Understanding food value chains and network dynamics (VALUMICS)
Research Project, 2017 – 2020

The overall objective of the VALUMICS project is to provide decision makers throughout food value chains with a comprehensive suite of approaches and tools that will enable them to evaluate the impact of strategic and operational policies, and enhance the resilience, integrity and sustainability of food value chains for European countries. The consortium driving this proposal has a core of 19 European partners from 14 countries, and two Asian partners.
Given the complexity and diversity of food value chains, and the contexts within which they operate, the VALUMICS project offers a comprehensive and multi-dimensional scope that will go beyond the current state of art to provide new approaches and tools for stakeholders on several fronts. This includes new modelling approaches, consumer research, foresight analysis and synthesis into policy options, adding new perspectives for policy makers, both in government and within the food industry sector. The dynamics within the food systems will be modelled using a causal loop analysis framework, covering the interconnected value, supply, and decision chains. The causality dynamics framework for the VALUMICS project methodological approach will be implemented as a key driver of the project work through workshops involving stakeholders. The causal loop framework will be built with involvement of all participants in the project in order to construct a shared vision of the overall system.
VALUMICS will challenge and go beyond previous research limitations and boundaries through a highly cross-functional project design that will provide a bridging analysis across the economic, environmental and social dimensions previously kept separate. This whole chain analysis perspective will deliver comparative assessments at the European level and beyond. The case studies will cover short supply chains, with local and national analysis, as well as reaching global food chains relevant for sustainable food and nutrition security in Europe.

Participants

Mats Johansson (contact)

Chalmers, Technology Management and Economics, Supply and Operations Management

Collaborations

ASSIST Software

Suceava, Romania

China Agricultural University

Beijing, China

Czech University of Life Sciences Prague (CULS)

Praha, Czech Republic

Emilia-Romagna Valorizzazione Economica del territorio (ERVET)

Bologna, Italy

European Aquaculture Society (EAS)

Oostende, Belgium

Federación Española de Industrias de la Alimentación y Bebidas (FIAB)

Madrid, Spain

Fondation de recherche pour le développement durable et les relations internationales

Paris, France

Lappeenranta-Lahti University of Technology (LUT)

Lappeenranta, Finland

Leibniz Institute of Agricultural Development in Transition Economies

Halle, Germany

Markmar EHF

Reykjavik, Iceland

Natural Resources Institute Finland (Luke)

Helsingfors, Finland

Newcastle University

Newcastle Upon Tyne, United Kingdom

REWE International Dienstleistungsgesellschaft

Wiener Neudorf, Austria

SINTEF Ocean

Trondheim, Norway

The Collaborating Centre on Sustainable Consumption and Production (CSCP)

Wuppertal, Germany

University College Dublin

Dublin, Ireland

University of Bologna

Bologna, Italy

University of Economics, Ho Chi Minh City

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam

University of Hertfordshire

Hatfield, United Kingdom

University of Iceland

Reykjavik, Iceland

Funding

European Commission (EC)

Project ID: EC/H2020/727243
Funding Chalmers participation during 2017–2020

Related Areas of Advance and Infrastructure

Sustainable development

Driving Forces

Transport

Areas of Advance

More information

Project Web Page

http://valumics.eu

Latest update

2020-09-02