Content Requirements

What can be shared on the Platform?

Resources and Events that can be shared on the Platform

resources will only be accepted in the official FAO languages - Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian or Spanish;
should be presented neutrally and illustrated with facts and sources. Opinion pieces will not be taken into consideration;
should abide by all applicable laws, including, without limitation, privacy laws, intellectual property laws, anti-spam laws;
should include information that is relevant to the Urban Food Actions Platform (sensitive or politically controversial material will not be taken into consideration);
should not promote external products or services. Promotion or advertising for any type of services or products will not be taken into consideration;
must meet FAO's quality standards in order to get published. FAO reserves the right not to refer on the platform any resource that in the views of FAO does not comply with such standards.

Type of resources that can be submitted

Knowledge

Academic literature: articles published in scientific journals, theses, reports and books relating to research works.
Articles: documents from general medias in the form of articles derived from a journal, a magazine, a newsletters or a blog; conference papers and proceedings, technical papers.
Directories: databases of resources related to urban food systems (sometimes with specific lens by actors, stakes, …)
Methodology and Training materials: documents providing information on systematic methods of analysis and/or action as well as materials produced for teaching purposes.
Reports & Case Studies: documents in the form of formal, factual, statistical, or technical reports, reports on projects implementation, detailed examination of cases of study and practices, issued by an individual, group, agency, government body or other institutions.
Working documents: preliminary documents, usually based on research, not intended for publication but rather for circulation by the author(s) to professional peers to share preliminary information or with a request for comments or editorial improvement.

Actions

Local Policies: documents defining or aiming at implementing a strategy, an action plan or an activity driven by a local government
Frameworks: documents outlining or proposing a framework for actions on urban food systems at local, national or international levels.
Guidelines: documents determining a course of action. Guidelines aim to streamline particular processes according to a set routine or sound practice. Guidelines are not binding and are not enforced.
Policy Briefs: documents summarizing a particular issue, the policy options to deal with it, and some recommendations on the best option. It is aimed at government policymakers and others who are interested in formulating or influencing policy.
Regulations: documents with details and information on regulations taken by local governments related to the topics of the platform.

Multimedia

Audio: recorded technical or scientific discussion gathering practitioners, scientists, elected people;
Videos: Any video showcasing experiences, projects, and/or aiming at raising awareness;
Meetings and events recordings: any audio and/or video (online or offline) generated by a webinar, a workshop, a conference and other type of events.

Type of Events that can be submitted

Announcements for upcoming events (a conference, symposium, webinar) or ongoing processes, (call of proposals, call for papers, public questionnaire, etc.) related to the topic of the platform.

How to use the Platform?

All resources are classified using 13 criteria: Type of document, Author, Organization, Title, Year, Region, Country, City, Topic, Tags, Language, Summary, URL. Some of them are described in the section below dedicated on the search engine operations. If you notice any mistake, kindly contact us at [email protected].

The Search Engine

The search engine, located on the Homepage and Resources section, gives you the opportunity to find specific resources referenced on the platform according to your own areas of interest.

It is based on several fields, described below, that can be used simultaneously (the result will list all available resources matching all the criteria together).

Resources are ordered according the date of the referencing on the Urban Food Actions Platform by FAO.

At the end of the results’ list, the mention “Click here to download results in Excel format” allows you to download a file in CSV format that can be opened in any spreadsheet program. To get this export on excel: (1) open a new file, (2) click on Data/Get external data/From text; (3) select the file in the Downloads folder; (4) tick “Delimited” and My data has headers and click “Next”; (5) tick “Comma” and click “Next”; (6) tick “General” and click “Finish”; (7) Define where you do want to put the data and click “Ok”. Then you can apply any complex filter from your spreadsheet program. To download all the resources of the Urban Food Actions Platform, do not specify any criteria before searching.

Criteria for searching specific resources:

Free Search: This box allows you to search the exact text string in the following fields: Title, Author, Organization (organization having published originally the resource), Summary, and City.
Example: if you look for ‘food banks’ the system will give you results who are mentioning exactly ‘food banks’ in their Title, Author, Organization, Summary and City.
Topic: one of the six main work streams dealing with urban food systems as defined by the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact. Each resource can be referred by several topics when necessary. For a complete overview of the 6 Topics please see the dedicated section.
Tag: the following keywords are used to describe most of the platform’s resources. Each resource can be referred by several tags. This list of tags will be further developed and updated regularly.
Type of Resource: each platform’s resource is referred with one unique type of resources described above in the Content Requirement section.
Year: Year of publication of the resources (not to confuse with the referencing of the resource on the platform itself).
Region: Regions of the world as defined by FAO. Any resource concerning two or more regions are listed under "Global Coverage". Only one region can be selected.
Country. Only one country can be selected.
City. Type here one city only. This box searches in full-text. E.g. “Accra, Abidjan” will not display resources referring to “Accra” and “Abidjan”. To get this result, apply two searches using “Acra” then “Abidjan”, export these results under CSV format, and use filters on spreadsheet program.
Language. Resources can be developed (and available) in several language. In that case, the resource’s presentation specifies “Also available in …” with useful hyperlink. If you want to search resources ONLY in a specific language, please select the language bar at the top-right of the page, and navigate the website either in French, Spanish, Arabic, Russian or Chinese.
Export - After a research is performed, users can export the search results in CSV format (the option “Click here to download results in Excel format” will be displayed at the bottom of the page). This file will enable any complex filter on each criteria from any spreadsheet program.
To properly open a CSV file on Excel: (1) Data/New Query/From files/From CSV; (2) Select the appropriate file in the download folder; (3) Select “—None—“ in the File Origin box, “Comma” in the Delimiter box, “Based on first 200 rows” in the Data Type Detection box and click on the Load button; (4) Adjust the shape of the table via Home/Wrap text twice to avoid high rows.

Terms & Conditions

By proposing resources and events to be referred on the Urban Food Actions Platform (UFAP below), you acknowledge and agree to the following: 

General Provisions

FAO has the right to remove from the UFAP any resources or events which is not in compliance with these Terms and Conditions.
Information provided by you will be processed by FAO and/or its authorized subcontractors and stored in the UFAP database in accordance with FAO’s rules, policies and procedures. Such information will be used and may be made available to third parties exclusively for services related to and within the purposes of the Urban Food Actions Platform, or FAO institutional activities.
When you contact FAO by any means, including by sending an email or completing a form, you provide FAO with information. By contacting FAO, you acknowledge, agree and consent to FAO’s processing of the contact data. Failure to provide some contact data may imply the impossibility for FAO to contact you and/or to fully or properly provide feedback to your communications to FAO.
FAO reserves the right to discontinue and/or modify, for any reason and without notice, at any time, the posting of any or all of the information contained in the UFAP.
FAO shall use reasonable efforts to maintain the UFAP operational and to provide guidance and support for questions relating to the UFAP content.
FAO does not validate the information that is made available on the UFAP. Neither the team in charge of the UFAP nor FAO can be held responsible over the validation of data.
FAO cannot guarantee the complete reliability and integrity of the UFAP data, in particular because these data are established, formatted and/or circulated via computer and telecommunication means that FAO does not control.
The information contained in the UFAP is provided on the understanding that users assume responsibility for independently assessing its relevance, accuracy, completeness, and suitability for application.
At any time, you can request FAO to delete, review, correct or update your personal data by writing to [email protected].
Changes to these Terms and Conditions will be posted on this webpage, and will be available via the FAO website. By continuing to use any of the UFAP subsequent to FAO making available an amended version of these Terms and Conditions, you acknowledge, agree and consent to such amendment(s).

Disclaimer and limitation of liability

Material posted onto the UFAP represent the personal views of the individual members. The views expressed in the material are those of the individual members, and do not necessarily reflect the views of or imply endorsement by FAO. FAO shall not be liable in respect of any such views, irrespective of whether FAO is aware or ought to have been aware of them.
The designations employed and the presentation of material in the UFAP do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of FAO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries.
The mention of specific companies or products of manufacturers, whether these have been patented, does not imply that these have been endorsed or recommended by FAO in preference to others of a similar nature that are not mentioned.
Under no circumstances shall FAO, or its subcontractors, bear responsibility to any user or third parties for any misrepresentation, inaccuracy, error, omission, deletion, defect, alteration of any content posted in the UFAP, or for its timeliness or completeness.
FAO shall not be liable for any loss or damage arising from, or directly or indirectly connected to, the use of, reference to, or reliance on any content provided in the UFAP, including, but not limited to, any liability arising from any intentional or negligent misuse, errors, disclosure, undue transfer, loss or destruction of data that may occur.

Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks to non-FAO Websites are provided for the user's convenience only and do not imply any official endorsement of or responsibility on the part of FAO for the opinions, ideas, data or products presented at these locations, or guarantee the validity of the information provided. The sole purpose of links to non-FAO sites is to indicate further information available on related topics.

Copyright

Copyright of the material available on the UFAP remains with the individual information provider(s) or original rights holder(s). Submitters may only post materials for which they have the right or permission to distribute electronically and to authorize others to redistribute. Unless otherwise indicated, submitters acknowledge and agree that the material posted on the UFAP may be reused and redistributed by the users for non-commercial purposes, in line with the objectives of the Urban Food Actions Platform, without requesting prior written permission. Where specific authorization to reuse and redistribute material is required, users must obtain the necessary permission from the respective rights holder(s).

Privacy Policy

Submitting events or resources to the UFAP, you may be asked to provide personal information, including but not limited to, username, name, organization, country of residence, region, affiliation and e-mail address. No other personal information apart from that requested for submitting resources will be collected without your prior consent.

Privileges and Immunities

Nothing in these Terms and Conditions, nor any acts performed or statements made in relation to the UFAP, shall be deemed a waiver, express or implied, of any of the privileges and immunities of FAO, or as its acceptance of the jurisdiction of the courts of any country over disputes arising out of these Terms and Conditions.