The development of regional food strategies and cooperative approaches between urban and rural areas to reduce land take represent a suitable approach to the development of sustainable rural-urban linkages. Concrete policy recommendations can be found in the discussion paper of the Rural-Urban-Nexus project led by Ecologic Institute, which was discussed in the final workshop on 29 November 2018.

The development of regional food strategies represents a field of action with high synergies with other areas of sustainable development (health, education, regional added value, environmental protection, etc.). To support food policies and food strategies through federal policy in Germany a number of options have been identified:

• Regulation of the land market and to secure land for regional food supply (e.g. amendment of the land transaction laws of the Länder)
• Use of the scope of procurement law for community catering
• Utilisation of the possibilities for action offered by spatial planning and land use planning, e.g. through sectoral plans for urban agriculture and green infrastructure
• Formulation of a federal food strategy and support for the coordination of regional food initiatives (e.g. through food councils)

Further information about the project and the event can be found on the project website of the Rural Urban Nexus Project.