The Future of Urban Food (FOOD) – Scenarios of urban agro-food systems and their eco-economic impacts for the case of Vienna (SEC)

The project ‘The Future of Urban Food’ will shed light on how urban food practices impact selected ecological, economic and social conditions. The City of Vienna and its urban agro-food system (UAFS) serves as a case study. We combine a biophysical and farm economic model to assess the impacts of three important key characteristics of food practices: the share of meat in diets, the share of organic products and the origin of the food. UAFS based on different combinations of these practices will be calculated and their impacts on the farm economy and ecology, the ecology of food transportation and consumer prices will be analysed using a set of ecological and economic indicators. The social acceptance of the ecological and economic consequences of different food habits will be assessed by a quantitative survey through Viennese people and critically discussed by relevant UAFS stakeholders. To get a deeper understanding of the structure and potential for the transition of Viennese UAFS to what?, we apply a situation and transition analysis (ex-post and today) using mixed methods, including a document analysis. This information will be shared in a societal discourse about the future development of the Viennese UAFS. In this stakeholder driven process, the concrete transition scenarios for the Viennese UAFS to reach the goals by 2048  will be developed. To secure the sustainability of this project, an initiative for a Viennese food council will be facilitated.