Background/Objectives
We will present how international partnerships between cities can drive positive change, shifting food systems to provide better nutrition, fairer access and greater sustainability. An initial learning partnership was established between Birmingham, UK, and Pune, India, called BINDI. This partnership created an opportunity to solicit political commitment to the prevention of malnutrition. The success of BINDI led to the development of the Food Cities 2022 Learning Partnership, which expands the partnership network, with a focus on cities in LMICs.
Methods
Step 1: Developing a solid foundation for the partnership
Compiling data on malnutrition and its causes in the two cities
Documenting a compendium of case studies
Step 2: Ensuring the partnership is driven by local leaders and local priorities.
Galvanising engagement from city authorities, business leaders and other key stakeholder in the partnership
Consultation workshops in each city with key stakeholders to priorities the themes for the partnership
Step 3: Running a citizen engagement exercise to consult citizens on the themes which matter most to them, with a particular focus on women and girls
Step 4: Launching the online platform for learning which will provide the key tool for operationalizing the partnership
Results
Clear learning was taken from the BINDI partnership, which can be found in the first reference below. Since the initial BINDI project took place, political will in both cities has continued to grow in regards to the food agenda. Both cities are currently developing city-wide food strategies and are participating in the Food Cities 2022 initiative. The other cities in the initiative are finding participation in international projects helps to catalyse food action. More broadly, cities attending our webinar series and accessing our learning platform are finding international learning of benefit to their work.
Discussion / Conclusion
Whilst cities such as Birmingham and Pune appear to be very different places, the challenges they face have many parallels and similarities. There is a great deal of valuable learning to be had through well facilitated partnerships. International networks and partnerships are stimulating, inspiring and exciting for all those who participate. We hope that through the presentation of this work, other cities and organisations will be inspired to seek out and engage in international learning opportunities, in particular those where cities in high-income countries are able to support actors working in cities in low-to-middle income countries.
Disclosure of Interest
None Declared
