Canada: Webinar – City-Made: A Foresight Approach to Urban Agriculture

How can cities remain sustainable, liveable and resilient in the future, particularly when it comes to our food supply?

Date & Time
Wednesday, May 20 2026
10 AM (Montreal, Toronto, New York – UTC?4)
4 PM (Belgium & Germany)

In collaboration with URBAgr’inn Days we are pleased to organize a webinar intilted City-Made: A Foresight Approach to Urban Agriculture. This webinar welcomes Dr. Anna Kirstgen and Dr. Björn Moller from Fraunhofer ISI for this special session exploring foresight approaches applied to urban food systems.

How can cities remain sustainable, liveable and resilient in the future, particularly when it comes to our food supply? This is precisely the question addressed by the EU project Food City Boost. One key approach is to rethink urban agriculture – not merely as an alternative form of food production, but as an integral part of urban systems. Through a dedicated work package, the project specifically incorporates a foresight perspective. This means that it is not just about analysing current developments, but also about systematically considering possible futures and making them tangible. To this end, a comprehensive trend radar has been developed, which highlights over 100+ topics and signals relating to urban agriculture. In addition to technologies such as vertical farming, aquaponics or the use of sensor technology and AI, social, ecological, economic and political dynamics that shape the future of urban food systems are also taken into account.

To complement this, the project works with alternative future scenarios to explore various possible development paths. For instead of merely considering individual trends, the question arises: what happens when different developments converge? What might cities look like where urban agriculture plays a central role – or where it does not? Such future scenarios help us to better handle uncertainties and develop new perspectives. Overall, the project encourages us to look at urban agriculture from various perspectives and to consider together which paths can lead to a sustainable future. The focus is primarily on fostering dialogue between different stakeholders – from researchers and practitioners to the wider urban community.

Speakers
Dr. Anna Kirstgen – Head of the Business Unit Foresight for Companies and Industrial Associations, Fraunhofer ISI
Dr. Björn P. Moller – Research Associate, Fraunhofer ISI
Date & Time
Wednesday, May 20 2026
10 AM (Montreal, Toronto, New York – UTC?4)
4 PM (Belgium & Germany)
Language
English

Link to event.