The Nature-based Solutions in Food Systems Challenge strives to cultivate youth engagement and entrepreneurship by actively involving young individuals in national efforts concerning socially and environmentally sustainable food systems.

The students in the challenge are provided with connections to influential stakeholders, access to high-level events and (knowledge) support from universities to transform their ideas into reality.

Through the challenge, students will not only gain knowledge but also valuable hands-on experiences. The challenge facilitates meaningful connections between students working across interdisciplinary and intradisciplinary fields.

Partners

WUR (Wageningen University & Research) and NFP (Netherlands Food Partnership) jointly organize this challenge with a strong focus on building a partnership with universities from the global south and stronger connections to food systems transformation pathways in the different countries. The challenge aims to build a partnership with universities in the global south to support youth engagement and entrepreneurship in food systems transitions.

The challenge is supported by FFAR (Foundation for Food & Agriculture Research).

The student teams

Each participating university will select and supervise two teams. The list of participating universities will be published on this webpage in due time.

The assignment

In this challenge, we ask student teams from the participating universities to work on a nature-based solution within the food system on a local level, addressing climate change mitigation, climate change adaptation and biodiversity restoration, and thereby improving the quality of life. We challenge them to design a project plan and to implement it during the challenge period from April to September 2025. The projects should be feasible, sustainable, scalable, and have impact.

Registration

More information will follow. Stay tuned.

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