At the beginning, three short presentations provided impulses for discussion: Robin Ehrhardt from the Bavarian Competence Centre for Nutrition (KErn) presented the gastronomy platform Wirt sucht Bauer and Philipp Kögler spoke about the initial successes with the digital marketplace lefoodie for regional producers and restaurateurs in the Leipzig region. In addition to the two marketing platforms, Stefan Mansfeld from the Saxon State Office for Agriculture and Geology presented the consumer portal regionales.sachsen.de. The event was moderated by Julia Leuterer from the Lokale Agenda Dresden.

After the keynote speeches, there was a lively discussion: The willingness to pay for regional products can be very high among guests as end customers. The prerequisite for this, however, is convincing 'storytelling', the telling of an authentic story about the producer and the origin of the products at close quarters. The need for a regional marketing platform is definitely there, but the challenges are logistics, a sufficient product range and quantities that meet demand. Personal contact between producers and restaurateurs should not be underestimated as the basis for a good business relationship. In the usually stressful everyday business with few time resources, an order must also be completed with just a few clicks. 

After the event, there was a high demand on the part of the gastronomy for contacts to producers and for the further development of regional sources of supply. These and other topics in the area of regional added value will be addressed by the OLGA project in the upcoming months. 

In a comprehensive analysis of the landscape conditions in Dresden and the surrounding area, we look at the region from a variety of perspectives. In this way, we want to explore and visualise the status quo of the landscape, its characteristics, potentials and natural features, in order to identify and implement possibilities for sustainable land use and management. The landscape in a 50 km radius around Dresden is being examined, e.g. with regard to its soil fertility, existing protected areas, natural structure and water body types. The current landscape structure is visualised by means of various thematic maps.  

The focus of the analysis has so far been on the natural landscape conditions. Namely, we want to find out how the region has "naturally grown". Currently, the focus is more on the cultural-spatial characteristics and preconditions in relation to the areas of agriculture and food economy as well as nature conservation and biodiversity. What (social) function can orchards or hedgerows, for example, take on in this respect, e.g. as a source of food or as places of recreation? How resilient are agriculturally used areas to climatic changes? And what about land use for (human) food purposes in the Dresden region? We will find answers to these and other questions. So stay tuned.

Money and finance play an important role in shaping the transformation of society as a whole, including in the agricultural and food sector. The current market economy system, including European, national and regional support measures, is still aimed at maximising profits and growth instead of promoting efficient enterprises with sustainable management strategies. The direct participation of social actors such as citizens, associations, initiatives, federations or the public sector in enterprises of the regional and local agricultural and food sector has so far been implemented only to a limited extent.  

The urgent need for social change to bring existing resources and economic activities into balance can only be realised by adapting human needs and the associated value creation processes to the resources that are still available. In this respect, transformation in the sense of this observation is not an exclusively technical, material or business process, but a transformation of society as a whole, including individual and collective consciousness. The design of sustainable forms of participation and financing can make a valuable contribution to this. 

The OLGA project creates and supports sustainable forms of participation and financing for start-ups and existing companies that are disadvantaged in traditional bank financing due to their strong value orientation compared to typical business models. Based on a model of social participation and regionally financed value chains developed within the project, young agricultural businesses and start-ups in the food sector in the Dresden region in particular are supported. The main focus is on establishing a value-added corporate purpose, i.e. expanding the company's purpose to include ecological, social and community-building aspects.   

In order to generate more knowledge transfer and exchange in this area, we are part of the Leipzig Finance Forum with OLGA. This sees itself as a platform  

• to think about sustainable financing from a bottom-up approach, from the smallest economic unit of a founder that:attracts venture capital, to alternative forms of financing, to new risk-sharing models, 
• to discuss and find out which building blocks are needed to shape a corporate culture and which concepts, solutions and, above all, financing tools are needed to operate successfully with all stakeholders on an equal footing and 
• to describe optimal start-up and development conditions for start-ups and existing companies and to test and implement them using exemplary solutions for a forward-looking business environment. 

People in Germany are attaching increasing importance to a healthy and balanced diet, preferably from regional and sustainable cultivation. The need for regional and even local self-sufficiency is growing all the time. The use of pulses as a key element in regional supply plays a key role in this. Peas, beans, lentils, lupins and chickpeas are celebrated as superfoods due to their versatile nutrients, protein content and versatility in the kitchen. The cultivation of pulses also makes a significant contribution to climate adaptation and soil regeneration. 

The regional value chain of pulses extends across various stages, from sustainable production and harvesting to processing, marketing and finally consumption by the local population. The cultivation of pulses not only increases agricultural income, but also promotes biodiversity and reduces soil erosion. At the same time, pulses provide a healthy source of protein and help to strengthen food security at regional level.

Our aim is to sustainably increase regional value creation with pulses in the Dresden region and in Saxony. To this end, we look at existing regional value chains with peas, beans, lentils and other legumes and help to further develop and, if necessary, expand them through active cooperation and networking between the players involved. We also approach restaurateurs and food producers in Dresden and the surrounding area and show them how they can successfully integrate these little all-rounders into their cuisine. 

This is where we present our value-added experiments, tasting events and various activities on the topic of pulses and regional nutrition. You will also find lots of OLGA and external information material on the topic of pulses.

Sometimes people with the same ideas meet in the right place at the right time. About six months have passed since Veronica, expert for pulses in the OLGA team, met Ali Habiballah at a practical workshop on processing pulses for out-of-home catering organized by OLGA and our cooperation partner NAHhaft. Ali offered his premises for the workshop and, as Zaituna he is a producer of Mediterranean delicacies for the Dresden organic trade and catering for all occasions. The entrepreneur attaches great importance to the quality and regional origin of food. He has experience in preparing products from pulses, e.g. for hummus and falafel. So far, he has processed chickpeas from a farmer in Saxony-Anhalt.  

Veronica had already been in contact with Saxon farmers in the run-up to the workshop who have already integrated lentils, lupins etc. into their crop rotation - including Eckard Voigt, who grows and directly markets green plate lentils in Doberquitz near Leisnig. In conversation with Ali, she counted Voigt's lentils, Ali's creativity and passion for good regional food together and asked him whether he could imagine using these ingredients to create an innovative regional product and adding it to his range.  

No sooner said than done!  Ali didn't need to be told twice and got started. At the beginning of September, there was a world premiere at the annual intercultural meeting and tasting event "Dresden isst bunt": The first falafel made from Saxon lentils were offered to the people passing by through a cooperation between Zaituna (Ali), farmer Voigt and OLGA! The more than 400 falafel aroused a lot of curiosity and enthusiasm and were eaten within a very short time - first test passed!  

The next test took place in front of a specialist audience at the ISSGUT! gastronomy trade fair in Leipzig, where we were very lucky to be able to use the stand of the Saxon Agency for Regional Food for the tasting. Here, too, the Saxon falafel was well received: "Tastes like meat" or "Unique taste" were the comments of the tasters!  

Since 11.12.2023 the newly created regional product is organic certified in order to go on sale at the beginning of the new year. Anyone who is curious should pay a visit to the stores of the Dresdner Verbrauchergemeinschaft and the city's organic food stores in February 2024. Here and there, Saxon lentil falafel may have sneaked into the sale. Enjoy the taste! ;-)

In summer 2023 we developed visions for a regional legume value chain in Dresden and Saxony in 2045 together with people who are committed to a sustainable and regional agriculture and food economy. In terms of content, we moved between existing social, technical, economic, environmental and political problems in designing the value chain, and concerns, hopes and wishes of the actors, as well as their relationships and dependencies on each other.

On the basis of these findings and the participants' evaluation of given future scenarios on cultivation conditions, processing, distribution and the social value of pulses, we developed two future visions for a functioning value chain for pulses using a map of the Dresden region and Lego Serious Play. Model and experimental farms distributed throughout the region and a coordinated integration of diverse varieties into the crop rotation form the basis for a year-round regional supply of pulses in 2045. Canteens, restaurants and private households benefit from consumer-oriented marketing forms in the city - from the farm shop, subscription box, food hub and 24/7 pick-up boxes to the vegetable stall at the weekly market! These are equipped with a CO2-neutral sophisticated logistics system "Farm2Fork". Research, education and communication about the ecological,

climate and nutritional value of legumes is happening on a grand scale. Legumes are (again) an integral part of our regional diet!

We would like to thank Lenard and the Chair of Technical Design at TU Dresden for the opportunity to organise a workshop at the COSMO Science Forum. It was a great experience and lots of fun! We really enjoyed the delicious finger food made with pulses and love by the Palais Café.

What is the importance of pulses for you? How often a week do you enjoy them - as a dried whole fruit or processed into spreads, meat substitutes, vegetable drinks, etc.? Would you like to see a future with more legume products? If so, which would you prefer? Write us your thoughts: projekt-olga@dresden.de!