Our event at the UN started with the official remarks by the distinguish excellence representing the hosting countries endorsing the project: H.E. Damiano Beleffi – Permanent Representative, Republic of San Marino; H.E. Amb. João Vale de Almeida – Head of Delegation of the European Union; H.E. Amb. Isabelle Picco – Permanent Representative, Principality of Monaco; ​H.E. Amb. Dang Dinh Quy –  Permanent Representative of Viet Nam; H.E. Amb. Elisenda Vives Balmaña – Permanent Representative of Andorra; Dr. Diani Sadia Wati – Senior Advisor to the Minister for National Development and Planning, Indonesia and Ms Livia Hollins – Director UNFCCC office to the United Nations.

Then we had the great honour to kick off the second phase of discussion along with Mr Maximo Torero (Assistant Director-General for economic and social development FAO) and our founder Sara Roversi.

The core part of the event was moderated by Claudia Laricchia, our Head of Institutional Relations Future Food Institute. As children are so central to the future of the planet and society, she decided to leave the floor to them at the beginning of the discussion. Michele, 12 years old, stated that policymakers should be focused on first priorities. These included facilitating access to healthy food to those population who still don’t have.
This began a journey that spanned Academia with Steven Finn (sustainability leader and Vice President, Food of Waste Prevention at Leanpath – and Affiliated Faculty, Global Innovation for Sustainability at the University of Pennsylvania), entrepreneurs with Francesco Malaguti (President CAMST – Saving water in Food Services [ITALY]) and finally innovator with Mike Wolf (Founder of Smart Kitchen Summit and he is the publisher of Spoon).
The discussion was then continued by three strong women of innovation including Simona Grande(Food Innovation Global Mission Circular System Initiative), Karla Gonzalez Ramos (Future Food Research Fellow – The state of Circular Economy in Mexico), Chiara Cecchini (Global Shaper). Chiara began a discussion on Developing Countries, and in particular Africa, by involving Mwape K Mubukwanu. Originally from Zambia, Mwape is one of the winners of Hack for SDGs hackathon with FAO.
Mark Brand (Professor, chef and purpose-driven entrepreneur) finally closed the conversation by talking about foods ability to facilitate acceptance in our communities and it’s power to provide meaning to lives.
Conclusions:
Mr. Antonio Parenti – Head of the Trade, Economic and Development Section, Delegation of the European Union

From the UN, we moved to Google Food New York where we had the opportunity to observe first hand the work that they do.
Food has always been a priority at Google. However, over the years their focus has continued to evolve. Originally to bring people together and help to build a sense of community, the Google Food Program has grown to provide so much more. Google Food works hard to help Googlers to make healthy and smart choices. Google food recognises the power of food to impact peoples health and in turn their physical and mental wellbeing. This sort of recognition is so important as we continue to shape our shared future!

Our day concluded in Collab with students, policymakers, government representatives and many more. We designed a totally inclusive event tailored around the topic of reducing food waste. We were so lucky to see Mark Brand in action as he worked with our#FoodAlchemist Jose De La Rosa. Together they fed the over 70 people large crowd with carefully prepared upcycled food.
We also had the incredible opportunity to hear from the Italian Consul in New York! While he spoke he covered a number of key points. A major point, that is certainly worth mentioning, is the necessity for us all to work together and use a creative approach to tackle big challenges that we currently face. One thing is for sure, climate action will absolutely be a collaborative effort!

And the best is yet to come! We are proud to announce that we have the dates for the next year Summer Schools:

New York (USA): July 6-11 2020 
Marettino (Italy): July 13 – 18 2020
Dubai (EUA): November 9-14 2020 

Stay tuned for the next updates!