The event, which was opened by MedCities Secretary General, Xavier Tiana, and Raimon Roda, Manager of the Baix Llobregat Agricultural Park, saw the presentation of the final results of the MADRE project, including the eight recommendations of the MADRE Policy Paper. The policy recommendations on fostering metropolitan agriculture is a product of the engagement of six Mediterranean metropolises – Barcelona, Bologna, Marseille, Montpellier, Thessaloniki and Tirana – in the MADRE project.

The Barcelona final event was also the occasion of the launch of the AGRI-MADRE platform on metropolitan agriculture and food systems in the Mediterranean. AGRI-MADRE is a repository of good practices, stakeholders and resources which seeks giving continuity to the collaborative dynamics generated by the project. A selection of metropolitan agriculture initiatives of the Metropolitan Area of Barcelona (AMB), along with other projects of other actors, were considered in relation to the MADRE Project recommendations in order to assess needs for further action.

Representatives from various AMB services, from the Baix Llobregat Agrarian Park also came together, along with the Councilor for Agriculture of Sant Boi de Llobregat, for a round-table discussion. The debate focused on how to reach a transversal approach to metropolitan agriculture policy-making, in order to be able to more efficiently face the challenge of preserving an agriculture of proximity, with all the benefits it brings to a territory.

The MADRE project has addressed the challenges of the promotion of urban and peri-urban agriculture and the consolidation of transnational and multisectoral collaboration in the Mediterranean region. MedCities has led the capitalization component of the project, in partnership with relevant academic and policy actors as well as networks of cooperation, with the shared aim of furthering expertise on metropolitan agriculture and developing new networks on the issue.