VISION4FOOD took part in the Gastronomy in Transition conference, held from 29 September to 1 October 2026 in Aarhus, Denmark. The event was organised by Aarhus University together with the International Society of Gastronomic Sciences and Studies (ISGSS) and explored how food histories, ecologies, cultures and material practices can contribute to social, environmental and economic transitions.  

Representing VISION4FOOD, Albina Dioba from Copenhagen Business School presented research on collaboration and open innovation in regional food systems. The contribution focused on how cooperation works across the different groups of the Quadruple Helix: academia, industry, public authorities and civil society. It also looked at where there may be opportunities to strengthen collaboration in regional food systems.  

The presentation, titled “Mapping collaboration in sustainable food systems: a Quadruple Helix open innovation perspective”, was part of the conference session Table 7: Gastronomic Connectivity. The study was based on survey data from 296 stakeholders across five EU regions and examined how participants viewed the quality of collaboration, how often cooperation takes place and where they would like to see stronger connections.  

The findings showed that collaboration is not equally developed across all stakeholder groups. Public authorities were found to play an important coordinating role, while the study also identified opportunities for stronger involvement of civil society in regional food innovation activities.  

Participating in Gastronomy in Transition gave the VISION4FOOD team the opportunity to share these findings with researchers and practitioners working on sustainable gastronomy, food-system innovation and sustainability transitions. The conference theme of Gastronomic Connectivity was particularly relevant to the project’s work on collaboration between different actors in regional food systems.