Advisinars

This session, hosted in September 2026, focused on “Public procurement for schools and the role of SFSCs,” bringing together speakers from the JRC, Food Policy Ireland and the municipalities of Bergamo and Torres Vedras to explore how sustainable public procurement and school meals can support local food systems, sustainability, public health and community involvement.

This session, hosted on July 20, brought together 50+ attendees — advisors, researchers, and food producers from across Europe. Unlike previous advisinars, this edition was more personal, giving the floor to SFSC network advisors Robert Klaassen and Lucia Balak, who took the stage to share their experience and challenges.

This session, hosted in June 2026, focused on “Slaughtering – the many solutions to get meat for local markets”, looking at different practical approaches that can help local farmers bring meat products to local and regional markets.

On May 18, we held the EU4Advice and COREnet advisinar. It brought together 70+ attendees. Among them: advisors, farmers, and food system practitioners from across Europe.

From the REKO model in Finland to open food marketplaces in Ireland, ERP platforms for cooperatives in Spain, and a Croatian digital SFSC hub.

EU4Advice & COREnet hosted an Advisinar on “How food hubs work for local farmers”, featuring practical examples from Ireland, Germany, and Romania.

Our speakers shared how different hub models can strengthen local food systems: Joe Kelleher presented central hubs for organic products in Ireland’s bio-district supply chain, Sophia Goßner introduced Germany’s Kleeberger Kistl cooperative 24/7 self-service model for regional direct marketing, and Judith Molnár presented Romania’s Helyénvaló Food Hub as a local food distribution success story.

For our March appointment EU4Advice and COREnet brought together advisors, researchers, policymakers, and food-system actors to share views on “Food Security, Sovereignty and Resilience: The Role of Short Food Supply Chains. Our speakers explored how SFSCs can build more sustainable, equitable, and resilient food systems: Yuna Chiffoleau examined French regulations and their implications for SFSCs, Ines Jordana presented DG AGRI’s perspective on short supply chains in an uncertain food context, Alejandro Wonenburger García showed how digital tools can empower SFSCs and communities, Thomas O’Connor highlighted how SFSCs and resilience reinforce one another, and Zoltan Dezseny explored ways to strengthen rural–urban food connections.

Hosted on 16th February 2026, this Advisinar session explored how shared local facilities can help small farmers reduce costs, access processing services, and strengthen short food supply chains, with a focus on Austria’s mobile slaughtering facility as a best practice.

Our speakers shared practical experiences from Austria and the Netherlands: Jan Willem van der Schans presented models for organising shared processing facilities for small farmers, Matthias Mayr shared the experience of a mobile slaughtering facility and its benefits for local producers, and Mirijam Zimmermann explained the services and support available for mobile slaughtering facilities.

On 19 January 2026, EU4Advice and COREnet hosted a webinar on how hygiene regulations can better support Short Food Supply Chains while ensuring food safety and consumer trust.
Christian Jochum presented Austria’s best-practice example, followed by a round-table discussion with Mirta Alessandrini, Angel Nepomuceno, Margaux Rusalen, and Françoise Morizot-Braud on making hygiene rules more enabling for small-scale and local food producers.