Announcing Food Innovation Program Scholarship – Apply Today

We predicted that support for food entrepreneurs would grow in 2015, and so far we’re off to a good start!

This March, the Future Food Institute is launching the Food Innovation Program, a full time, 10 month Master’s program that aims to shape the global food leaders of tomorrow. Developed with the Institute for the Future and hosted at The University of Modena and Reggio Emilia (UNIMORE), the Food Innovation Program will focus on the multiple facets of food innovation through cross-pollination and cutting edge technology, with a theoretical and pragmatic approach.

Special FTC Scholarship – Apply by February 6

We’re very excited to announce that the Food Innovation Program has created a special scholarship for the Food+Tech Connect community. The scholarship will cover the tuition for the entire 10-month program. The Food Innovation Program is set to kick off on March 9th in the beautiful Italian city of Reggio Emilia. Applications must be submitted by this Friday, February 6. Apply today to jumpstart your journey as a future food leader.

More about the Food Innovation Program

The program aims to identify critical technologies for shaping agriculture, food distribution, retail and consumption and develop radical innovations that build on The Institute for the Future’s Seeds of Disruption: How Technology is Remaking the Future of Food, a map of the ways in which technologies can be used to close gaps in the food system.

The first phase of the program is theory-based and will take place at the Tecnopolo of the University of Reggio Emilia, lead by a faculty including Caleb Harper, founder of the MITCityFarm Project and a strategic foresight practitioner from Institute for the Future. During this phase, students will learn methods for systematically thinking about the future of food and will become familiar with the “Reggio Approach” developed in Reggio Emilia, which promotes creativity and interest in learning.

The second 5-month phase will take place in various laboratories in the Officucina, a maker space created specifically for the Food Innovation Program. Students will create and test their prototypes through a series of challenges supported by partnering companies. They will also be able to participate in Foresight engine and hackathons during EXPO 2015, where they will be able to exchange and build out their ideas with a much broader community. 

“The Future Food Institute strongly believes that only through exchanging knowledge, fostering innovation, cultivating creativity, being inspired by visionary social entrepreneurs and empowering education, we can face the challenge of nourishing people and the planet in a healthier way,” says Sara Roversi, co-founder of the Future Food Institute. “The Food Innovation Program brings together young and visionary entrepreneurs, developers, experts, foodies, producers with innovative and disruptive ideas that can create positive impact on local and global levels.”