On 4 May 2023, from 14:00-15:30 CEST, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and the RUAF Global Partnership on Sustainable Urban Agriculture and Food Systems will officially launch the City Region Food Systems (CRFS) Assessment and Planning Handbook and online Toolkit during a virtual webinar.

The CRFS Programme, co-led by FAO and RUAF, aims to strengthen rural-urban linkages and enhance sustainable and resilient food systems in the context of multiple risks and uncertainties. The CRFS Assessment and Planning Handbook, along with its online toolkit, offers comprehensive guidance to project teams, institutions, and food system stakeholders on how to assess risks, vulnerabilities, and resilience capacities to multiple shocks and stresses and develop action plans to build resilience in city region food systems.

Beyond launching the CRFS Assessment and Planning Handbook and Toolkit, the webinar will explore current understandings of resilience in the context of city region food systems, and highlight the importance of mainstreaming resilience in strategies, policies and actions. 

Panelists include Alison Blay Palmer (Wilfred Laurier University), Kaveh Zahedi (Director of the Office of Climate, Biodiversity and Environment at FAO), Guido Santini (CRFS Programme Coordinator at FAO), Jess Halliday (Chief Executive of RUAF), Sylvie Wabbes (Emergency and Rehabilitation Officer at FAO) and Corinna Hawkes (Director of the Food Systems and Food Safety Division at FAO).

The webinar also features a roundtable discussion with Thierry Giordano (CIRAD), Nomé Randriamanantena (Director of Economic Development, Municipality of Antananarivo), Buddhi Marambe (Professor, University of Peradeniya), and Angèle Tasse (Sustainable Food Systems Officer, ICLEI).

To attend the launch event, please register here.

This event is the first of a three-part CRFS Knowledge Exchange Webinar Series.Mark your calendars for the upcoming webinars: 

• 24 May 2023 14:00-15:30 CEST – From emergency response to building resilience: future-proof city region food systems 
• 26 June 2023, 14:00-15:30 CEST – Capacity-building for strengthening city region food system resilience