EAT FOUNDATION

Their core work

EAT Foundation is an Oslo-based NGO that works at the intersection of food science, urban policy, and impact investment to accelerate the transition to sustainable food systems. In both H2020 projects they functioned as a knowledge and advocacy partner, contributing expertise on food system transformation, citizen engagement, and the policy levers that connect urban food demand with rural food production. Their work focuses on translating research into actionable city-level food strategies and on mobilising finance for food system change. They operate across the science-policy-business interface, making them unusual among H2020 food organisations that are typically anchored in either academia or industry.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Both projects started in 2020, so there is no multi-year arc to observe in the traditional sense — however, the keyword shift between the two projects reveals a meaningful thematic movement. FoodSHIFT2030 was oriented around systemic change at the supply-demand interface: food system transition, urban-rural linkages, citizen empowerment, and climate mitigation. FOOD TRAILS moved the emphasis downstream toward implementation: city-region food systems, urban food policy, living labs, and impact investment. The trajectory suggests EAT has shifted from diagnosing what needs to change in food systems toward designing the governance and financial mechanisms that make change happen at city level.

EAT Foundation is moving from broad food system advocacy toward concrete urban policy implementation and the mobilisation of private investment — making them a strong partner for city-focused or finance-adjacent food system projects.

How they like to work

EAT Foundation has participated exclusively as a consortium partner — never as coordinator — across both H2020 projects, suggesting they prefer to contribute specialist advocacy and policy expertise within larger research consortia rather than leading project management. Despite only two projects, they have accumulated 58 unique partners across 14 countries, which points to large, multi-actor consortia typical of Innovation Actions. This broad partner exposure without coordinator responsibility is characteristic of an organisation that brings convening power and thematic authority rather than administrative capacity.

EAT Foundation has engaged with 58 unique partners across 14 countries through just two projects — an unusually high ratio that reflects the large, multi-city consortia typical of food system Innovation Actions. Their network spans European and likely global nodes given their Oslo base and international mandate.

What sets them apart

EAT Foundation occupies a rare position in the H2020 food space as a science-informed NGO with direct access to policymakers, city networks, and impact investors — rather than being a university research group or industry player. Their value in a consortium is the ability to bridge research outputs to policy adoption and private finance, two bottlenecks that purely academic food research consortia regularly struggle with. For a project coordinator looking to demonstrate real-world uptake and policy impact, EAT brings credibility and connections that are difficult to replicate from within academia.

Highlights from their portfolio

• FOOD TRAILS
  The largest project by EC funding (EUR 572,085) and the one that most fully expresses EAT's positioning — connecting urban food governance, living lab experimentation, and impact investment in a single project running to 2024.
• FoodSHIFT2030
  Focused on fast-tracking food system transition by 2030 with explicit attention to urban-rural linkages and citizen empowerment, reflecting EAT's science-to-society mission and climate framing.