FOLOU

The FOLOU project – Bringing knowledge and consensus to prevent and reduce FOod LOss at the primary production stage. Understanding, measuring, training and adopting – aims to prevent and reduce the amount of food intended for human consumption that is eventually lost.

Project co-funded by the European Commission under the Horizon Europe programme, 2023 - 2026. 

Grant agreement number: 101084106

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Each year, a substantial amount of food loss (FL) is generated at the primary production stage; FL have negative impacts on the society, contributing to food insecurity, depleting the environment, generating avoidable GHG emissions and creating pressure on land and water. Currently, key challenges hampering the reduction of FL are: regulatory challenges, technical challenges, scientific challenges and social challenges. FOLOU is willing to contribute in overcoming these challenges, being the main objective of the project to set up the necessary mechanisms to:

• measure and estimate (robust and harmonized methodology),
• monitor and report (national and EU FL registries),
• and assess the magnitude and impact of FL.

Additionally, FOLOU will also work to assure the appropriate knowledge transfer and adoption of the project outcomes by the key targeted stakeholders: primary producers, retailers, consumers, policy makers and researchers. FOLOU will structure its activities in a comprehensive action plan revolving around four levers of change:

1. Understanding by working on collecting and curing FL available data, by working on understanding the drivers behind food losses and by assessing the impact of these losses;
2. Measuring by developing new cost-effective tools for the measurement/estimation of FL and a robust and harmonized methodology;
3. Training by providing tailored trainings to different stakeholders;
4. Adopting by preparing recommendations and creating a twinning programme.

With a duration of 4 years, FOLOU gathers 16 multidisciplinary partners from 10 countries joining forces around a common challenge: Preventing and reducing the amount of food intended for human consumption that is eventually lost.

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ACR+ will support project partners in the establishment of the national food Loss registries, while investigating direct and indirect drivers of Food Losses. ACR+ will also contribute to the development of learning material, potentially addressing the needs of public authorities and their entities in identifying and reducing food losses at primary production level. ACR+ will have a major role in identifying front runner regions across Europe that have adopted successful Food Losses measuring and monitoring system. ACR+ will also be responsible for the implementation of the Twinning Program, a program where regions who have high needs and/or high willingness to progress on FL measuring and reduction will be paired with FOLOU’s partner to replicate the experience of the project beyond the partners’ territorial coverage.

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FOLOU´ project coordinator is UVIC-UCC, FUNDACIO UNIVERSITARIA BALMES (ES) and its project partners are:

• ACR+, Association of Cities and Regions for sustainable Resource management (BE)
• UNIBO, ALMA MATER STUDIORUM -UNIVERSITA DI BOLOGNA (IT)
• ESPIGOL, FUNDACIO ESPIGOLADORS (ES)
• UGent, UNIVERSITEIT GENT (BE)
• UNIVPM, UNIVERSITA POLITECNICA DELLE MARCHE (IT)
• NORCE, NORCE NORWEGIAN RESEARCH CENTRE AS (NO)
• DACC, Departament d'Acció Climàtica, Alimentació i Agenda Rural (ES)
• ARC*, AGÈNCIA DE RESIDUS DE CATALUNYA (ES)
• CIRCE, FUNDACION CIRCE CENTRO DE INVESTIGACION DE RECURSOS Y CONSUMOS ENERGETICOS (ES)
• DILEPIX, Dilepix (FR)
• PROMAN, PROMAN MANAGEMENT GMBH (AT)
• IMPACT, IMPACT (BE)
• MIO-ECSDE, MEDITERRANEAN INFORMATION OFFICE FOR ENVIRONMENT, CULTURE AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATION (GR)
• ULIM, UNIVERSITY OF LIMERICK (IE)
• UREAD, THE UNIVERSITY OF READING (UK)

* ACR+ member

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More information:

Agnese Boccalon
Beray Cayli