Rapid Transition Lab - Swedish Food Systems

Purpose and goal:

The project succeeded in achieving the goal of increasing understanding of how crises affect the Swedish food system and how they can open up transitions towards a more resilient, healthy and sustainable food system. Through a co-creation process with public, private and non-profit food actors, the lab identified risks and opportunities in the Swedish food systems that arose due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.

The lab has developed an understanding and formulated strategic opportunities for Swedish food actors to engage in rapid change in times of crisis. Expected results and effects:

Through co-creation, a portfolio of strategies was developed in four areas: 1) increase Sweden´s food self-sufficiency, 2) create a culture and practice of regenerative farming, 3) use food for preventative health and 4) ensure affordability while accounting for the true cost of food.

The Rapid Transition Lab developed a process that functioned as a strategy in itself to mobilize and enable Swedish food actors to engage in rapid change, identify possible ways forward, and strengthen transformative capacities in times of crisis and uncertainty. Approach and implementation:

The project was carried out in three phases: create understanding, explore and develop. The first phase was focused on understanding the effects of crises on Swedish food actors, and risks and opportunities with these, through a literature study, a survey, and interviews with key actors. In the second phase, the results and insights from the first phase were used to conduct a scenario workshop with selected actors.

The third phase focused on identifying and systematically selecting strategies for each of the strategic areas identified in the second phase. .