Assessing and Analysing Social and Economic Data on Urban Farming, led by Wageningen University & Research (WRU), with contributions from Riga Stradins University (RSU), the Institute of Philosophy and Sociology in Sofia (IPS), Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF), and all six Living Labs. The activities concluded in this WP are geared on ascertaining an understanding on how urban agriculture contributes socially and economically to city life, as it is an under-researched area that is often overlooked in everyday urban planning and policy.

This gap shall be bridged through the identification of the key social and economic dimensions of urban agriculture, co-developing relevant indicators with the Living Labs, and collecting data through both qualitative and quantitative methods. The goal is to reveal the full range of benefits, challenges, and possible unintended consequences (or spillovers) of urban farming in different contexts. The work unfolds over four years: defining dimensions and methods in year one, collecting data in year two, analysing it in year three, and sharing the findings in year four. The WP will generate indicator frameworks, data reports, and a final brief summarising the contribution and risks of urban agriculture across Europe. Additionally, this allows for the better-informed decision-making process by policymakers, planners, and practitioners.

Assessing the Environmental Impact of Urban Farming, led by the Sostenipra research group at Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB), with ASTRE leading biodiversity monitoring tasks. Additional partners include UPWr, AgroParisTech (APT), and the project’s Living Labs, which are both the research focus and primary beneficiaries.

WP3 aims to generate a comprehensive understanding of the environmental impacts of urban farming by measuring resource use, effects on biodiversity, and soil health across different types of urban farms. Despite previous research efforts, environmental assessments of urban agriculture have often been partial and inconsistent. WP3 addresses this gap by using standardized indicators and covering a broader range of systems. The methodology includes life cycle assessments (both attributional and consequential), biodiversity monitoring using species surveys (e.g., arthropods, birds, flora), and soil sampling for contaminants and soil health. Field data will be collected over the first three years of the project, with biodiversity and soil data gathered from nine urban farming sites across three Living Labs.

Two major reports will be developed within this work-package, one on overall environmental data and a second which covers scenario-based impact modelling. These reports will support future planning and decision-making in sustainable urban agriculture.

Policies and Governance Mechanisms for Resilient Urban Agriculture led by ZALF and involves a wide network of partners, including scientific institutions like the National Spanish Research Council (CSIC), WR, and the IPS, as well as non-scientific actors from the Living Labs, such as local governments, NGOs, and farmers. It is focused on improving how urban and peri-urban agriculture is governed by addressing fragmented policies, limited coordination between regions, and a lack of shared knowledge between planners and practitioners.

Through policy analysis, stakeholder engagement, and co-created action plans, the goal is to develop more effective, integrated, and inclusive governance approaches that support sustainable urban farming. The work uses a mix of desktop research, expert interviews, and participatory workshops to understand existing policy gaps and identify best practices that can be scaled across Europe. Running from the start to the end of the project (2024–2027), it will deliver a catalogue of good governance practices (2025), co-designed governance visions (2026), and training materials and policy briefs to build local capacity for implementing sustainable urban agriculture strategies (2027).

Foresight Analysis, is led by Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (FHG) and supported by ZALF, WR, Université de Liège (ULiège), PURPLE, and all participating Living Labs. This work package focuses on exploring what the future of urban agriculture (UA) could look like in European cities by identifying opportunities, risks, and strategic directions. Through methods like literature analysis, scenario development, expert consultation, and participatory workshops, WP5 gathers insights from a wide range of sources, including city residents, practitioners, policymakers, and community organizations.

These inputs help build scenarios that reflect different possible futures for urban farming, looking at how it interacts with city planning, social trends, the economy, and environmental challenges. Local strategy workshops in the Living Labs use these scenarios to create practical strategies tailored to different urban settings. The work is structured across three years: identifying trends in the first year, developing scenarios in the second, and testing strategies locally in the third. The goal is to produce scalable, inclusive approaches to UA that can improve food security, resilience, and liveability in cities across Europe.

Design of Novel Urban Farming Systems, led by ULiège with strong support from partners such as ASTR, WR, UAB, ZALF, APT, and VUA, is focused on designing new and innovative urban agriculture systems. This work directly involves three of the project’s Living Labs and will benefit a wide range of users, ranging from policymakers and practitioners to citizens and urban farmers. This component aims to learn from existing urban farming practices to imagine and co-create more sustainable and future-ready farming systems. Because urban agriculture operates at the intersection of environmental, social, economic, and technical issues, the work draws on a mix of disciplines and other project areas.

The process begins with identifying inspiring examples of innovation through literature, surveys, and expert interviews, and continues by working with Living Labs to develop and test new farming prototypes. These will be tailored to local needs and improved with innovative ideas. The activities in this component span across the entire project’s life, with key outputs including a catalogue of current practices (2025), tested prototypes (2026), and final recommendations for designing resilient urban farming systems (2027). While the focus is European, WP6 also draws inspiration from global examples and always considers the local territory of each urban farm.

Assessment, led by VUA with support from ZALF, APT, UPWr, and other partners including the six Living Labs, focuses on understanding how urban agriculture impacts the environment, economy, and society. It goes beyond local effects to explore broader questions, like how growing food in cities influences rural farming or the urban economy. Since many of these indirect and large-scale impacts are still unclear, WP7 is developing new tools and methods to assess them. This includes mapping ecosystem services, analysing where cities get their food from (“foodsheds”), and using spatial models to understand trade-offs. These efforts aim to create a solid foundation for better decision-making and planning around urban agriculture. The work spans from local urban farms to a European-wide scale and runs throughout the full duration of the FOODCITYBOOST project (2024–2027).

Outreach, led by reframe.Food, plays a pivotal role in ensuring the visibility, accessibility, and long-term societal impact of FOODCITYBOOST’s results. It is integrally connected to all other work packages, serving as the bridge between research and public engagement. WP8 translates complex research and innovation outputs into targeted, engaging communications for a wide array of audiences, including policymakers, urban agriculture practitioners, citizens, scientists, and civil society.

This WP is responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive methodology to promote sustainable uptake of the project and its results. It establishes a consistent project identity and brand, ensures materials and campaigns are tailored to respective niche audiences, and supports partners in promoting their specific outputs, including tools, reports, and innovations from Living Labs.

WP8 also ensures the project’s sustainability and legacy by elaborating the respective strategy based on identified Key Exploitable Results. Its communication strategy leverages a range of channels, from scientific publications to social media, which generate awareness, foster synergies, expand its presence within the ecosystem, and stimulate uptake of project innovations during and beyond the project life cycle.

WP9: Project Management and Coordination, led by VUA ensures that all work packages, ranging from stakeholder engagement to foresight analysis, are implemented in a coherent, timely, and efficient manner.

This WP is a cornerstone of the project that ensures FOODCITYBOOST’s administrative and strategic backbone is efficiently and effectively coordinated across the partnership. It establishes the internal structures for communication, decision-making, and reporting; monitors progress against milestones and deliverables; and ensures compliance with the required regulations of Horizon Europe. WP9 also facilitates cross-WP collaboration and risk management, making sure that its scientific, technical, and policy-oriented tasks remain aligned with its overarching goals.

By maintaining an overview of progress and fostering integration, this package ensures that its diverse activities form a unified, and impactful series of activities.