The new project “ Collaborative Innovation for Sustainable Value Chains: A Case Study Approach (CI4VC)” is supported by ELLS network and the project team consists of academic staff from BOKU, CZU and SLU. The main goal of the project is to connect students of three ELLS universities (horizontally) and at the same time of different study programs (vertically) within one university so that they jointly develop a case study focused on sustainable value chain analysis from one of the selected East African countries.
According to the developed case study template, the five case studies will gradually circulate among three universities. The transdisciplinary approach will be ensured through a combination of various involved courses taught at BOKU, CZU, and SLU, such as Plant Protection Biology, Project Monitoring and Evaluation, Value Chain Management, Marketing of Tropical Products, Scientific Communication and Impacts (Applied Development Research), Quality Storage and Processing of Plant Products. The sustainability of the value chains will be evaluated from a broad spectrum of food systems perspectives, starting from sustainable production, processing and crop improvement through identification of key stakeholders and consumption patterns to waste management and final recommendations. As the case study target countries were identified East African countries:
- Ethiopia (coffee)
- Kenya (mango)
- Rwanda (tea)
- Somalia (sorghum)
- Uganda (plantains)
- Tanzania (beans)
The students will prepare presentations and posters, which they will present during the Green Plate Forum 3.0 event, organized in the second half of June 2025, in the TÜWI student restaurant, BOKU, Vienna, Austria. During this event, students will compile a degustation menu composed of one dish per country, prepare the recipe, focus on the sustainability of the production of the selected dish, and discuss the aspects of inclusivity of value chains of involved ingredients and dishes. The event attendees will be students and academic staff of BOKU, CZU, SLU and other ELLS universities, plus invited guests (e.g., stakeholders, policy and other decision-makers). This unique environment will provide a safe space for students to exchange ideas and opinions on (plant-based) food production, food security and sustainable production of (plant) food ingredients and possible alternatives that are part of traditional dishes of displaced inhabitants of each country from the case studies.
The results of the entire project will be presented at the ELLS 2025 student conference in a special section. euroleague-study.org/en/r-20339-student-conference
