Systems of food, agriculture and integrated resources are critical drivers for the development of sustainable, resilient cities. Helping those in metropolitan regions to feed themselves is one of the biggest challenges the world is faced with. We all realize that it is not just a matter of food quality, but also of equitable access to food, of meeting diverse consumer needs and preferences, of nutritional value of food, of designing new business and logistical models and production systems. The opportunity is to develop truly integrated food and agriculture systems combined with Triple-P value creation: economical (profit), social (people), and ecological (plant/environment), producing a sustainable quality of life using less land, water, and energy.  The key issue is not just seeing the potential of reconnecting agriculture and urban cities, but of how to actually do this.

The seven-week “Worldwide Open Workshop” series sponsored by the MSU Global Innoversity introduced five critical operating principles that make up an implementation set for generating innovation projects in complex metropolitan settings.