After three years, the ViVid Project has come to an end!
The goal of the project is to equip citizen-led food networks with the tools, skills, and visibility they need to thrive, boosting resilience, impact, and inclusivity through cutting-edge training, peer-to-peer learning, and digital innovation.
Running from October 2023 to July 2026, the project focuses on developing three thematic pillars of healthy and sustainable LSPA & CSA networks: Viability, Visibility, and LiVeability (the “3Vs”). These pillars are crucial to ensuring the resilience and sustainability of local food systems, giving them the capacity to combat climate change, strengthen food communities, and foster community-driven food systems.
The purpose of focusing on the three Vs is to holistically address the challenges faced by CSA and LSPA networks.
- Viability: This pillar aims to strengthen the practical, structural, and organisational foundations of CSA/LSPA networks. Many of our networks face challenges in securing fair wages for farmers. Others struggle to secure economic sustainability. Still others find difficulties arranging, organising, and supporting the practical elements of a network. By improving practical strategies and governance, and by supporting methods to strengthen network coordination and cohesiveness, ViVid helps these networks become more resilient and better equipped to support both farmers and consumers in the long term.
- Visibility: Raising awareness and showcasing the innovative potential of CSA/LSPA networks is vital for their growth. This pillar focuses on communication strategies that make these networks more visible to the public, their internal communities and stakeholders, external policymakers, and potential new members or volunteers. By improving outreach, these networks can attract more support, create learning opportunities, and drive systemic change in food production and consumption.
- LiVeability: Creating inclusive, thriving communities is essential to the success and health of CSA/LSPA networks. This pillar addresses the social dimensions of sustainability, including the values, conflicts, and constraints that arise within these organizations. By fostering active citizenship, well-being, and conflict resolution, ViVid ensures that these spaces are not only economically viable but also socially vibrant and resilient.
To achieve these goals, URGENCI and its partner organizations – AMPI (Czech Republic), Deafal (Italy), Réseau de GASAP (Belgium), Zambra (Spain), Solawi Netzwerk (Germany), MIRAMAP (France), and FER (Poland) –developed a series of tools and resources that are now available on our HUB in all partners’ languages!
How well is your CSA or LSPA network actually doing and how would you know? Find out by engaging with the tools in our Self-Assessment Toolkit!
During the course of this project, we worked on turning the partners’ collective experience on the “3Vs” into a standardised, usable system so that LSPA and CSA networks can self-diagnose and improve. Such areas for improvement included: financial sustainability, communication, inclusive governance, and well-being.
Here you will find:
- A Best Practice Guide, with practical resources and case studies to help LSPA networks evaluate, enhance, and sustain their Viability, Visibility, and LiVeability.
- A Self-Assessment Survey to conduct structured self-assessments.
- A User Guide to learn more about these tools and how to adapt them to your needs.
Viability seeks to strengthen the economic, practical, and structural foundations of CSA and LSPA networks. Numerous networks encounter difficulties in securing equitable wages for farmers and/or maintaining the economic sustainability of the network.
We worked on this topic during the ViVid Project, and developed tools to help networks supporting agroecology in consolidating their economic, organizational, and strategic sustainability.
Here you will find:
- 📖 A Handbook, to support the sustainability of CSA/LSPA initiatives and their networks by facilitating the identification of priorities for collective action and foster the capacity of members to communicate effectively.
- Coaching sessions focused on topics such as the challenges of becoming financially sustainable, managing the commitment of members and volunteers, strengthening or diversifying fundraising, member and staff burnout, and more!
Visibility means helping people clearly see who you are, what you do, and why it matters. This includes reaching beyond your immediate circle by connecting with members, allies, decision-makers, and the wider public.
During the course of the ViVid Project, we collected practical visibility resources you can use right away.
Here you will find:
- Two training modules to help you improve your Visibility, both online and offline.
- A Digital Media Guide, a multimedia interactive toolkit that networks can access whenever they need support with communication, outreach, or their digital footprint or online presence, with various tools that help to improve their social media presence, editable templates, and other digital media resources.
LiVeability helps networks become more participatory, more inclusive, and also helps them retain their social capital and workforce. It also enables networks to become healthier working environments, fostering a greater sense of purpose in the community and promoting active citizenship and well-being.
We worked on this topic during the ViVid Project, and developed tools to help Networks supporting agroecology in this important aspect of their work.
Here you will find:
- A Handbook, with training focused on building a Common Language, Power Relations, and Care.
- The Compass of Safe Space, a tool for exploring and assessing whether a space for a meeting is safe for everyone involved.
In the midst of several macro and existential challenges our food systems face:
Viability, Visibility, and LiVeability are crucial to ensuring the resilience and sustainability of local food systems.
With this project, we wanted to contribute to gather knowledge, experiences and skills, to improve the sustainable functioning of LSPA networks.
You can find out more about this tools on the URGENCI Hub, and hopefully incorporate them in your work!
ViVid – Apprendre, entraîner et former vers les 3 V des réseaux alimentaires citoyens: Viabilité, Visibilité, Vivabilité
ViVid – Learning, coaching and training towards the 3 V’s of citizen food networks: Viability, Visibility and LiVeability
Erasmus project: 2023-1-FR01-KA220-ADU-000165801
Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA). Neither the European Union nor EACEA can be held responsible for them.
