The food transition in Eastern Europe is more difficult for cultural, political, and economic reasons. Our local governments are not interested in the food policy and transition, and citizens are concerned. But we can change it!
Meat consumption in the region is lower than in many Western European countries. Cities such as Prague or Warsaw are highly ranked as one of the most vegan-friendly in Europe. Vegan options are more and more popular in other countries. Even if this does not translate into sustainable policies yet, politicians will eventually have to take care of the food transition. People have having social or economic concerns. There is a space for dialogue!
We need to develop the Eastern European sustainable food policy that has realistic aims, is tailored to the region and responds to the needs and concerns of citizens. Taste the Change: Sustainable Food Transition in Eastern Europe is a training programme tailored for the youth activists to gain the necessary skills to be the community leaders in the food transition.
Taste the Change: Sustainable Food Transition in Eastern Europe event in Brasov, Romania on 23-26.09.2026.
The main activity of the event will be 4-days camp in Romania that aims to strengthen the organisational and advocacy capacity of youth-led and civil society organisations in Eastern Europe to engage in advancing sustainable and more plant-forward food systems in their municipalities, regions and countries.
Increasing knowledge of food systems as a practical, accessible dimension of the green transition and its relation to climate change, sustainable policies, and environmental democracy.
Strengthening participants' organisational, policymaking and advocacy capacities in relation to food systems and green transition.
Understanding the local and regional contexts, barriers, and opportunities for implementing sustainable policies in Eastern Europe.
Support of participants in developing and implementing a realistic local action plan (e.g. awareness raising activity, advocacy campaign, dialogue with municipality).
The participants are now selected. Stay tuned for the calls for additional participants for follow-up activities, and for opening the online course to the public.
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The online course will consist of 8 lessons increasing the theoretical knowledge of participants, and bringing other dimensions of food transition (such as vegan-friendly places in Eastern Europe, etc.). The link to the online course will be shared with selected participants in July.
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Micro-grants will be available (200 EUR, one-time) for participants to start implementing their local activities, granted upon participation in Taste the Change: Sustainable Food Tranisition in Eastern Europe and completion of 5 online lessons.
Folow-up events
The two follow-up events will be organised, in order to explore further the specific aspects of the project: methods of meaningful citizens engagement (Environmental Democracy Workshop) and policy preparation and implementation (Policy Writing Workshop).
The priority for the workshop will be given to the participants of event in Brasov. There might be additional calls for local participants in case of free spots.
Pathway I: Environmental Democracy Workshop
Environmental Democracy Workshop is a 2-day event in Białystok, Poland, 14-15.11.2026 that will focus on further developing participants' capacities in organising awareness-raising and civic mobilisation activities with regard to food transition. Participants will be equipped with skills necessary to continue work in all three pillars of environmental democracy: transparency, participation, and justice, through a wide range of methods - from access to data and legal challenges, to participatory budgeting and deliberative democracy, to organising grassroots networks. It will combine non-formal and intercultural education with inputs from experts from local civil society, community and politics.
The objectives of the activity are:
Strengthening participants' capacities to engage with local governments and institutions on issues related to food transition;
Building skills necessary to influence environmental decision-making, such as mapping local stakeholders, fostering collaboration between NGOs and communities, and using digital tools;
Further support for participants in developing and implementing their realistic action plans.
Draft agenda
To be modified upon the results and evaluation of main activity, and experts availability).
Pathway II: Policy Workshop
The Policy Writing Workshop will take place in Zagreb, Croatia (TBC) on 23-24.01.2027 (TBC) and will focus on creating and implementing sustainable food policies at the local and national levels. It will be a practice-oriented workshop guiding participants through the full process of writing policies, from defining the exact food transition issue they want to tackle, through mapping stakeholders and evidence base, to designing a theory of change and drafting a well-structured paper. Through non-formal education, input from local councillors, and a writing lab with peer feedback, participants will further build their skills and produce concrete drafts of sustainable food policies for their communities.
The objectives of the activity are:
Building participants' capacities in developing and framing sustainable food policy problems by identifying causes, symptoms, affected groups, evidence or relevant stakeholders;
Strengthening participants' skills in policy design, translating solutions into concrete, well-structured policy papers;
Further development of participants' policy proposals and local actions.
Draft agenda
To be modified upon the results and evaluation of main activity, and experts availability).
The Taste the Change programme is organised with the support of Green Forum Sweden.