Newsletter October 2021

National engagement drive begins

The time has come for an update on the Food Experience Centre. Since the last newsletter, we have begun the drive for engagement and support at national level. The project team has been to Stockholm to meet with the Swedish Food Federation, Sweden Food Arena, Business Sweden and the Government Offices’ export coordinator for food.

Sweden Food Arena (SFA) brings together companies and industry organisations in the food chain, and last year launched a joint innovation and research agenda for the food sector. This addresses the whole food chain, from primary producers to restaurants and caterers, with the aim of accelerating the pace of innovation in the industry. SFA works to establish better conditions and greater resources for innovation and research across the sector. The goal is to help towards the food strategy’s vision of a Swedish food chain that is globally competitive, innovative, sustainable and an attractive employment option. This fits in well with the ethos of the Food Experience Centre, which will be a physical forum where stakeholders can come together and convey their messages to the public.

The meeting with the Swedish Food Federation was inspiring, as they possess knowledge in so many different areas that are relevant for the food sector. The Swedish Food Federation, a trade and employers’ organization with around 800 members, is now one of the 40 partners that want to see the Food Experience Centre brought to life.

Study visit to the World Food Center Experience

Our friends in the Netherlands have been given the green light to start building their World Food Center Experience (WFC) in Ede! We share their joy at this positive news and look forward to visiting them on 2–4 February 2022. The preliminary programme is as follows:

Wednesday 2 February:
Flight and transfer Linköping–Amsterdam–Ede
Welcome by Marcel Goossens, CEO WFC foundation
Lunch with Leon Meijer, politician Ede Municipality: Municipal role in the development work
David Hess, architect behind the WFC building
BRC, thematic architects from the USA
Dinner with representatives from WFC and the municipality

Thursday 3 February:
Guided tour of the site with landscape architect Bart Janssen
Tour of the business park FoodX with project manager Roger van Hoesel
Tour of the start-up incubator Roots
Joint lunch
Possible visit to Wageningen University, followed by departure to Amsterdam and Schiphol

Friday 4 February:
Guided tour of Schiphol Airport
Flight back to Linköping

Travel will be at cost price. 30 places available – first come, first served. Register your interest with project coordinator Caroline Davidsson, e-mail caroline.davidsson@mjolby.se.

How to make best use of the ideas

We are in the middle of the process whereby our partners meet to discuss the future form and content of the centre. Each working group are scheduled to meet three times, and the first two meetings have now been completed, resulting in many interesting and constructive ideas. We are still in the very early stages, but to secure good partnerships, we need to act well ahead. The working group addressing Väderstad as a tourist destination differs slightly from the other groups with more focused meetings. The project group met Väderstad Local Heritage Society in September and plans to hold a public meeting later in the spring.

We also have a kick-off meeting on 20–21 January at Mjölby Stadshotell, where we will be discussing how to make best use of all the ideas, as well as presenting the three-stage process of the working groups. Please add the event to your calendar now!

Financing

The municipality is currently receiving project financing from the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development. Mjölby Municipality and RISE, Research Institutes of Sweden, have also jointly applied to the same fund for renewed project financing from February 2022. If all goes to plan, construction could begin in 2025.

If you have any questions or comments, please contact one of us below. Until the next time!

The European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development: Europe investing in rural areas