Research
Research institutions gives an essential contribution to smart innovation and regional food frames. Therefore Reframe has secured the involvement of 8 research institutions.Reframe Partner Municipality of Groningen works together with researchers of the University of Groningen on formulating a regional food agenda that is both economically, socially and environmentally sustainable. The work of dr.ir.Paul Buijs in this field is especially relevant and inspiring.
Reframe Partner Regional Cooperative Westerkwartier works together with researchers from the Groningen University of Applied Sciences on next generation cooperatives and on new strategies for procurement. The thinking of drs. Willem Foorthuis is a great inspiration for working on a Regional Cooperative Arrangement and also for building a new cooperation focussed on sustainable beef. Stimulated by Willem Foorthuis the Regional Cooperative Westerkwartier helps a local neighbourhood supermarkt to sell more regional products, organized a conference with the University of Applied Sciences on 'Going Local' and involved many SMEs in the Foodweek dedicated to regional food supply chains.
Reframe Partners Agrovast, Lokalproducerat and Naturbrukforvaltningen work together with the RISE Research Institutes of Sweden and especially with dr. Ulf Sonesson. Ulf Sonesson also presented his current research projects at the Reframe Meeting in Gothenburg in April 2017. Especially relevant to the Reframe project is his research into Combining environmentally and economically sustainable dairy and beef production in Sweden.
Reframe Partner Smagen af Danmark work together with Danish researchers of the University of Southern Denmark on Development opportunities for Small-scale food businesses in the Danish countryside. Smagen af Danmark also works with Agricultural Highschool of Mors.
Reframe Partners Inagro, Centrum voor Onderzoek en Advies in Land en Tuinbouw, PCG and Vives University College are research institutions themselves. They invest their knowledge and resources in helping regional SMEs finding new regional markets and building new forms of cooperation.
A new comparative study among five European regions reveals that the concern for the local economy and the perceived quality of the product are the most important factors in relation to what motivates consumers to buy local food products.
The comparative study, which is commissioned by project REFRAME and carried out by Jesper Kwant, a graduate from Hanze University of Applied Sciences in Groningen, explores the attitude towards local food and the intention to purchase local food among consumers in Västra Götaland (Sweden), West-Flanders (Belgium), Wesermarsch District (Germany), Denmark, and the Northern Netherlands. Read the full report here and the appendixes.