Using Urbal to develop metrics for evaluation

Worldwide, there is growing interest among policymakers, funders, and researchers in monitoring and assessing innovations in food system sustainability. However, the evaluation of innovations' contributions to broader sustainability targets is undermined by stakeholders' multiple interpretations of sustainability, the difficulty of transferability across scales, and the scarce resources available for assessment. Moreover, city-scale initiatives identify needs and knowledge that has not yet been integrated into urban strategies. These gaps make it difficult for innovators to report on their role in a national or global system and to gain the trust of communities and institutions. Given the reflexive knowledge produced through the application of the Urbal method, which proposes a qualitative, context-based, and participatory evaluation of food innovations, this chapter considers whether and how Urbal can provide a preliminary framework to support innovators in designing or strengthening quantitative impact assessments and to help them orient their work within the regulatory space of sustainable food systems. In particular, the chapter presents a tool to co-construct a framework, together with innovators, which can help shape or strengthen the evaluation of their project.