Action Day brings global food system actors together to forge real solutions

Held on the eve of the Stockholm Food Forum and the launch of the 2025 EAT–Lancet Commission report, the event marked the culmination of nearly a year of collaboration across ten “Communities for Action” — networks representing every corner of the food system: from farmers and fishers to policymakers, chefs, financiers, scientists, and Indigenous Peoples.

Each community had spent months developing concrete proposals: actions to take, actions to stop, and support needed from others. Action Day brought them all into one room for the first time — to test ideas, bridge tensions, and design joint pathways forward.

“After many months of digital meetings, participants were thrilled to gather in person,” said Mary Scheuermann, researcher at the Stockholm Resilience Centre who co-created the Action Day. “The energy came from confronting real tensions and identifying the synergies that connect sectors of the food system.”

The Centre played a key role in the dialogue process leading up to the gathering, with significant contributions from Line Gordon, Malin Jonell, Amar Laila, Anne Charlotte Bunge, Costanza Conti, and Leah Hupp. Mary Scheuermann synthesized the data across Communities to identify common “Action Areas” that can enable transformative change — such as aligning policies, empowering farmer-led innovation, and embedding Indigenous and scientific knowledge in decision-making.

Breakthrough collaborative ideas

Throughout the day, participants engaged in structured breakout workshops designed to generate breakthrough collaborative ideas. The process, facilitated by Convene, encouraged open dialogue and trust-building across sectors.

“What stood out was how unique it was to have farmers, policymakers, business leaders, and scientists in the same room, all working toward the same goal,” said Scheuermann. “Diversity in participation — made possible through funding for low- and middle-income country representatives and Indigenous Peoples — was essential for ensuring justice in both process and outcomes.”

The most promising ideas from Action Day were later shared at the Stockholm Food Forum.

“What emerged was not a single solution, but a shared understanding of the conditions needed for transformation — policy coherence, fair subsidies, farmer-led science, Indigenous knowledge, and nutrition-centered education,” said Line Gordon, director of Stockholm Resilience Centre. “When these come together, real change becomes possible.”