italy

Asareactiontothespontaneousappearanceofurbangardening initiatives inthecityofRome2,in2015themunicipalityhasdecidedtodraftanofficial regulation, recognising the social andenvironmental benefits deriving from similarinitiativesandallowingfornon-for-profitformedgroups to be allocated urban farming areas.Followingthepassingoftheregulation,Romeistoday the lead partner in the Urbact TransferNetworkRU:RBANon the“ManagementmodelofurbangardensinRome”.

The Roman regulation: the actorsinvolved

2 https://urbact.eu/rurbanhttps://urbact.eu/are-urban-gardens-place-modern-community-hubshttps://www.comune.roma.it/PCR/resources/cms/documents/Delib_N_38_17.07.2015.pdfhttps://urbact.eu/gli-orti-urbani-che-mettono-al-centro-le-persone-roma-viaggio-tra-le-esperienze-di-rurban

a. The Department of Environmental Protection – Social Protection:responsibleforcheckingtheavailabilityofthegreenfieldstargetedbytheassociationsandformedgroups,forallocatingthegreenfieldsandmonitoringtheuse.

b. The Municipality of Rome: responsible fordrafting an annual report assessing thefunctioningofthemanagementmodel.

c. Local associations of formed groups: responsible for allocating batches to thecommunity members and monitoring andmanaging the activities carried out in theurbangarden.

Community gardens. Source © Eutropian

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General principles for the allocation and the management of an urban farming area work.

The Department of Environmental Protection –SocialProtectionpublishesanopencall.Non-forprofit formed groups are eligible to apply bysuggesting a potential targeted area in theirmunicipalityofresidence.Aftermakingsurethatthe suggested area is consistent with theobjectives and sustainability principles, theDepartment in questionwill decidewhether toallocate or not the area. The selection ofsuccessfulprojectsdependsontherolegiventothe following thematics: (1) environmentalprotection, (2) educational and social value, (3)theactivity’soperationalcharacter.Thefarmingarea is generally allocated as loan to use(comodatod’uso):thisistosaythattheformedgroup can use the allocated area for free, foramaximumdurationof6year,withthepossibilitytorenewthecontractonlyoncemore.Attheendof the contract, the area will be allocated toanewformedgroup.Anyexpenseregardingthemanagement of the activities to be carried outneeds to be covered by the formed group incharge (tools to farm the land, activities,waterandelectricity,maintenance).Theformedgroupandthepeopleinchargeofbatchesaretheonlyactorstobeheldresponsibleforanyoccurrenceresultinginlegalsanctions.

Paris, France

The Parisian regulation “Main Verte”3, theactorsinvolved:

a. Association of inhabitants: a group ofinhabitants formsanassociationand targets

3 ArticleinEN: http://commoning.city/project/paris-jardins-partages-main-verte-program/Generalinfo: https://www.paris.fr/pages/les-jardins-partages-203ThechartMainVerte: https://cdn.paris.fr/paris/2020/01/20/a55a1ba81ca219f117ebee5f34e2fd93.pdfTheregulation: https://cdn.paris.fr/paris/2020/01/20/420f5aa797f120b75d2fb472172609e8.pdf

theurbanfarmingareaintheirneighbourhoodandcontactsthe“MainVerte”department.

b. “Main verte” department at the Resource Centre for Urban Gardeners: isresponsibleforaccompanying the associationof inhabitantsin the filing process for the urban farmingproject. It assists the association withcounsellingservices.

c. The municipality of Paris: together with theassociation of inhabitants and the “Mainverte” department, the municipality is incharge of facilitating the implementation oftheprojectinthetargetedarea.

The three actors are all responsible for themonitoringof theactivities carriedout,makingsuretheyarecompliantwiththeregulation.

General principles for the allocation and the management of an urban farming area work.

In Paris, community associations who wish toestablish a community garden can ask for freeaccesstooneoftheurbanfarminglandsavailableinthearea.TheMainVerteregulationprovidesasolidcontractualframework.Bothparties,theassociationontheonehandandthemunicipalityon the other, are entitled to both rightsandobligations.

Thecontractsignedbetweentheassociationandthe Parisianmunicipality includes the provisionofasetofbasictoolsforthefarmingactivitytotake off with ease, namely: a drainage layercoveredwith a layer of topsoil and containers.Moreover, the municipality is responsible forensuring that the batch is in good conditionswhen allocated, if not, the municipality isresponsible for any major infrastructural work.

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Water supply is provided by the municipality,although water consumption expenses have tobecoveredbytheassociation.

Itistheassociation’sresponsibilitytoensuretheappropriateupkeepofthespace.Moreover,theassociationmustensure thatanyactioncarriedoutinthespaceaimsatenhancingenvironmentalsustainability, conviviality and transparency. Tothisend,theassociationinchargeisrequestedtocarryoutfarmingactivitiesthatareprotectiveofthe natural environment, avoiding the use ofpesticides and similar. Furthermore, it ismandatorytoorganizeatleastonepubliceventper year. Finally, no lucrative activity can beorganizedintheurbangarden.

Whenpresentinganurbangardenprojectatthemunicipality, associations have access toatrainingandcounsellingprogramthroughwhichtheyaregivenfurtherinstrumentstostrengthentheintendedactiontobecarriedoutinthespace.

Anyassociationwho’sbeenallocatedabatch isentitled to a six years contract that can berenewed at the end of the term through thesigningofanewagreement, if themunicipalityagreestoproceedwith it.Suchdecisioncanbehighly influenced by the annual activity reporttheassociationmustsubmit.Anyagreementcanbeterminatedbyanyofthepartnerswithathreemonthsnotification. Incaseofaseriousbreachof the regulation, the municipality can ask tovacatethespaceinthefollowingfifteendays.

4 Furtherinformationfollowingthelink:https://environnement.brussels/thematiques/alimentation/produire-mes-aliments/ou-produire-en-ville/le-cojardinage FacebookpagetoshareexperiencesandchallengesencounteredinurbanfarminginBrussels:https://www.facebook.com/groups/437206787018007/ OnlinemappinginitiativeofcommunityledactionsinBrussels(amongwhichurbangardens):http://www.asblrcr.be/cartoRegulationfromBrusselsDepartmentofEnvironment:https://environnement.brussels/sites/default/files/user_files/20190625_regleslisteat-tenteattributions_fr-nl.pdf

Brussels, Belgium

InBrussels,thestartofurbangardensinitiatives4 mainlyconcernthree actors:

a. Brussels Environnement: The Environmentand Energy Agency of the Brussels-CapitalRegionofBelgium,whoseresponsibilityistostipulatetheagreementregulatingtheuseofpubliclandforurbangardening.

b. Associations or formed groups: whoseresponsibility is to propose the gardeningproject,applyforabatchofpubliclandandifsuccessfultakecareandmaintaintheallocatedparcels.

c. Associations such as le Début des Haricots asbl: they provide training and support togroupswho initiateorplan to initiateurbangardeningactivities.

General principles for the allocation and the management of an urban farming area work.

The regulation for urban gardens in the city ofBrusselsstipulatesthatpublicspacesareavailablefor community farming initiatives only ifcommitted toa social and culturalpurpose.Nolucrativeinitiativeispermitted.

The use of the space is allowed in return ofa0.20€/M2annualrent.Whentheagreementissigned,BrusselsEnvironnementdemandsa€60deposit to cover any damage that might becausedtothespace.Thedepositwillbereturnedoncetheagreementterminates.

BrusselsEnvironnementisinchargeofprovidingand maintaining the common infrastructure of

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thespacesuchassharedfacilities,lawns,hedges,fences,sharedfurnitureandcommonpaths.

The use of pesticides, chemical fertilizers andgenetically modified organisms (GMOs) isstrictlyprohibited.

Any intention to plan events must becommunicated to Brussels Environnement atleast30daysinadvance.BrusselsEnvironnementcanrefusetherequest.

Iftheresponsiblefortheurbangardendecidestoend the agreement and stop farming the land,

thedecisionmustbe communicatedwithin thefollowing30daysfromtheendoftheactivity.

Interesting practice in Brussels: the practice ofco-gardeninghas recentlyspread in theBelgiancapital. Brussels Environnement organizesmeetingswithcommunitymembersinterestedingardening underused private gardens. Thetrainingisaddressedtoindividualswhowanttoparticipate ingardening initiativeshappening inprivate backyards, with the permission ofthe owner.

2.3 Web platform to organise sustainable offer and demandThemain issue isthatSlovenia is lessthan40%food self-sufficient, therefore there is theambition for US4F and other projects andinitiatives to impact on increasing the localproduction. In fact, Slovenia produces muchmore milk than it consumes internally, up to120%,butnot enough vegetables, as these areproducedapproximately40%,asopposedtothenearly 150,000 tonnes of imported vegetablesin2012.

At the sametime, inSlovenia therearearound60,000farmsandhalfamillionhectaresofarableland, but many small local farmers havea vegetable production they struggle to sellbecause they are too small to access the largedistributionsystems.

Therefore,wehaveanevidentmismatchbetweendemandandsupply.

US4Fwantstoimprovethelocalfooddistributionchain through the development of an onlineplatformandapp thatcansupport farmersandallsortsofconsumerstogetintodirectcontact.

Adetaileddescriptionofthestepsundertakenbythe US4F partnership and especially ZIP isprovided in the Zoom-In guidebookon to setupashortfoodchaindistributionplatform.

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3 ANALYSIS OF THE PROJECT CHALLENGES

3.1 Maribor and the US4F project during the coronavirus

5 ThewebinarwaspartoftheCooperativeCityinQuarantinewebinarseries:https://youtu.be/eaWGzSZ9vj4 6 https://www.inno-rural.si/UrbanSoil4Foodweb/

InMarch2020,theCOVID-19crisisoutbrokeandfor this reasonwesetupan interviewwith IgorKostobetterunderstandwhatwashappeninginthecityofMaribor5.

What are the main challenges at the moment?

InSloveniawearenotinthesituationoffulllockdownasinItalyorBelgium,wearestillallowedtogooutbutselfisolationmeasuresareencouraged.Wedonotseemtofacefoodshortage issuesatthemoment,thereisenoughfoodinthestores,but obviously therewas an anxious race to thesupermarketstobuyupfoodinthepastweek.InSlovenia, the government suggested specifictimes for people to go to do their shopping,especiallyfortheelderly,inordertoensurethatpeopledon’tallgoatthesametime.

What is happening on the ground?

Here in Slovenia all not necessary shops havebeencloseddownbutfoodshopsarestillopen,despitetheiropeningtimeshavebeenreduced.Thenumberofpeopleenteringtheshopsatthetime are limited,with a guard at the entrance,whoensuresthatpeopledon’tcrowdespeciallyat the counter. The farmers’markets are open,eventhoughnotallstallsandnotforthewholetime. Even the neighbouring municipality toMaribor announced just yesterday that thefarmers’marketwillbeopenonaregularbasis,

which was also added in the Inno-Rural appdevelopedbytheUS4Fproject.Thismeansthatproducerscanselltheirproductsandconsumerscan buy, according to the social distancingmeasures,eventhoughthesearemoreflexibleinthe market as this is in the open air. To myknowledge, there is no shortageof food at themoment,maybesomespecificproducts.

What is ahead of us?

InSlovenia,wehavetheproblemthatwearenotself-sufficientinsomeareasoffoodproduction,forexampleforfoodandvegetablesweareonly50% self-sufficient, which means we aredependentonimports.Thismightbeachallengeinthenearfuturebecauseoftheclosingborders.Therefore, under current conditions, the localfoodproducersarebeingsupportedandthecityhaspublishedalistofthelocalfarmssopeoplecan get in contact with them to buy the fooddirectlyorbyusingtheInno-Ruralapp6developedwithin the Urban Soil 4 Food project. So,somethinggoodiscomingout,asthisallowstoreduce the damage for farmers. They, for themoment,arenotfacingproblemsforthelabour,asinSloveniawearelessdependentonforeignworkersthanItaly,forexample.Manypeoplearerelyingoncommunitygardens,whichisnotonlya healthy option, but especially allows the lesswealthy ones to access affordable andhealthyfood.

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3.2 Opportunities and threats in the face of COVID-19Inthishistoricalmoment,thesanitarycrisisduetoCOVID-19hasundoubtedlyimpactedalsotheUrban Soil 4 Food project. The coronavirus hasbrought dramatic effects on human lives onaglobalscale,furthermoreaharsheconomicandsocial crisis are expected to take place in thecoming months, and to some extent we canalreadyseeit.Atthesametime,onalocalscalewe see in many places throughout the world,thattheimpactsoftheCOVID-19haveacceleratedin good and bad some processes, which werealreadytakingplace.

InthecaseoftheUrbanSoil4Foodproject,thishasmeant that someparts of theproject havebeenrapidlyprogressingwhilstothershavebeensloweddownifnotevenhalted.

Inrespects totheplatformforshort foodchaindistribution, the process has been rapidlyacceleratedasitwasusedmuchmoreduringthequarantine, aspeople contacted the farmers togetaccesstofoodorknowwhichproductswouldbeavailableatthefoodmarket.Thisservicewasalso extended to the market ofaneighbouringmunicipality.

Arapidincreaseinusewasalsoinrelationtothecommunity gardens, as the rising economicpressure has made it attractive, if not evennecessary, formany people to grow their foodinstead of buying it. Despite it is still hard toassess what will the economic impacts of theCOVID-19 in Maribor be, it is likely thatunfortunatelymoreandmorepeoplewill be inthe condition of needing access tocommunitygardens.

Whilsttheseelementsoftheprojecthavebeenaccelerated,othershavebeensloweddowndueto the quarantine. For instance, any educationactivity has been postponed and similarly has

happened to the implementation of theinnovative plant, which under the currentsituationhasbeenobviouslydelayed.

Goingbacktothe largerpicture,whatwelearnfromtheMariborexperiencecanbeofinspirationto other cities too. It’s hard to imagine howCOVID-19 will affect our food, waste and soilproduction systems in the long run, yetwecandrawsomelearningpointswhicharevalidalsotoother cities who might want to start a similarprojectastheUrbanSoil4Food.

1. We need to ensure food sovereignty andtherefore that we are able to produce ourownfood,asmuchaspossible.Whatwehaveseen in Maribor is that by having initiatedeffortstowardsincreasingself-sufficiency,thecitywasmoreresilientinitsfoodproductionanddistributionduringthecoronaviruscrisis;

2. We must establish and innovate our public policy, connectingproducersandconsumersthrough a publicly owned infrastructure offarms, distribution firms, markets, etc. Thefact that Maribor has an approved circulareconomy plan of the city is an essentialelement towards the development of thenecessary policies to support projects andactionstakingplaceontheground;

3. Wehavetoensureaccesstohealthyfoodalsoto poorer citizens, this can be supportedthrough vouchers but also by establishingpublic community gardens. The number ofpeoplemakinguseofcommunitygardenswillincreaseandthereforeitisessentialtoprovidesuchservicesanddevelopacity-widenetworkofspaces,asMariborhasstarteddoing;

4. Theriseoffooddeliveryofferstheopportunityforrestaurantsanddeliverypeople,together

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withconsumers, tocluster their requests. InthisrespectstheeffortoftheInno-Ruralappshow what great potential is available fromsuchplatforms,andhownewservicesmaybe

developed once the initial infrastructureconnecting producers and consumers isinplace.

3.3 Mapping the US4F project against UIA challengesUpuntiltheendofFebruary,theprojectwasnotundergoinganymajorrisk,asideofsomedelaysin the implementation of the innovative plantdue to procurement procedures. With theoutbreak of the Coronavirus crisis it cannot bepredictedwhattheeffectswillbe,neverthelessitcanbesaidthatitislikelythatsomeoftheweakeraspectsoftheprojectwillbefurtherimpacted.

The most impacted aspects throughout theproject,assummarisedbythetablebelow,havebeenpublicprocurement, as theadministrativeprocedures for the implementation of theinnovative plant have been delayed and therecould be more delays in city procurementprocessesduetooverburdenofthecivilservants.Obviously, the participative approach of theprojecthasbeenimpactedbythequarantineandsocialdistancing,asgatheringsforpubliceventsand presentations are no longer possible. Associal distancingwill be ameasure in place fora longtime,mostlikely,theprojectwillhaveto

developnewmeans toengagewith theprojecttarget groups, especially throughdigitalmeans.In terms of monitoring, things appear to berunning smoothly towards the soil certification,which isneverthelessnota completedprocess.Finally,inrespecttotheupscalingoftheproject,byenteringthelastyearoftheproject,theentirepartnershiphasmadeabigefforttowardssharingthe ongoing work. The fact of having morecomprehensibleresults,astheactionsareatthisstage more tangible, is essential to be able tomake understandable to other cities the shiftwhich can be made towards circular economyandsustainability.

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MAPPING URBAN SOIL 4 FOOD AGAINST THE ESTABLISHED UIA CHALLENGES

Challenge Level Observations

1. Leadership for implementation

Low Up until now the leadership within the project has beenstrong, with committed politicians even after the electionsthat saw a newMayor, therefore there are no foreseeablerisksrelatedtoleadership.However,theexternalitiesduetothe COVID-19 crisis could bring some changes in terms ofpolitical priorities and investments, yet this cannot beforeseenatthemoment.

2. Public procurement Medium The public procurement of the innovative plant requiredalongtimeduetotheveryexperimentalnatureoftheproject.Infact,theprocesswasmuchlongerthanwhatwasexpectedin theprevious semester,with theofficial resultsnotbeingpublished for many months and the implementation nothavingyetstarted.Duetothecurrentsanitarycrisis,itcouldbe that there will be more delays in city procurementprocessesduetooverburdenofthecivilservants.

3. Integrated cross-departmental working

Low TheveryexistenceoftheWCycleinstituteshowsthatthereisastrongcooperationamongstdepartments,hencethisisnottobeseenasariskatthisstage.

4. Adopting a participative approach

Medium Upuntilnow,thereweresomedifficultiesinparticipationdueto the difficulty of people to understand the meaning ofcirculareconomyaswellassomespecificconflictualissues,asthelocationofthewasteplant.Underthepresentconditions,it is foreseeable that the participationwill be affected andlimiteddue to social distancing and fear that peoplemighthaveinattendingeventsandcommunitygatherings,suchasgoingtotheurbangardens.

5. Monitoring and evaluation

Low Therearecurrentlynorisksseeninthisdirectionasactivitiesarebeingcarriedoutasplanned.ItcouldbethattherewillbesomedelaysintheimplementationofsomeactivitiesduetotheCOVID-19crisis,butthiscannotbeforeseenatthisstage.Thesoilcertification,whichcurrentlydoesnotexist,wasnotyet completed but is proceeding, which allows to identifyalowerrateofrisk.

6. Financial Sustainability

Medium Thelongtermsustainabilityoftheurbangardensissomethingcurrentlyunderdiscussionandwilldependontheagreementwith the city administration, the other community-gardensandthetenantsofthegardens.

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Challenge Level Observations

7. Communicating with target beneficiaries

Low Communication activities are being carried out withoutchallenges, it is foreseen though that still in the comingmonthstheactivitieswillbeshiftingtodigitalmainly.

8. Upscaling Medium At this stage, the upscaling at city level but especially atinternational levelhavenotbeenfullydeveloped.Yet therearesomestartingmaterials,astheguidebookforthesetupofashortchainfooddistributionsystem.The City ofMaribor and the entire partnership havemadea large effort in sharing their experiences within the US4Fprojectwithalargenumberofcities,forinstancewithinthePortoCitiesForum,and theyareworkingonaplan for thematerialsthatcouldbeproducedtosupporttheinternationalexchange.

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4 TAKE-AWAYS

7 Guidebookforshortfoodchaindistribution:https://www.uia-initiative.eu/en/news/us4f-zoomin-2-how-setup-short-food-chain-distribution-platform

Firstly, the US4F project has proven that thepreparationtowardsshortchainfoodsystemsismosteffectiveintimesofcrisis,asdemonstratedunder the present conditions. Having preparedthesystemandtheactors(farmers,citycouncil,consumers) over a long period of time meantthat a rapid shift was possible due totheemergency.

Secondly, and connected to the first point, thecreationofashortfoodchaindistributionsystemissomethingthatrequiresaclearmethodology–thiswasdevelopedbytheprojectandcouldbefurtherreplicated7.

Finally, the workshops have demonstrated thatpeoplearewilling toparticipateandcontributeto common activities if these are designed inawaytotakeonboardtheirneedsandrespondtothem.

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5 COMING NEXT!

In September 2020, we will be able to betterassesstheresponseoftheprojecttothecurrentCOVID-19crisis.Wewilllookintothecommunitygardens and whether the users have beencarryingouttheiractivities,whethertheresponsewashigherduetotheeconomiccrisisorwhetherit was lower due to fear. This will also be theresultoftheUS4Fprojectactionstorespondtothenewconditions.

Similarly, it isexpected thatmanyactivitieswillalsotakeplaceinrelationtotheshortfoodchaindistributionsystem,whichwillprobablycontinuehaving a rise in the number of producers andconsumerstakingparttotheplatform.

Finally,therewillbeinterestingnewsinrelationtotheinnovativesoilproductionplanttoo.

The next journal will, in fact, be analysing theproject activities throughout a very interestingandchallengingtime,asallcitiesandterritoriesthroughoutEuropewill beaddressing thepost-COVID-19 crisis.Wewill be lookingback at thethreats and opportunities identified in thisjournalandassesshowrealitydeveloped.

Keeptunedandstaysafe!

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6 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

JournalbyDanielaPatti,UrbanSoil4Foodexpert,Eutropian

BasedoninterviewswithstakeholdersinJanuaryandMarch2019.

- BrinaLazar,CityofMaribor

- JanjaViher–ZIP

- AnjaPrislan–e-Zavod

- IgorKos–WcycleInstitute

JournalapprovalbyBrinaLazar,UrbanSoil4FoodProjectManager

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ThecontentofthisjournaldoesnotreflecttheofficialopinionoftheUrbanInnovativeActionsInitiative.Responsibilityfortheinformationandviewsexpressedinthejournalliesentirelywiththeauthor.

Urban Innovative Actions (UIA) is an Initiative of the European Union that provides urban areas throughout Europe with resources to test new and unproven solutions to address urban challenges. Based on article 8 of ERDF, the Initiative has a total ERDF budget of EUR 372 million for 2014-2020.UIA projects will produce a wealth of knowledge stemming from the implementation of the innovative solutions for sustainable urban development that are of interest for city practitioners and stakeholders across the EU. This journal is a paper written by a UIA Expert that captures and disseminates the lessons learnt from the project implementation and the good practices identified. The journals will be structured around the main challenges of implementation identified and faced at local level by UIA projects. They will be published on a regular basis on the UIA website.