nourish eu is motivated by two closely-related challenges.

Firstly, chronic EU obesity figures (OECD) show that more than half (52%) of the adult population in the EU is overweight or obese. Secondly, food poverty is on the rise in Europe. 2013 statistics show that 116 million Europeans are now at risk of poverty or social exclusion and 40 million are suffering from severe material deprivation.

It is acknowledged that the cheapest food is the unhealthiest food. These 2 clear challenges represent enterprise opportunities for Food SMEs across the EU to innovate to develop healthier, affordable food and new food distribution channels. However, these SMEs have been slow to respond as they report they do not have the professional capacity or skills base to innovate/orchestrate change in the entrepreneurship, development, production & marketing of “healthier food”.

To achieve its goals, our project entails:

• Development of Healthy and Creative Food Strategic Partnerships in 4 countries (N. Ireland/UK, Ireland, Bulgaria, Hungary)

• The development, piloting, publishing and promotion of open access, digital learning resource for European SMEs, training them in the specific skills needed to implement greater innovation and creativity in their business.

• To test an innovative industry based employability training module with a cohort of young unemployed. This will be industry based learning delivered by Food SME Owners through providing practical placements for learners who will acquire new skills for new employment/self employment.