FEAST Project: Food Sovereignty, Agroecology and Sustainable Territories

The FEAST project connects Albanian and French territories, which share a strong relationship with their rural areas. Participate in building a sustainable future for the Mediterranean region.

FEAST (Food sovereignty, Ecotourism, Agroecology and Sustainable Territory) is an ambitious and collaborative decentralised cooperation initiative committed to building more sustainable and resilient territories.

The project promotes four Mediterranean territories, which are either highly urban with a strong connection to their rural areas, or exclusively rural:

• the city of Tirana (Albania), a rapidly expanding metropolis
• the city of Marseille, a Mediterranean metropolis
• the municipality of Arghjusta è Muricciu (Southern Corsica)
• the Isula-Balagna community of municipalities (Northern Corsica).

Running from November 2024 to November 2026, the FEAST project is supported by the Delegation for Local Authorities and Civil Society (DCTCIV) of the Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs.

Strengthening urban-rural links for sustainable territories

Relations between cities and the countryside are at the heart of our Mediterranean heritage and contribute to the future of our territories on key issues:

• Sustainable agricultural practices agroecology, ecotourism, agrotourism, territorial food projects (PAT)
• Healthy and sustainable food, short supply chains, food sovereignty
• Promoting the tangible and intangible heritage of the rural world and its identities
• Improving working conditions and decent incomes for farmers and peasants
• Ecological and climate-friendly territorial planning, resilience to environmental crises

Common solutions for local challenges

Agroecology and the agri-food economy are proposed solutions, supported by new governance approaches, regional planning strategies, and the identification of key projects. The project is therefore structured around a calendar of actions, events and productions: Key concrete actions

• Field visits, discovery of local projects and virtuous practices
• Diagnostics and sharing of successful experiences and initiatives
• New agroecology strategies and analysis of current strategies
• Identification of initial priorities and operational implementation of priority projects

Highlights of the collaboration

• Preliminary mission to Tirana – 20 to 24 January 2025
• Visits to partner regions – 21 to 25 May 2025 for Marseille and 20 to 21 September 2025 for Arghjusta è Muricciu
• Study workshops involving universities and experts – from January 2026
• Tirana Metropolitan Seminar – 9 to 14 November 2025
• Organisation of an event to promote and communicate these approaches and the values of the project – October 2025

Strategic outputs

• Reports on study trips and working groups
• Diagnosis of the challenges, assets and initiatives already present in the different territories
• Development of a territorial strategy adaptable to each partner
• Feasibility studies for priority projects
• Tirana Metropolitan Notebook