The present communication aims to address the role of multiactor processes of knowledge generation within agroecological urbanism, through the application of the concepts of
trans-local governance and meta-governance. For this purpose we analyse the outcomes of a Working Group on Agroecological Planning within the Spanish Network of Municipalities for Agroecology. We have collected primary information
through participant observation and selected online surveys
to the group’s participants, and we have analysed the
minutes of the working group. Our results point out the ability
of the different profiles and disciplinary backgrounds for
opening comprehensive approaches to urbanism that are at
the same time innovative and applied to trans-local realities
and needs. Cooperation and complementation between different local realities and positions set possibilities for different
actors that feel isolated or with scarce resources to develop
innovative and comprehensive thinking; and to develop creative, holistic and ready-to-use solutions for relevant issues
regarding agroecological urbanism., The present communication has benefited from grants from the Spanish Ministry of Science and Technology (PID2020-112980GB-C22) and the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (call 2022)., Peer reviewed

Trabajo financiado por el Proyecto del Plan Estatal de I+D+I "Sustainable food networks as value chains for agroecological and food transition. Implications for territorial public policies" (2021-2025): PID2020-112980GB-C21 y PID2020-112980GB-C22., Peer reviewed

Peer reviewed

Peer reviewed

Peer reviewed

The concept of local agroecological food systems (LAEFS) needs to combine, as criteria to
optimise, local food identity and organisational proximity with agroecological principles. Extensive
literature on local agro-food systems (LAFS) exists, but without neither defining nor postulating criteria
for their agroecological orientation. The objective of this paper is to do a reflexive review of literature
about the conceptual factors trying to explain what are the particular characteristics of LAEFS that
distinguish them from LAFS. We explore five axes of analysis: a) to reach a compromise at a local level
between agro-food sectoral specialisation, on one side, and an increased cultivated biodiversity and a
more diversified economic structure, on the other; b) to shorten food channels, geographically and
commercially, as much as possible; c) to build new institutional formulae in the field of logistics and
distribution for the scaling up of sustainable food; d) to develop a participatory, bottom-up, multistakeholder and multi-level territorial governance; e) to co-create knowledge between producers, consumers and researchers based on bottom-up and participatory research methodologies., Peer reviewed

[EN] This research investigates the capacity of agroecological cooperative
supermarkets to promote scaling of sustainable food in Spain, with a dual focus. The
Cooperative Supermarket Network (CSN), established in May 2022 with eleven
supermarkets, and La Osa supermarket, launched in Madrid in December 2020, are the
case studies for analysing, respectively, vertical and horizontal scaling. A participatory
action research approach was employed throughout 2022 and 2023, involving the
research team in the foundational and developmental phases of the CSN and La Osa.
This methodology allowed for a hands-on assessment of the governance and collective
action mechanisms of both organisations. The study confirms that agroecological
cooperative supermarkets are an effective model for the scaling of sustainable food in
Spain. Vertically, these supermarkets benefit from joint service provisions and enhanced
political influence on policy-makers and on the food chain stakeholders. Horizontally, the
focus has traditionally been on recruiting new members of the supermarket, but the
results suggest that membership loyalty strategies are of similar importance to
recruitment. Unlike traditional first-generation responsible consumption models
(consumer groups, farmers' markets, etc.), the agroecological cooperative supermarkets
studied show a robust potential for generating economies of scale and scope., [ES] Este trabajo investiga la potencialidad del salto de escala de los
supermercados cooperativos agroecológicos en España, con un doble enfoque. La Red
de Supermercados Cooperativos (RSC), fundada en mayo de 2022 con once
supermercados, y el supermercado La Osa, inaugurado en Madrid en diciembre de
2020, son los casos de estudio para el análisis, respectivamente, de la escalabilidad
vertical y horizontal. A lo largo de 2022 y 2023 se empleó un enfoque de investigaciónacción
participativa, implicando al equipo de investigación en las fases fundacional y de
desarrollo de la RSC y de La Osa. Esta metodología permitió una evaluación en la
práctica de los mecanismos de gobernanza y de acción colectiva de los miembros de
ambas organizaciones. El estudio confirma que los supermercados cooperativos
agroecológicos son un modelo eficaz para el escalamiento de la alimentación sostenible
en España. Uno de los principales objetivos del escalamiento vertical de la RSC es la
prestación conjunta de servicios y las posibilidades de influencia política en los decisores
públicos y en los agentes de la cadena alimentaria. Horizontalmente, la atención se ha
centrado tradicionalmente en la captación de nuevos socios del supermercado, pero los
resultados sugieren que las estrategias de fidelización de socios son de una importancia
similar a la captación. A diferencia de los modelos tradicionales de consumo responsable
de primera generación (grupos de consumo, mercados de productores, etc.), los
supermercados cooperativos agroecológicos estudiados muestran un potencial
apreciable para generar economías de escala y alcance., Peer reviewed

[EN] In the current context of ecological transition, the importance of the symbolic
and cultural universe of the different agents in the value chains is becoming increasingly
visible as a necessary condition for agroecological scaling. Knowing the motivations,
attitudes and symbols that underlie the choices and practices of the actors involved is
essential for the study of the food transition. Based on a sample of 31 long-term semidirective
interviews carried out with different strategic actors of Sustainable Food
Networks (RAS), this communication reveals what values appear and determine the
different practices in these networks, and to what extent they collectively conform to
along the value chain. These food networks show that to carry out a sustainable food
transition, a change in eating habits based on the production and consumption of organic
food or even economic profitability is not enough, but it is also necessary to support it on
other values, such as justice. and social equity, collective responsibility and care towards
the environment or the reproduction of community identities., [ES] En el actual contexto de transición ecológica se está visibilizando cada vez
más la importancia que tiene el universo simbólico y cultural de los diferentes agentes
en las cadenas de valor como condición necesaria del escalamiento agroecológico.
Conocer las motivaciones, actitudes y símbolos que subyacen tras las elecciones y
prácticas de los actores implicados es primordial para el estudio de la transición
alimentaria. Sobre una muestra de 31 entrevistas semidirectivas de larga duración
realizadas a diferentes actores estratégicos de Redes Alimentarias Sostenibles (RAS),
en esta comunicación se da a conocer qué valores aparecen y determinan las diferentes
prácticas en estas redes, y en qué medida se conforman colectivamente a lo largo de la
cadena de valor. Estas redes alimentarias muestran que para llevar a cabo una
transición alimentaria sostenible no basta un cambio de los hábitos alimentarios basado
en la producción y consumo de alimentos ecológicos o siquiera una rentabilidad
económica, sino que también se precisa su sustentación sobre otros valores tales como
la justicia y equidad sociales, la responsabilidad y cuidado colectivos hacia el medio
ambiente o la reproducción de identidades comunitarias., Peer reviewed

Poster presented at the XI International Conference in agri-food systems, 1-4 September, 2026. The International Land Use Study Centre (ILUSC) at The James Hutton Institute, Aberdeen, Scotland, Unlike the globalized and hegemonic food model, whose basic aim involves optimizing economic profitability and competitiveness, stakeholders' objectives in Alternative Food Networks (AFN) are mainly and also defined by their value chains. Values are not merely ideals, considered as motivations centered exclusively on cognitive mechanisms which respond to a set of principles, but are also socially constructed and arise from practice. This paper aims to investigate sustainable food value chains in the Madrid region of Spain from various standpoints, including production (both agricultural and agro-industrial), distribution (both wholesale and retail), and consumption., No