EIT Food North-East takes the lead on communication in Europe’s €4.5 million EPIC-SHIFT protein project

EIT Food North-East has returned from Lund, Sweden, where it played a central role in the launch of EPIC-SHIFT, a €4.5 million (approximately US$4.85 million) Horizon Europe initiative dedicated to transforming food systems across the continent. Held 6-7 May 2025, at Lund University’s Centre for Environmental and Climate Science, the kick-off meeting brought together 20 organizations from 12 countries for a three-year collaboration centered on sustainable protein innovation.

Officially launched in November 2024, EPIC-SHIFT aims to integrate novel and alternative protein foods (NAPFs) into European diets by evaluating protein sources from insects, fungi, bacteria, algae, and agricultural side-streams. The project is coordinated by Dr Deniz Koca of Lund University and is grounded in a multidimensional assessment approach that combines environmental, technological, social, and economic perspectives to inform future policy and market direction.

EIT Food North-East leads Work Package 7 (WP7), a core component of EPIC-SHIFT focused on Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation (CDE), open science, and stakeholder engagement. Their role is to ensure the project’s research findings, insights, and innovations reach not just academics but a wide community of stakeholders including policymakers, industry, farmers, and consumers.

To help launch this strand of the project, Julia Hava, Communication & Events Project Manager at EIT Food North-East, and Katarzyna Pawłowka, a researcher specializing in stakeholder mapping, led a hands-on workshop during the kick-off titled "Communication with Target Groups and Stakeholder Engagement." The session attracted full attendance from in-person participants and helped build a shared understanding of stakeholder typologies and engagement strategies across the consortium.

“The session focused on establishing a common language around stakeholder typologies and CDE strategies, and aligning the consortium’s engagement approaches and perspectives,” the team stated. Their facilitation helped set the stage for a coordinated approach that will guide EPIC-SHIFT's communication efforts throughout its lifecycle.

Also attending the kick-off was Justyna Kulawik–Dudkowska, Senior Partnership Manager at EIT Food North-East and a member of the organization’s Protein Diversification Think Tank. She participated in the two-day discussions alongside other project partners including representatives from SAFE, Food+I, New Harvest, ATOVA, and Shake-Up Factory – all of whom will also contribute to the delivery of WP7.

Across the two days, partners presented their respective work package plans, aligning project goals and identifying opportunities for collaboration. Attendees shared early ideas for promoting protein diversification and discussed innovation pathways to accelerate the adoption of sustainable protein solutions. Goran Kumrić of the European Research Executive Agency (REA) also joined the meeting, providing practical insights into the implementation of EU-funded projects.

EPIC-SHIFT’s long-term vision rests on the integration of new protein sources into mainstream food systems – but doing so means bringing multiple stakeholders along. That’s where the CDE work becomes pivotal. As the project unfolds, EIT Food North-East will spearhead the creation and delivery of a comprehensive Communication, Dissemination and Exploitation Plan (CDEP). This includes launching a formal multi-stakeholder board designed to act as a global hub for knowledge-sharing in novel protein innovation.

Open science practices are another cornerstone of the project’s outreach strategy. EIT Food North-East is responsible for ensuring transparency and broad accessibility of research outputs, while also translating those insights into practical, evidence-based recommendations for decision-makers, investors, and businesses.

For consumers, EPIC-SHIFT is expected to provide trustworthy, science-based information about novel proteins, potentially expanding dietary choices. For producers and businesses, the project’s insights into market readiness and consumer preferences may help guide innovation and product development. Policymakers will receive comprehensive assessments to support more effective regulations and incentives, while social and environmental advocates gain new tools for understanding the impacts of protein production. Farmers are also in focus, with the project committed to identifying inclusive pathways that support their role in the emerging protein economy.

“As the implementation phase begins, EIT Food is working with other consortium members on a series of collaborative activities, knowledge-sharing platforms, and policy engagement efforts to accelerate the uptake of sustainable protein innovations,” the team said. With its deep regional expertise and pan-European network, EIT Food North-East is well-positioned to amplify the project’s impact far beyond the scientific community.

The launch in Lund was not only a formal starting point but also a symbolic one. Lund University’s long history in environmental and climate research provided an ideal setting to initiate a project with such systemic ambition. EIT Food North-East offered thanks to project coordinator Deniz Koca, Asa Grunning, and the entire Lund team for hosting the event, and praised all consortium members for their “productive and inspiring” collaboration during the launch.