The FOODGaP Project, funded under the Interreg NEXT MED Programme, is officially starting with a kick-off meeting scheduled for 29–30 September in Athens, hosted by the European Public Law Organization (EPLO).

Led by CIHEAM Bari, FOODGaP brings together a diverse partnership including the City of Tyre (Lebanon), Houmt Souk (Tunisia), the Metropolitan City of Rome (Italy), the Metropolitan City of Mersin (Türkiye), and EPLO (Greece). With a total budget of €1,320,573.41 — of which about €1.2 million is co-financed by the European Union — the project is set to address critical challenges in food governance across the Mediterranean.

FOODGaP supports local authorities and stakeholders in developing participatory and coordinated food policies at both local and cross-border level. The project focuses on two key dimensions:

• Institutional Capacity – strengthening the ability of local authorities and public officers to manage food policy, integrate it across municipal departments, and link it with national decision-making frameworks.
• Multi-Stakeholder Dialogue – promoting collaboration between civil society, businesses, researchers, and public institutions to co-design services and policies that respond to local needs, and testing these solutions through pilot actions.

By bridging governance gaps, the project aims to empower municipalities and communities to co-create inclusive, equitable, and locally driven food policies. New approaches to food access and integration of local policies will be experimented with and highlighted within the Mediterranean Food Policy Coalition, ensuring visibility and advocating for stronger engagement at higher policy levels.

The launch of FOODGaP marks an important step toward building resilient, participatory, and sustainable food systems in the Mediterranean, with local communities at the heart of policy innovation.

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