EU Project Experience

Some experience

GIY partner with the SDG2 Advocacy Hub, which coordinates global campaigning and advocacy to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 2: To end hunger, achieve food security and improved nutrition, and promote sustainable agriculture by 2030.

GIY HQ is also the Irish action hub for the Chef’s Manifesto, a global network of Chefs working to implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals, using a practical action plan for their kitchens.

GIY are the Irish partner of a collaborative European Project called "Bioregional Weaving Labs (BWL)". With partners Ashoka and Commonland Foundation (NL), the projects aims to regenerate 1 Million hectares of land & sea. GIY represents Waterford as one of a pilot group of 5 BWL regions across the EU where stakeholders in the region (local innovators, policymakers, corporates, farmers and citizens) come to jointly assess the scaling potential of nature-based solutions, co-create a vision with the landscape partners, and work together to weave (scale and integrate) local solutions. Collectively the bio-regions will act as a multiscale learning infrastructure, and aspires to become the impact-driven global community of committed leaders who specialize in place based systemic change for planet and climate, catalyzed by Bioregional Weaving Labs.

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‍EU Funding Goals

GIY aim to work with EU partnerships & networks in order to meet our target of 100 Million people growing some of their own food by 2030.

In the next 1 to 2 years, GIY wish to identify mission aligned partners in two key areas: Programme delivery and Strategic Partnership.

GIY Programmes: we run food growing programmes in Schools & Communities that are designed to support food growing on a mass scale, and to embed food sustainability into education systems and community structures. While over 1 Million people took part in a GIY Programme or Campaign in 2021, we aim to identify delivery partners in Schools, Communities and workplaces across Europe.

Strategic Partnership: food growing represents a significant climate action, as well as health, wellbeing and community cohesion benefits. Research shows that when people grow their own food and understand the food system, it shifts their knowledge, attitudes and behaviour around food and the environment. It empowers them to make healthier and more sustainable choice for themselves, their community and the planet. We call this Food Empathy. Food empathy results in five key behaviour and attitude changes: reducing food waste, increased likelihood of eating plants (57%), increased likelihood of shopping from local food suppliers (129%), greater connection with the seasons and reduced plastic pollution (26%). Stats based on results from a nationwide food growing program. GIY aim to identify EU partners & networks who we can work with to disseminate the messages around the power of food growing as a climate action.

In the medium to longer term, we aim to work with advocacy bodies or public sector partners, to embed food growing in Education systems, led at national policy level. We want to partner with leading voices across Europe who recognize the importance of food sustainability in addressing challenges of food supply, food poverty and in delivering a robust food system that works for the health of people & planet. We aim to identify partners to collaborate on funding opportunities to support programme delivery and national campaigns supporting a sustainable food system.

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Strenghts

Large scale Programe Delivery

GIY have a proven track record in delivering successful, engaging, cost-effective national food growing campaigns. We delivered a programme under the Department of Health in Ireland in 2021, which resulted in 220k people engaging in food growing and sharing. We run national Campaigns with corporate & public sector partners.

Impact Measurement

Understanding the knowledge, attitude & behaviours that result from food growing. GIY partner with academic institutes and food sustainability consultants in order to measure the impact of our Programmes across School, Community and Home sectors.

We measure impacts in  food growing behaviour, and across the 5 ‘Food Empathy’ behaviours (reduced food waste, shopping locally, eating seasonal food & connection with nature, eating more plants, reduced pollution including plastic & chemical).

We communicate carbon savings from food growing, with a commitment to further developing this measurement narrative.

Media & Broadcast

GIY worked with RTE (Ireland’s National broadcaster)to deliver a series on food growing in 2018, which reached 12 Million people and featured globally on Amazon Prime (‘Grow Cook Eat’). A second Series is due to air on RTE in early 2023, focusing on food sustainability themes (‘Food Matters’).