The European Symposium in Granollers concludes with a manifesto to boost cultivated biodiversity in cities

After two days of lectures and networking, the 1st European Symposium “Fostering Cultivated Biodiversity through Local Food Policies” concluded on Wednesday, April 30, with the presentation of the Granollers Manifesto. This document, developed through the collective work of organizing entities and participants, aims to chart a roadmap toward a shared vision: that by 2050, all municipalities in Europe will have food policies that contribute to producing sustainable and healthy food within planetary boundaries, ensuring the economic viability of their communities and inhabitants.

In the opening session, Mayor Alba Barnusell welcomed participants by highlighting the city’s commitment to sustainability. Enrique Pueyo, Mayor of Aínsa and President of the Network of Municipalities for Agroecology, stated: “As Mayor of Aínsa, I am convinced that food policies with an agroecological approach must integrate cultivated biodiversity.” Pueyo celebrated the opportunity to “share this space with representatives from municipalities and organizations across Europe.”

Mariateresa Lazzaro, researcher at FiBL Switzerland and scientific co-coordinator of LiveSeeding, emphasized that local seeds are essential in agroecological food systems: “Together, we can drive a coordinated, multi-actor, and multi-level effort to increase cultivated biodiversity, from farm to fork.”

María Carrascosa, coordinator of the LiveSeeding project within the Network of Municipalities for Agroecology, added that the goal of the meeting is “to strengthen the integration of cultivated biodiversity into municipal actions as a tool to build sustainable, healthy, and biodiverse local food systems, establishing the necessary alliances to support this effort.”

Legislative frameworks, policies and financing for seed systems
During the session on legislative frameworks, policies, and multi-level funding programs for a biodiverse seed system, Cristina Massot from the Government of Catalonia highlighted that “biodiversity is the foundation of food security, resilience, and quality.” Sonia Callau, from the Barcelona Provincial Council, emphasized that her institution “works to conserve and promote natural heritage through sustainable and integrated management of farming systems.” At the local level, Francesc Arolas, Deputy Mayor for the Environment in Granollers, stressed the importance of the regional seed bank and the “Productes de Palou” brand: “Cultivated biodiversity is a key element of our food system: sustainability, heritage, gastronomy, culture, climate change adaptation…”

Day 2: Municipal initiatives across Europe
The second day (April 30) showcased initiatives from municipalities and organizations promoting cultivated biodiversity within sustainable and healthy local food systems. Jérémy Camus, Vice President of the Lyon Metropolis (France), presented an ambitious “seed-to-plate” food policy: Lyon has created a 6,000 m² metropolitan seed bank and an experimental station dedicated to multiplying adapted varieties. Seeds are offered free of charge to local farmers through participatory breeding programs, and food grown from these seeds will be included in local school canteens in the coming years.

From the Basque Country, Iker Santocildes, Mayor of Orduña, shared his town’s food strategy toward 2030, based on agroecology and the recovery of native varieties. “Integrating cultivated biodiversity into the food system is a tool to reconnect rural and urban areas,” said Santocildes, pointing to initiatives such as a flagship orchard of local apple and pear trees, support for producer markets, and the reintroduction of traditional crops in collective catering.

Carmelo Troccoli, Director General of the World Farmers Markets Coalition, emphasized the role of farmers’ markets in sustainably managing biodiversity. He recalled that around 75% of agricultural diversity has been lost due to industrialization and globalization of food systems, and stressed that “biodiversity must not only be preserved but also produced, marketed, and valued.” Thanks to the commitment of “custodian” farmers and direct sales networks, many unique products have been saved from extinction. “Every purchase at a local market is a vote for sustainability and cultivated biodiversity,” he concluded.

Food and climate emergencies
The session on climate and biodiversity emergencies provided insights from local governments and civil society. Saverio Mecca, Councillor for Ecological Transition in Scandicci (Italy), presented the city’s policies to integrate agrobiodiversity into urban planning. Scandicci has adopted a One Health approach that links human well-being with ecosystem health, developing a comprehensive plan that includes organic urban gardens and cultivated biodiversity in land-use planning, within a broad municipal food policy perspective.

Maria Young, representative of the Cork Food Policy Council (Ireland), advocated for reimagining Ireland’s food system in the face of the climate crisis. Young criticized the current industry roadmap that sees the country as a platform for producing 7 million cattle and promoting intensification as the only path—ignoring human, cultural, and environmental assets. In contrast, she highlighted community initiatives in Cork—such as urban gardens and local seed banks—and emphasized that food can be “part of a civic renewal” offering social, economic, and environmental benefits.

The Granollers Manifesto
The event concluded with the validation of the Granollers Manifesto, the result of collaborative work by the organizers, speakers, and participants. In the words of Mariano Iossa, LiveSeeding coordinator, the manifesto aims to “put together practical actions that municipalities, local authorities and communities can engage in to transform food systems at local level”.

“This document proposes an ambitious vision: that by 2050, all European municipalities will have local policies that support sustainable and healthy city-region food systems within planetary boundaries, ensuring decent livelihoods for their communities”, explained Iossa. This manifest identifies agroecology and organic production as an essential framework and places cultivated biodiversity at the heart of these food systems, as a public good managed by local communities.

The Manifesto sets out local action lines in six key areas (governance, diets, social equity, production, distribution, and food waste), aligned with the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact. Concrete measures include prioritizing public food procurement of organic and biodiversity-based products; promoting community seed production in inclusive and permanent urban gardens; supporting entrepreneurship among small and medium-sized businesses in the organic seed and breeding sector; strengthening short food supply chains—local markets, small shops—for organic and biodiverse food; promoting community seed banks; and fostering food education for the public.

It also puts forward recommendations for national and European authorities, such as including support for cultivated biodiversity in national food and climate strategies and in ecological transition plans. It calls for “sustainable food procurement” to be an integral part of the upcoming revision of the Public Procurement Directive, with mandatory minimum criteria for organic food and additional scoring for agroecological practices such as the use of cultivated biodiversity.

During the Manifesto presentation session, Francesco Cagnola from the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact secretariat stated: “When we talk about cultivated biodiversity, urban food production is often seen as entertainment, but we must take it seriously. European citizens should actively participate.” Judith Féher, from the European Coordination Let’s Liberate Diversity!, stressed the importance of co-creating policies with organized civil society to increase their impact: “There are European municipalities working closely with local seed networks that have been active in their territories for some time. At the symposium, we’ve seen several successful examples of these partnerships.”

The symposium was organized by the City Council of Granollers, in collaboration with the Network of Municipalities for Agroecology and the European LiveSeeding project, and supported by an international committee of European cities and organizations such as the FAO and the Milan Pact. The organizers extend their gratitude to all participating entities for making Granollers the European hub of discussion on seeds and cultivated biodiversity, laying the groundwork for future collaboration between cities in launching joint projects.