Our society is currently facing some of our biggest challenges ever. These challenges permeate all levels of daily life. Climate change not only threatens global food security by means of droughts and extreme weather, but also affects the health and wellbeing of people in vulnerable positions first (and hardest), making it a social issue as well. This is perhaps the most important ‘systemic’ challenge of our age: we need to tackle both the problem and the solution from a holistic, multidisciplinary point of view.

In Lodz, seniors now have access to a newly set up vegetable garden where they can taste as well as grow their own vegetables. This embarks a great success in the journey of Living Lab Lodz. Elderly people have very specific dietary and nutritional needs and their eating habits impact the quality of their ageing processes. Consuming freshly grown vegetables and at the same time enjoying movement and contact with the nature shows promising effects on the seniors’ health. 

International Women’s Day is a day to celebrate the achievements of women in all areas of life, and to recognize the continued struggles and obstacles that they face in achieving gender equality. In the realm of sustainability and food systems, women have played a crucial role in driving the transition to more sustainable and just food systems in Europe. One project that highlights this is FEAST, which seeks to engage diverse stakeholders, including vulnerable groups, to co-design sustainable and healthy food solutions at all levels of the food system.