Northrine-Westfalia and Taiwan are of similar size - and radically different. What can we learn from each other´s epxerience, expertice and practices to address the question of how cities might change in the future to address future food needs? What are the implications of a changing, more regionally oriented food production for a city like Taipei? To what extent can the cultural characteristics in Taiwan be used to shape transformations in urban space that improve the relationship between citizens and food with its underlying (regional) products?
Cities can use their unique assets and capabilities to transform themselves from black holes sucking in food, energy, and other resources to engines of a regenerative food system and bioeconomy. By taking an approach based on circular economy principles, cities can reimagine today’s food system and realise their potential to help shape a healthier, more diverse, and resilient future food system. This project investigated the topic of urban change with a special focus on the use of digitalisation aiming at the social involvement of people.
- What can be the role of restaurants in a circular urban food system?
- How can blockchain technology change the relation between (peri-urban / urban) farmer and consumer in a new and positive way? (special case: farm to plate restaurants)
- What are the main drivers for waste in the context of food (e.g. to-go culture) and how can they be influenced towards a circular food economy?
- What might emerge from understanding food as an urban element?
- …
Professors
Prof. Philipp Heidkamp, Prof. Wan-Ru CHOU, Prof. Hsen CHU, Prof. Sally LIN, project assistant David Martens
Project partners
SCID at Shih Chien University, Taiwan
Time
October 2019-February 2020
Setting
Long-term project (12 weeks) in collaboration with SCID at Shih Chien University in Taipei and a two-week stay in Taipei
Topics
- Future Consumption
Designing scenarios for a new eating out experience (food stall / pop-up / restaurant / farm to plate …) in a specific location with a specific type of food.
Context: In the future, the concepts of restaurants will proceed to change. How can we re-think our understanding and concept of “restaurant”? Where – in the neighborhood – would such a place be? What would be the experience, depending on a very specific type of food they are offering? What type of specific (food) products would be available? How will it connect (to) consumer/citizen and farmer? Which information is relevant for the food, for the cultivation process, which communities might emerge? What do people (need to) know about the food they eat? Are restaurants embedded in (specific) communities? - Future Distribution / Retail
Designing scenarios for a specific market / retail (food / agriculture market / pop-up store) experience in a specific location and a specific type of food.
Context: Designing a new market / retail experience to meet emerging customer’s needs. Where will those places be? What are the best places and why? Who will be the customers? What will be “sold”? How will this match new shopping behaviors you see emerging? Which information is available about the products and how will people use this information, get in touch with it? What is the new experience? How can we address very specific cultural acceptances? - Future Distribution / Sharing
Designing scenarios for a new food sharing experience in urban space creating communities of practice using hybrid platforms (including three specific places).
Context: How can we learn from cases like food banks all over the world and avoid that food to good to be wasted will reach new people / customers? How can we design this setting to make it accessible? Where and how in Public space can this happen? How will it be organized that people accept it, like it and maybe even build communities around it? - Future Farming / Agro-Communities
Designing scenarios for new types of Agro-Communities in / around Taipei
Context: Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as a success model in Taipei and what are opportunities, activities and challenges when implementing new technologies emerge? How to connect citizen and farmer, what is the benefit for them? How can the process of farming be monitored? Which data are / might be available? How are digital media used to strengthen communities? How to build and strengthen communities, which communities emerge? How and what to share and work together? - Future Farming: Relationships
Designing scenarios for interaction with / accessing information about food and ingredients to establish new (food) values and (key stakeholder) relationships.
Context: What kind of data would be valuable from the different perspectives (consumers, farmers / producers) and how can sharing this data influence their relationship and bring new values to food? According to the different types of data, how can future technologies be applied to carry this information, which interface could this imply and what could this mean for food “packaging”? - Future Food: New Products
Designing scenarios at a specific place to present and experience relevant information as a “food exhibition” by appropriate means and (hybrid) media
Context: What are typical Taiwanese agricultural products, how can we analyse it and use the available data to both inform customers and come to new use of all possible byproducts? How can value be created, how can customers get a new attitude to a product through this knowledge? This includes every possible step in tracing back the growth and processing of the product. Designing the information layers of a food product and emerging opportunities based on this knowledge
Participants
12 students from Taiwan, 15 students from Cologne: Helena Frey, Florian Wiederstein, Kira Esser, Maxime Ridzweksi, Yasmine Aoufi, Anastasia König, Samia Rachid, Jeldrik Kirschbaum, Anna-Luz Pueyo, Matea Varvodic, Clara Schmeinck, Kalia Ruiz, Sarah Pearson, Kojiro Watanabe