Edible Cities Network (EdiCitNet)

The Edible Cities Network (EdiCitNet) deals, as the name suggests, with the topic of the edible city. The Edible City concept covers much more than just growing herbs and tomatoes in urban community gardens: the term also includes approaches to sustainable food distribution, use, education and rescue in addition to food production.

The EdiCitNet project was funded as an Innovation Action as part of the European research program Horizon 2020. The aim is to test creative concepts and innovative solutions in international collaborative projects and, if necessary, make them marketable. Under the leadership of Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, 30 partners from 12 countries across five continents collaborated from September 2018 to December 2023. In addition to Berlin, Andernach, Carthage, Guangzhou, Havana, Lomé, Montevideo, Oslo, Rotterdam, Sant Feliu de Llobregat and Šempeter-Vrtojba were also involved in the project. Besides municipal administrations, also research institutions, small and medium-sized enterprises and non-governmental organizations were among the project partners. The Stadtkümmerei was involved in EdiCitNet as a project service provider for the Berlin Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing. Together, the project partners aimed at making cities around the world more resilient, sustainable and liveable through edible approaches.

In most of the partner cities, so-called edible city solutions were developed and tested in living labs. The Berlin living labs were supervised by project partner Prinzessinnengarten and are located at two sites: the New St. Jacobi Cemetery and the Gutsgarten Hellersdorf. The knowledge gained from the living labs then contributed to the development of so-called 'master plans'. The Berlin master plan is a joint product of various stakeholders (including a range of administrations, institutions and initiatives). It is a collection of information and considerations relating to the topic of edible cities and can be used as a basis for further work. The master plan process in Berlin was supported by the Stadtkümmerei. In addition to the master plan, the Stadtkümmerei has elaborated the practical guide 'Essbare Kieze für Berlin. Beispiele aus der Praxis' to promote the topic of the edible city at neighborhood level.

Project website: https://www.edicitnet.com/