Urban agriculture for changing cities: 

Governance models for better institutional capacities and social inclusion 

Venue: Budapest (exact venue will be announced later) 

Date: 19th of March 2019 

We kindly invite you to the final conference of the AgriGo4Cities project that aims to promote participatory urban and peri-urban agriculture (UPA) in order to tackle socio-economic exclusion of vulnerable/marginalized groups and stimulate sustainable urban development. Since the beginning of the project the partnership collected and synthesized relevant knowledge about UPA, developed a concept of participatory UPA and implemented pilot actions in six cities of the Danube Region to test the jointly developed methodology. Approaching the end of the project the AgriGo4Cities partnership with the coordination of the Central Transdanubian Regional Innovation Agency will organize a transnational conference to bring together all the relevant stakeholders from the Danube Region and beyond. For the conference we invite scholars, practitioners, NGOs, activists, policymakers and public institutions’ representatives to share with them the findings of the project and to provide a platform to share research findings, good practices and to reflect them jointly. The conference will focus on the following topics: 

• How to integrate participatory approach into public decision-making? 
• How to promote active citizenship and stimulate dialogue between public administrators and citizens? 
• How to motivate and empower vulnerable/marginalized groups to become socially and economically more engaged by participating in decision-making processes? 
• How can UPA contribute to the development of vibrant community-building spaces, platforms for competitive economic models and clean and sustainable urban environment? 
• What were the experiences during the six pilot actions? Did local administrators learn participatory methods? Could the pilot actions improve the socio-economic inclusion of vulnerable/marginalized groups? Did the pilot actions promote sustainable urban environment? 

The language of the conference will be English, but Hungarian translation will be provided by the organizers. Complementary to our programme we will present the scientific approaches which formed the project in the beginning. A small “marketplace” where the pilot regions present their projects will be prepared as well. 

You can register on the this link to the conference with a short summary of your topic and with a short personal bio. 

You can also register as a participant without giving a presentation. Please make your registration till the 15th of January, 2019, then you will be contacted by the organizers about the acceptance till the 31st of January, 2019. 

There is no registration fee for the participants. However, the participants should cover their travel and accommodation costs themselves. Lunch and catering on the day of the conference will be provided by the organizers. In case of any questions about the participation contact the organizers: Máté Szalók (Central Transdanubian Regional Innovation Agency), mate.szalok@kdriu.hu. 

We are very much looking forward to welcome you in Budapest to the final conference where we will be able to share our experience and realisations with you. 

Kind regards, 

The Organizers