Overview of the FOODGaP project
FOODGaP is a governance project co-financed by the Interreg NEXT MED Programme 2021–2027. Coordinated by the CIHEAM Bari (Italy), the project brings together six main partners — Tyre Municipality (Lebanon), Mersin Metropolitan Municipality (Türkiye), European Public Law Organisation (Greece), Metropolitan City of Rome Capital (Italy), and the Municipality of Djerba Houmt Souk (Tunisia), along with five associated partners.
With a total budget of €1.32 million and a duration of 36 months, FOODGaP aims to strengthen local authorities’ capacity to design and implement participatory and cross-sectoral food governance models in the Mediterranean. The project fosters cooperation among public administrations, research institutions, civil society, and the private sector to advance just, green, and inclusive food systems.
METREX, as an Associated Partner supporting the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital in the implementation of WP3, supports the capacity-building programme and the dissemination of the project’s events and outputs.
FOODGaP: Capacity Building Programme (WP3)
Within the Interreg NEXT MED FOODGaP project, a dedicated Capacity Building and Peer-Learning Programme has been developed to strengthen Mediterranean local and metropolitan authorities’ ability to design and implement participatory, cross-sectoral, sustainable and inclusive food governance models. The programme supports cooperation among public administrations, research organisations, civil society and the private sector, and contributes to the project’s governance objectives under Interreg NEXT MED.
A structured learning pathway (Nov 2025 – Sept 2026)
The programme is organised as a sequenced pathway that helps partners move from evidence to learning, from experimentation to application, combining three interconnected components:
- Five thematic webinars (90 minutes each), running from January to September 2026, designed as a progressive sequence including:
Workshop n.1 – Open data & monitoring (14 January 2026)
Workshop n.2 – Multilevel governance and participation (4 February 2026)
Workshop n.3 – Circularity, food loss and food waste (18 February 2026)
Workshop n.4 – Equity, right to food and preparedness for extreme events (18 March 2026)
Workshop n.5 – Public procurement for sustainable and healthy meals (16 September 2026) - A Living Lab in Rome (5–7 May 2026): a 2.5-day hands-on co-design event embedded in the ASviS National Sustainable Development Festival, combining collaborative workshops and study visits to support solution prototyping.
- Three cycles of City-to-City Exchanges planned for April, June and late September/early October 2026, enabling peer learning through study visits, technical workshops and replication clinics.
What the programme focuses on
The programme content is grounded in a shared needs assessment (desk research + partner dialogue) identifying key structural challenges for Mediterranean food systems, including fragmentation in multilevel governance, weak circularity and surplus management, limited monitoring capacity, equity blind spots, and underused public procurement leverage.
Expected results
Through shared tools, case-based learning and in-person exchanges, the programme aims to generate practical outputs—such as starter kits, canvases, casebooks and prototype workflows—and to strengthen long-term collaboration across partner cities, feeding into local implementation and project capitalisation activities.
More information
About the project: https://www.interregnextmed.eu/project-page/foodgap/about/
For info, please do not hesitate to contact the Secretariat of METREX at viviana.rubbo@eurometrex.org
