On 19 July (11:00 - 14:00 CET) the CityZen 1st Accelerator for Policy Makers took place digitally under the hosting and facilitation by the Regional Development Fund of Central Macedonia (RDFCM) partner.

The event was based on the Scenario Exploration Systems Urban Farming 2030 tool, which is a serious game to explore possible future UF scenarios and design actions from the prospective of 5 key actor roles and they visions. The tool aimed to foster future-oriented and strategic thinking on UF issues by also promoting spirit of collaboration.

Two scenarios were offered to the panelist of the Accelerator from the CityZen partner regions:

- “The Hipster Producer” where UF is a high-tech business driven production activity, and

- “The DIY Producer” that feature low-tech community driven production – New Ethos

Both scenarios are based on the results of the SiEUGreen project (H2020).

Small teams were set around 5 roles of key stakeholders and were asked to build detailed identities for a: Policy Maker, Medium to Large company, Micro to Small company, Civil Society Organisation and Public Voice. Discussions were focused on “The Hipster Producer” scenario were the “Happy Strawberry” civil society organization got major score to all other roles.

CityZen Accelerator events aim to support UF policy design and eliciting of new measures to feed Action Plans for our regions over the next semesters.

The Scenario Exploration System (SES) designed by JRS and the Hawaii Research Center for Futures Studies is used as assistive tool to explore implications for support policies in urban farming from the perspective of entrepreneurship, innovation and new business models. It helps understand much better the potential impact of actions before they are taken by shedding light on the possible consequences of any action, policy or program taken today.