Tucked in the province of Bursa, Turkey, the Municipality of Nilufer is quietly but ambitiously transforming how cities can shape sustainable urban food systems. From citizen-run neighbourhood gardens to a municipally coordinated food hub, Nilufer’s approach blends governance innovation, hands-on learning, and deep partnerships with local farmers.
A local system with strong municipal roots
At the heart of Nilufer’s food vision is a unique governance model where public infrastructure and cooperatives work hand in hand. The Directorate of Rural Services, in collaboration with the Nilufer Agricultural Development Cooperative, manages a growing ecosystem of assets, including soil analysis labs, food hubs, and a network of municipal sales points, known as the Nilufer Bostan.
These sales points are a cornerstone of Nilufer’s approach to ensuring food accessibility and transparency. Supplied with food grown and processed locally, they offer seasonal fruit and vegetables, pulses, and pantry staples at significantly lower prices than the market average. The municipality initially invests in the infrastructure, and operations are delegated to the cooperative, with working standards developed and monitored by the city. In addition to keeping food affordable for residents, the sales points serve as physical symbols of the city’s commitment to short supply chains, sustainable farming practices, and public coordination of the local food economy.
These initiatives are not just about food distribution. They build a full rural-urban value chain that supports sustainable agriculture, ensures food safety, and keeps food affordable for residents. “We aim to ‘eat local’, but local production must also be healthy,” explained Mehmet Can Yilmaz, Nilufer Project Coordinator.
We aim to ‘eat local’, but local production must also be healthy.
Learning by doing
Central to Nilufer’s approach is the use of ‘Living Labs’ – interactive, participatory events and programmes that engage citizens in learning and doing. These range from curriculum-based food education for schoolchildren in the Ürünlü City Gardens to intergenerational cooking during Terra Madre Days.
What makes these labs successful is their grounding in citizen experience. “We aim for citizens to make it a habit to choose more sustainable behaviours,” says Yilmaz. “If a child learns how to plant and sow, they should also learn about healthy food, climate, and protecting resources. These are habits that bring the human being back into balance with the food ecosystem.”
EU Projects as a catalyst
While the municipality’s food ambitions are locally driven, European projects such as Fusilli and Cleverfood have played a vital role in giving them shape and momentum. Nilufer’s work under these projects helped consolidate years of thematic municipal action into a more strategic and participatory policy effort.
This effort will culminate in the publication of Nilufer’s first Urban Food Policy in 2026. Developed through workshops with producers, consumers, chefs, distributors, and civil society, the policy is already guiding actions on the ground and inspiring peers across Europe.
Yet access to EU funding is not without its challenges. “We face institutional limitations, like language barriers, lack of co-financing, and complex reporting systems,” Yilmaz notes. “Still, EU projects are a driving force. They give us momentum, visibility, and inspiration from cities that are further ahead.”
Knowledge exchange with Bucharest and Osmangazi
During a recent Cleverfood study visit, representatives from Bucharest’s District 6 project company and the neighbouring municipality of Osmangazi joined Nilufer to explore their initiatives up close. Participants were impressed by the scale and coherence of Nilufer’s public food infrastructure.
“Nilufer was a real discovery – a coherent and publicly coordinated food system rooted in local production and identity, where the municipality plays a key role alongside farmers’ cooperatives, managing agricultural land, running a soil lab, developing a food hub, and operating a network of public markets, local-brand shops, and several municipality-owned restaurants offering affordable meals,” said Roxana Triboi, Researcher and Food Planning Officer in Bucharest. “This unique mix of public food infrastructure and business-oriented thinking was built in a context that acts out of practical need.”
While Osmangazi shares cultural and administrative similarities with Nilufer, it still has ground to cover in building stronger ties with farmer cooperatives – a highlight of Nilufer’s success. The food hub model and municipal sales network also sparked interest in Bucharest, where similar public infrastructure remains underutilised.
Nilufer was a real discovery - a coherent and publicly coordinated food system rooted in local production and identity
Strengthening Nilufer’s impact
Despite its strong foundation, Nilufer still faces key challenges: limited data collection capacity, weak monitoring systems, and jurisdictional limits that make it hard to implement some EU project actions, particularly in areas like renewable energy.
To build on its success, more direct support at EU level is needed – not only through funding but also through capacity building, tailored policy tools, and platforms for peer exchange. Nilufer’s story shows that even without a formal strategy, transformation can happen when local governments are empowered, citizens are engaged, and learning is continuous.
And while other cities are drafting their first food strategies, Nilufer is already showing what it looks like to put one into practice.
