On 16th March 2015 the final project conference was held in Bristol.

The event marked the launch of the 10 cities Local Action Plans as the last step of the Sustainable Food in Urban Communities Network. Participants from many different european cities had the opportunity to explore what cities do or could do to reduce their carbon footprint and improve overall sustainability of their food supply.

Designed to be interactive, following the initial introductions, the conference began with 3 parallel sessions: Re-engaging the population with Sustainable and Healthy food; Canteens & Procurement power: Urban production & local delivery models. Brief presentations of good practise from Partner cities was followed by discussion in small groups exploring what actions could achieve the desired changes. For example the ‘Re-engaging’ session identified the benefit of food champions to mobilise action towards transformation. In Bristol the Allotments Manager is a highly regarded enabler for community groups seeking to grow food in green spaces from community orchards to raised beds in parks. The Strategic director of Neighbourhoods sits on the Health & Wellbeing Board and has recently been officially designated Bristols Food Champion. Results of the discussions were fed back to the conference followed by a Gold standard Soil Association accredited lunch.
The afternoon kicked off with a warm welcome by the Lord Mayor and Francois Jegou our lead expert, an introduction by Stephanie Mantell our lead partner from Brussels, an overview of the overarching URBACT programme by pole manager Ivan Tosics and a presentation from Kevin Morgan chair of the Bristol Food Policy Council entitled ‘ Putting food on the city’s agenda’. Key project findings were then presented with representation from all Partner cities. The afternoon ended with a trip round the ‘market place’ where participants could ‘buy’ best practise from participating Partner cities to take home while sampling some national dishes and drink.
The evening celebration supper on the SS Great Britain was preceded by a welcome from Mayor George Ferguson and was a joint event shared with the UK Sustainable Food cities network who awarded several UK cities bronze and silver in recognition of their policy and action towards sustainable food provision.