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Short Abstract

A multi-actor foresight methodology is being implemented in nine European living labs to explore future food and plant breeding priorities. It highlights how the voice of citizens on agrobiodiversity can bridge the social, technical and cultural gaps between the center and the peripheries.

Abstract

In the European project DIVINFOOD, a multi-actor consultation is being implemented to explore how stakeholders participating in local Living-Labs (LL) envision the future of plant breeding to boost healthy and diverse diets in Europe. The process seeks to reach the peripheries—both social, technical and scientific- by involving people rarely connected to research and with limited awareness of agri-food issues. We focus on cultivated diversity and especially on niche crops (Neglected and Underutilised Crops ). Participants are encouraged to discuss low-tech food processing techniques, local food networks, alternative models of plant breeding and their trade-offs compared to industrial paradigms.

Implemented in nine European living-lab, the methodology combines online information and capacity-building sessions with participatory workshops, where citizens, farmers, researchers and the others stakeholders collectively imagine their “plate of the future”. They are invited to explore the relationships between food choices, plant breeding priorities, seed systems, and the broader socio-technical systems shaping agriculture and a diversity of food landscape.

By experimenting with this inclusive foresight methodology, DIVINFOOD contributes to an emerging field of citizen science in agri-food systems. It demonstrates how participatory approaches can act as democratic tools not only for influencing future plant breeding strategies but also for reorienting research and political agendas toward societal needs. This contribution will discuss the method, key insights, and lessons learned from engaging citizens as co-thinkers in envisioning the future of seeds, crops, and food systems—bridging science, culture, and community through collaboration.