The Food Innovation global mission has just begun!
With so much excitement and enthusiasm to start 2017, we announce the beginning of the Food Innovation Global Mission.
This global discovery mission to explore the future of food has just taken off with the first stop in Amsterdam. This unprecedented educational experience is the main part of the new edition of the Food Innovation Program with 15 international young food champions.
Food Innovation Global Mission…How does it all fit together?
It all started with establishing the Food Innovation Program in 2015, a second level master program at the unviersity of Modena and Reggio Emilia, a bold attempt to bring the opportunities of an acceleration program to post university education, making a clear statement about the need to innovate in higher education to meet the job market needs. The program was designed to equip visionary change makers with the necessary tools, as well as entrepreneurial and forecasting skills to better perform their roles in a fast paced world. The Emilia-Romagna region, the home of the Food Innovation program, is also the home of prominent food traditions that started off one day as novelties. These innovative solutions were based on the opportunities offered by the territory, perfected over time until they became an integral part of the character of the territory and people who live in this territory. When the technological innovation culture that Silicon Valley has become famous for met the Food tradition/innovation of Emilia Romagna, thus the Food Innovation Program was conceived.
Innovation practitioners have recognized how exploring and scouting for innovation signals are vital for meeting people’s needs in effective ways. For the first cohort, this exploration work was mostly done at the world fair in Milan. Students enrolled in the current cohort will stop at a number of food innovation hotspots, not only to see the newest trends, but also to explore food traditions in different parts of the world. The guiding principle of this exciting project is “The future is already here,” thus it becomes imperative to look for future trends in other contexts. Innovation in something as intimately close to the human experience as food, is indeed context specific. A journey from the East to the West of the planet will indeed draw important insights about how the Design Driven Innovation paradigm can contribute to solving big challenges related to Food and natural resources.
Here, I quote the words of Sara Roversi, the founder of the Future Food Institute about the itenerary of this first of its kind study tour:
“Our 60-Day exploration to track down “Food Heroes”, identify “Food Icons”, experience “Food Rituals” and find “Food Innovation” around the world. Starting from Bologna on January 18, the first stop will be in Amsterdam, then to the US with stops in Boston on January 22, New York on January 26, Davis on January 29, San Francisco & Silicon Valley February 1st. Then we head 5,300 miles across the Pacific Ocean to Kyoto on February 12, Seoul on February 19, Shanghai on February 23, Singapore on March 4 and then in April we will complete the mission in Tel Aviv and then London.”
We will document every step of this journey, and share our insights, discoveries and AHA moments with those who are interested, stay tuned!
