Supporting social innovation in food networks

This case illustrates the contribution of service design to the creation of a network of food-related services as a way to support the sustainable development of agricultural peri-urban areas which are critical areas lying between towns and rural surroundings In this project service design has complemented regional and urban planning disciplines and methods providing a specific perspective on food system relations and interactions; the work has been directed by a new concept of agricultural multifunctionality based on de-mediated distribution systems, and on short food chains between the productive countryside and the city.