11.07.2023

Last week 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!

Photos: Lenard Opeskin, Anke Hahn