7th Eating City Summer Campus

Founder of WDT agency, committed gastronome, adventurer & entrepreneur. Nicola believes in the opportunities to work towards a better food system, reconnecting urban areas with the countryside, lan...

Boris Boincean originally from Ukraine, graduated from the Faculty of Agronomy of the Moscow Agricultural Academy (K.A. Timiriazev). he is responsible for the chair of Natural Sciences and Agroecology...

International negotiations expert principally relating to climate change issues. International relations and environmental analyst for the State of Minas Gerais in Brasil, then co- founder of a sustai...

Giovanni Dinelli, PhD, is Full Professor at the University of Bologna since 2014, Coordinator of the Master on Agricultural Sciences and Technologies, Director of the training course on Organic Agricu...

After studying political sciences and international cooperation, Anna Faucher specialized with a master's degree in « Innovations and policies for sustainable food ». Questioning the food needs of a...

Louison Lançon is an agronomist, co-founder of the NGO Let’s Food. After specializing in innovations and policies for sustainable food systems, she worked for 3 years within the FAO-Food for the Ci...

Lenny Russo is an American Chef & Food & Beverage Consultant and former Chef/Proprietor of Heartland Restaurant & Farm Direct Market in Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA. He is a six-time finalist for the Ja...

Betina Bergmann Madsen is chief procurement officer in the Copenhagen Municipality and a specialist in the procurement of sustainable and organic food for the municipality’s 900 kitchens.

Ana Puhac is an urban food systems specialist working for Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) in Rome where she supports activities contributing to FAO’s Urban Food Agenda and building knowledge on urban food governance mechanisms. She holds a B.A. in Human Ecology and MSc in Building and Urban Design in Development. Recently, Ana worked with multi-actor processes for urban development through design of innovative tools, project development and research in an innovative start-up and the municipality of Amsterdam.
Ana was a participant of Eating City in 2016, after which she joined Eating City as a facilitator and a member of the Steering Committee.

Claudia is a food blogger and activist, she dedicate her time to promoting a healthier school catering, she founded in 2009 Foodinsider an italian network of people who are keen to improve the quality of food and menus offered in school canteens.

Sara Grady is currently a consultant to projects that will transform our food systems towards a sustainable future. For the past several years, she was the Vice President of Programs at Glynwood, an a...

Aleksandar Stojanovic is a labor rights activist from Serbia and a researcher with focus on policy, law and economics and the commons, is working on Eating City project within the public foodservices focus group and he is member of the Eating City steering committee. During The Campus will work as responsible of the facilitator staff.

Dr. Wilson has a passion for child nutrition and has dedicated her career to improving access to healthy food for all children and their families. She has spent twenty three years as a school nutrition director in three public schools districts in Wisconsin…

Thomas Forster has worked for over 30 years with civil society and government organizations on policy to strengthen urban and rural linkages in food systems, especially in relation to sustainable agri...

Christina Conell is a veggie-loving carnivore that began her career at the US Department of Agriculture's Food and Nutrition Service in 2010, where she has worn many hats, from leading the agency's tr...

T.V. celebrity chef of the "Street food" program on Fatafeat a subsidiary of Discovery channels and also T.V. presenter of " tabkhetna ghier" entertaining cooking show on Abu Dhabi TV,a ramadan show c...

Ana Helena Pinto is a nutritionist from Portugal. Founder of Nutrition for Happiness. Co-founder and coordinater of Clínica for Happiness (of the Casa de Saúde da Boavista). Author and consulter of ...

My name is Ysé, I’m a Ph.D. Student in management studies at the University of Montpellier and co-funded by #DigitAg. My background is in sociology and I didn’t think I do a thesis in management about the integration of producers in food value chain. My grandparents were farmers so it’s a great opportunity for me to make a research on a topic which passionate myself. Nowadays, the blockchain is controversial in many fields. I would like to contribute to the knowledges about the uses of the blockchain in agriculture or about the uses of the blockchain to valorise the producers’ work to the consumers. Eating is a quotidian act so it’s important to have confidence in which we eat.

My commit:fostering a real dialogue among all the food chain actors to create a better food system by creating spaces for coming together and sharing ideas.

I started my studies in nutrition because I am convinced that food can make a difference. Since I also have this weird passion for experimental food, studying nutrition seemed the perfect opportunity to combine a field of interest with the aspiration of creating change. Studying in a European Master gives me new inspiration. I see how many innovative projects are going on in universities, cities and companies all over Europe. It gives hope and reassures me that I made the right choice to be part of this movement.

My commit:increasing the diversity of farming systems by researching forgotten foods and old varieties to grow in my garden and include in my diet and by sharing my experience and enthusiasm.

I am attending the European Master in Sustainable Food Systems, focused on how to implement sustainability in every element of the food system. Previously I have graduated in the University of Gastronomic Sciences in Italy, founded by the Slow Food movement, where food was seen as an instrument of freedom, if exploited in the right way. I have worked in several restaurant kitchens and lately opened a Cafe where I could apply the whole concepts of sustainability to the world of gastronomy. My love for nature (wild food and agriculture) is conjugated with the passion for cooking, resulting in a strong will for improving our food system towards a more sustainable future.

My commit:including everyone’s contribution to a more sustainable food system, where food facilitates cooperation and awareness, through activities with kids about the food cycle.

Alemnew is a Masters of Law (LLM) student in Comparative Law, Economics and Finance at the International University College of Turin, Italy. Professionally, he started his career as an Assistant Lecturer of Law at Debre Markos University since 2016. Alemnew loves essay writing and researching. He is the winner of the 2014 JMH International Prize Essay Contest and a runner-up in the 2015 the Movement for Abolition of War International Essay Contest. Now he become so passionate about studying agrarian and food policies which deserves special attention in Ethiopia.

I’m half American, half English, but born in Milan, Italy. I grew up with lots of food interests from both sides of the family. I started writing a food blog when I was 15 to share recipes and other food related topics I thought people should know about (food waste, industrial production issues etc). I love to cook, shop at farmers markets, and travel to get to know different cultures. I am very passionate about animal welfare. I am currently studying Gastronomic Sciences at Unisg, based on the Slow Food Movement, and will graduate this year.

My commit:ending industrial farming and animal husbandry practices by raising awareness through cooking events and helping consumers shift towards a balanced plant rich diet. 

I am a human rights activist. For the last five years, I have worked with indigenous people defending their rights to land, food security, environment, and self-determination. I am very interested in building food sovereignty strategies that improve the quality of life of the indigenous people in my country.

My commit:promoting access to sufficient and nutritious food for people in need by identifying the locations, organisations and institutions that have the biggest leverage.

I am the founder of a food actor collective called " Les Savoureux Compagnons" (The Tasty Companions) composed of enthusiasts all having a link with food (Chef, teachers, nutritionists, farmers ...) We have experimented with many innovations such as ephemeral restaurants, a nomadic cooking school, cooperations between independents. My goal is that cooperation will feed everyone without distinction.

My commit:increasing pleasure and desire to work in jobs all along the food chain by including celebration time, location independence and by a new way of teaching including volunteers and consumers.

Sustainability is not a trend, it's a necessity. I am passionate about public food policies that make food accessible to everyone and respect the environment.

Almira is currently doing her internship at the Ministry of Agriculture, Water Management and Forestry of Tuzla Canton. She graduated with a master degree of Phytomedicine at the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences, University of Sarajevo. During her studies she took participation in many different projects and trainings focusing on plant health and environmental protection. Her main goal is to contribute to developing different approaches of plant protection in order to reduce the use of harmful chemicals on the food we eat. Her hobbies include travelling, calligraphy, gardening and reading.

I am a nature and food lover and I love hiking and travelling - and not necessarily far as I think we can experience wonderful moments anywhere if we are well surrounded. I chose to study in the domain of the environment and sustainable development as I sincerely think that we have to reconsider our way of living and consuming if we want to tackle environmental, social and economical issues. I also believe we have to focus on the governance of our societies in order to face all these challenges. In any case, food is our fuel and the way of thinking it and producing it is key to a fairer and more sustainable world!

My commit:creating bonds among citizens to transition to a less individualistic world by starting a solidarity cooperative café where people can meet, exchange and create projects together.

I have had a varied career in the food industry, working in new product development, marketing and manufacturing. As my career progressed I became increasingly aware of the impact the food system has on our natural environment and the importance of sustainability. This led me to study MSc Food Security, focusing my research on sustainable diets. I now work for the food and farming charity Soil Association Scotland on the government funded programme Food For Life. In my role, I collaborate with local authorities, industry bodies and supply chain partners to increase the provision of fresh, sustainable and local food in school meals.

I am a law student interested in food law. I like cooking and eating due to the great culinary tradition of my region, but I think that food is not only a matter of tastiness. Being involved in social volunteering and keen on political and social issues, I look at food as a powerful means of social justice. And law can be a useful tool to improve food workers’ human rights and the sustainability of food chains. A fairer world it is not possible without fairer food.

My commit:supporting local rural food systems by joining political movements, buying local fair products and implementing this view in my jobs.

For last 4 years I have been studying social sciences and humanities in interdisciplinary perspective and working on a different projects related to food (farms, vineyards, medialab, internship in urban gardens). Because of the openess of my degree I had the opportunity to visit some courses at the faculty of natural sciences and later I spent a year abroad in Norway where my main interest became the topic of energy transition. And food is the energy for humans. Whatever we do, whatever society we live in, together with water it is the basic of our survival. And of course it is a pleasure to eat. Growing up on the countryside and having eggs for breakfast everyday, I would like to see everyone in the city to be able to grow their own food or buy from local production. Reconnecting our urban spaces (where most of the global population lives) and agriculture is therefore one of the main questions of today.

My first real interest in this life was the Italian culture, with its myths of social readiness and spontaneity. Where I’m from, on the contrary, human confrontation often comes as an uncomfortable surprise. In Italy, this search for a more participatory social life also gained ecological implications, as I began to think of stronger contextual relationships at the basis of many types of diversity and as a source of a well-being that is as much social as it is environmental, i.e. as the key to sustainability. Today this translates into a desire to understand how urban dwellers, by physically experiencing the making of food in a specific place with its specific human relations, could increase their awareness of participation and feelings of responsibility in the food chain.

My commit:inspire a dialogue based on nutrition and taste, that breaks the barriers between urban and rural identities in the city of Stockholm, in order to create new and integrative collaborations.

I am an agronomist, specialized in Agribusiness and Rural Development. During my studies I have also been elected as a World President of the International Association of Students in Agricultural and related Sciences (IAAS World). I am deeply passionate about sustainable agriculture, climate smart agriculture and youth involvement in agri-food business and policy making.

My commit:making food a common good through community gardens and workshops

Two years ago, I obtained a bachelor’s degree in Psychology. Currently, I am finalizing a master’s degree in Sociology at the University of Turin, and a Master of Laws in Comparative Law, Economics and Finance at the International University College. In the latter program, I had the opportunity of studying with outstanding scholars in the political economy of food, such as Olivier de Schutter and Nora McKeon. In May, I participated in the CSM preparatory meeting for the Committee on World Food Security plenary sessions.

As a nutritionist working and studying on the field of Public Health, I strongly believe that it is possible to achieve healthier eating patterns and at the same time act towards a more sustainable environment. I am very interested in understanding how to take the most advantage of the resources available close to us and how we can play an active role on the matter of food sustainability, through the constant exchange of knowledge and experience with people from different backgrounds and areas of activity.

My commit:bring the already existing actors along the food chain together by mapping them and creating a platform that facilitates connection and interaction among them.

I’m a young professional passionate about the vision of creating a more sustainable future, currently working on promoting alternative and sustainable food systems, specifically through urban agriculture and education. My choice of dedicating my time to the creation of more sustainable and fairer societies comes from a sense of mission that was developed while becoming aware of the world we live in. I truly believe in human beings and in our capacity to adapt and change."

I’m Nicolò Emanuele Passaro. I’m 27 and I come from Gela, Sicily, Italy. I’m a person with many interdisciplinary interestings, which I’ve developemented during years, as History, Philosophy, Cinema, Music, Politic, Letterature, Economy. During my life I have also development by myself strong interests and personal studies on many disciplines such as Law, Economics, Arts, Linguistics, Sociology, Psychology, Pedagogy, Culture, Logic and other branches of Science, and, above all, Philosophy. I keepin’ on dedicate to myself about it, trying to write some papers and Essay about important nowdays topic, in particular about Environment and Ecologic problem. In this way, I development a strong interdisciplinary connection between dilemmas of the contemporary world; also, thought newspaper, radio, television, internet, I follow the most and newest things around the world.

My commit:working towards creating a new, greener urbanization model by organising a workshop for youth about how we can decrease our impact on nature. 

As the coordinator of the Budapest Food City Lab initiative and the member of Environmental Social Science Research Group, I am currently aiming to co-create educational programs and modules that support the development of skills and competencies necessary for food system transformation and innovation. I believe that disconnection – from nature, our food, each other and ourselves – is at the core of many of the global challenges that we are facing today, and it also greatly contributes to the dysfunctionalities of our food system. I desire to facilitate (re-)connection in various ways and levels as a researcher, workshop facilitator and in my private life alike."

My commit:facilitating re-connection among both human and non-human actors and elements of the system by creating, organising, and leading workshops, training courses and immersive experiences.

Coming from a humble family with a farming background agriculture and food production practices became a part of my life since the start. Being a graduate of an agricultural university, I developed keen interest in sustainable food production to coup with the population explosion in the world. It is a tough challenge to feed rapidly growing world population therefore, to pursue this aim, I chose my academic path as per my personal interest. A dream of a hunger free planet, in my opinion, can only be achieved by spreading awareness regarding the importance of food among the privileged societies and enhancing food availability. I am passionate to minimize this gap. I offer my expertise in controlling food waste and utilizing process by-products, a way forward towards hunger eradication. I firmly believe “Access to safe, sustainable and healthy food is the birthright of every human being”.

My commit:food innovation by means of sustainable approach, which would reduce food waste by linking society, industry and academia.

Having studied food sciences and food industrial engineering in the last four years, I have been increasingly concerned by the importance of food as both an individual need and a societal issue. In September, I will be starting a gap year to further explore how I can professionally build on my strengths, skills and convictions to positively and sustainably contribute to our society.

My commit:helping people understand what a sustainable food system is by diversifying the educational project I currently work on by including all aspects of the food system.

Both branches of my family have roots in agriculture, one of them as farmers in Basque country and the second one as wine producers in La Rioja. Despite that I was growing up in different cities – most of my life I spent in Logroño but I have experienced different environments as a traveller but also as a long-term member of societies in United States, Norway and in Madrid. As a student of International Relations and politics, I started to look at rural and urban development from the social sciences point of view with a particular interest in ecofeminism. I believe that certain policies are necessary to guide the transition of cities in the 21st century and food will be a crucial topic in a world where most of the population is becoming urban while we still have an industrial mode of production and logistics depending on fossil fuels.

I am Abir Klai, 29 years old. I live in Sousse (Tunisia ). It's a very attractive city rich of history, traditions, delicious food and especially beautiful sandy beaches.. that's why it's also called the Pearl of coast. I am a PhD student in marketing in 'Faculté des Sciences économiques et de gestion de Tunis' and I work on 'Consumer behavior and food choices paradox'. I had always a deep interest in food challenges and my work at the Agency of Agricultural Investment Promotion increased my responsibilities towards sustainable agriculture and food consumption. I love cooking, travelling and I am always smiling.

Grace Githiri is a physical planner in Kenya, currently she is enrolled at Kenyatta University for her PhD studies. At UN-Habitat, she manages the program on Urban-rural linkages, food systems and is involved in projects in the National Urban Policies program. Before joining UN-Habitat, she has worked in Kenya at Slum Dwellers International (SDI) where she got an interest in the food and urban planning nexus focusing on the urban poor.

My commit:support low income urban and rural food actors to voice their issues and be part of key decision making at the subnational and national level by capacity development, workshops and advocacy.

Ossama is an Agriculture researcher with objective of solving the insufficient agriculture production problems, and decrease the usage of chemicals by using the new agriculture circulated systems. He completed his bachelor degree in Agriculture sciences in Egypt and his Master degree in Sustainable Integrated Pest Management (IPM) from International Mediterranean Agronomic institute in Italy.

My commit:support making healthy sustainable food, by making it available for low income population through integration of technology and preserving traditional practices.

My name is Jean-Marc, I'm 26, and I'm Italian. I have studied philosophy in Lyon (France). Since 2015 I'm interested in food-related topics which I study through the lens of philosophy. My previous research works are about the Slow Food Movement (at the University of Lyon III) and the Holistics Approaches of Food (at the UNESCO Food Chair). I'm deeply interested in new-tech (BlockChain, AI and Machine Learning) and their potentially disruptive power, especially on the food system and food habits. I'm currently looking for a Ph.D. in the philosophy of food with a research topic about gastro-nomy and food norms.