At the 2015 Milan World Expo (link) Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, announced his intention to launch a Food Research Area by World Food Day 2016, presenting a single thematic Research and Innovation narrative built on a number of key Food and Nutrition Security priorities:

1. NUTRITION: Reducing hunger and malnutrition, addressing food safety and diet-related disease, and helping citizens adopt sustainable diets and healthy lives
2. CLIMATE: Building climate and global change-resilient food systems
3. CIRCULARITY: Implementing sustainability and circular economy principles across food systems
4. INNOVATION: Boosting innovation and investment, while empowering communities

FOOD 2030 builds of this intention and is a timely EU research and innovation policy response to the recent international policy developments including the SDGs and COP21 commitments.

The conference is an important step towards boosting future investment in research and innovation in support of impactful nutrition and food systems research breakthroughs, market-creating and open innovation, open science and multi-actor engagement, building of capacities and skills; and strengthening global collaboration for improved research policy alignment.

The pre-conference events will start on the afternoon of 11^th of October in the MADOU building of the European Commission in Brussels. The SCAR Strategic Working Group "European Agricultural Research towards greater impact on global Challenges" (ARCH) will organise there its pre-event to the FOOD2030 Conference to highlight the international dimension of European food systems and the need to include the perspectives of consumers, in Europe and outside Europe, and to strengthen their involvement in research and innovation, from agenda setting towards research uptake resulting in greater impact on global challenges - https://www.ard-europe.org/arch/. On 12^th October in the afternoon four parallel participatory workshops will be organised at Brussels SQUARE, followed by a networking cocktail and the opening of the 'Food Village'. The exhibition will showcase innovative research projects, start-ups, selected cities and regions with their prototypes, products and food related initiatives . In parallel to these FOOD 2030 events, the venue will also host the final conference of the FP7 FOODSECURE project http://www.foodsecure.eufor the design of consistent and coherent long-term policy strategies for improving food and nutrition security.

The official conference of FOOD 2030 will take place on 13^th October with the participation of high level officials, industry, entrepreneurs, investors, policy makers, and civil society organisations. The European Commission will present its FOOD 2030 research and innovation policy stocktaking exercise to be followed by four prospective discussion panels, each exploring how R&I policy should contribute to shaping tomorrow's sustainable food systems, with respect to healthy and sustainable diets, climate resilience and circularity of food systems, user-centric innovation, new business models and investment.

The FOOD 2030 high level event will provide a platform for dialogue that seeks to build on the political momentum for a coherent research and innovation policy framework for Food and Nutrition Security. The conference is an important step towards boosting future investment in research and innovation in support of impactful nutrition and food systems research breakthroughs, market-creating and open innovation, open science and multi-actor engagement, building of capacities and skills; and strengthening global collaboration for improved research policy alignment.

FOOD 2030 will explore what is needed to transform and future-proof our food systems to be sustainable, resilient, competitive, diverse, responsible and performant in their provision of accessible, healthy and sustainable food and diets for all. Furthermore, FOOD 2030 will investigate how research and innovation systems can be scaled-up to better contribute to the above Food and Nutrition Security priorities.

REFRESH partners will be attending the event - to connect with us at FOOD 2030 please send us an email at info@eu-refresh.org or tweet us at @EUrefresh!