After four years of collaboration, co-creation and innovation across Africa and Europe, the INCiTiS-FOOD project is approaching an important milestone. While the project itself is entering its final stage, the partnerships, knowledge and Living Lab experience developed along the way are opening the door to a new chapter: the African Network of Living Labs (ANoLL).
Established in 2025 by INCiTiS-FOOD partners, ANoLL is one of the key outcomes of the project and a pathway for the collaboration initiated through INCiTiS-FOOD to continue and grow beyond the project’s lifetime.
Four Years of Living Lab Collaboration
Since 2023, INCiTiS-FOOD has worked towards improving food and nutrition security in African city regions while reducing the environmental footprint of food systems and contributing to greater circularity.
At the heart of this work has been a multi-actor Living Lab approach. Eight Living Labs located in urban and peri-urban areas across six African countries – Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Cameroon, Gabon and Sierra Leone – have provided spaces where researchers, communities and other stakeholders could work together to develop and test solutions in real-life contexts.
The Living Labs have supported the co-development of circular agri-food technologies and new business models, building on solutions such as hydroponics, aquaponics, systems and insect farming.
Yet, the value created through INCiTiS-FOOD extends beyond individual technologies.
Over the course of the project, the Living Lab approach has brought different actors together around common challenges, creating opportunities for knowledge exchange, capacity development, entrepreneurship and collaboration between research, practice and policy.
And as INCiTiS-FOOD approaches its conclusion, an important question emerges: How can these connections and experiences continue beyond the project’s lifetime?
From a Project Network to ANoLL
This is where the African Network of Living Labs (ANoLL) comes in.
ANoLL is a Pan-African knowledge-sharing organisation established by INCiTiS-FOOD partners to build on the foundations created through the project.
ANoLL promotes scientific collaboration, capacity development, policy engagement, and the development of context-appropriate technologies and business models for more resilient, inclusive and environmentally sustainable African food systems.
In this way, ANoLL represents both a result of the INCiTiS-FOOD journey and an opportunity to take that journey further.
The experience gained through the eight INCiTiS-FOOD Living Labs has demonstrated the potential of collaborative, locally grounded approaches to addressing complex food-system challenges. ANoLL provides a platform through which this knowledge can continue to be exchanged, new partnerships can be built, and Living Lab collaboration can expand beyond the original scope and timeframe of INCiTiS-FOOD.
This connection between the INCiTiS-FOOD journey and the future of ANoLL will take centre stage in November 2026, when the project community and wider Living Lab network come together in Ibadan, Nigeria.
INCiTiS-FOOD Final Conference and ANoLL Official Launch
The INCiTiS-FOOD Final Conference and the Official Launch and 1st General Assembly of the African Network of Living Labs (ANoLL) will take place in Ibadan, Nigeria, from 2–6 November 2026, bringing together the INCiTiS-FOOD community and a wider group of stakeholders to celebrate the project’s achievements and formally launch ANoLL.
Held under the theme “Sustainable Development in a Changing Climate: Living Lab Innovations, Food, Health and Environment,” the event will bring together Living Lab experts, scientists, policymakers, development partners, industry leaders, civil society organisations, innovators and young researchers from Africa and Europe. It will provide a platform for co-learning, knowledge exchange and the co-creation of practical solutions to interconnected food, health, environmental and development challenges.
The programme will reflect both dimensions of the event. Participants will have an opportunity to look back at the results, experiences and innovations developed through INCiTiS-FOOD, while also taking part in the formal launch of ANoLL and discussions around its future development.
The programme will include an Opening Ceremony and ANoLL Official Launch, an ANoLL Launch Workshop, technical sessions, side events, networking and cultural activities, as well as the 1st ANoLL General Assembly and planning for sustainability.
Hosted by the INCiTiS-FOOD Living Lab at the University of Ibadan, the conference will also highlight results from INCiTiS-FOOD Living Labs and other ANoLL members, alongside side events including an event by the FS4Africa project coordinated by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Ibadan.
We look forward to welcoming the INCiTiS-FOOD consortium and Living Lab community to Ibadan to celebrate four years of collaboration and the official launch of ANoLL.
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