BLUMI-Med aims to understand local urban markets in a context-sensitive manner to develop pathways for enhancing their sustainability, upscale local urban markets and broader benefits also for social and cultural values and the local economic fabric, and develop ICT-related business opportunities. BLUMI-Med aims to contribute to reducing food waste and loss, reducing the carbon footprint of food systems, closing cycles in the economy, improving WEFE (Water-Energy-Food-Ecology) Nexus performance, developing local economies and increasing the food security of local populations. Against this background, BLUMI-Med investigates the differentiated nature of local markets in urban and peri-urban areas, their roles in the respective food systems and their sustainability. The consortium consists of 13 research, practice and innovation partners from 9 Mediterranean countries with an emphasis on social science and economics
background on agriculture and food systems. In a transdisciplinary manner, the project will develop a conceptual and methodological framework relying on a Multi-Actor Approach (MAA) for capturing the characteristics, determinants, and sustainability of the diversity of local urban markets across the Mediterranean. It will study and engage with 17 local urban market cases in 8 countries across all Mediterranean regions. It will produce a typology of local markets in urban areas across the Mediterranean that allows transferring project findings and upscaling recommendations. For each (type of) case, innovative stakeholder initiatives, ICT-related business opportunities, and policy- and regulatory approaches will be developed to improve the sustainability of the related food systems and for upscaling local urban markets. They will be identified, adapted to local contexts, and validated via the MAA, in close collaboration with stakeholders at different levels and entrepreneurs. It employs a mixed-method approach combining qualitative and quantitative methods.
