CFA has been granted the task to undertake an impact assessment of Plant2Food, a 5-year platform funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation from 2023-2027 with up to DKK 200 million. Plant2Food is motivated by “the vision to accelerate the transition to a more sustainable, plant-based food system, which is healthy for both the planet and its population by building a leading hub for plant-based food research and innovation.”

Plant2Food is an Open Innovation in Science (OIS) platform based on open research, in which universities and companies work together to solve complex issues. All knowledge and results are shared openly for everyone to use and reuse. The platform involves four universities: Aarhus University, the University of Copenhagen, the Technical University of Denmark, and Wageningen University & Research. Plant2Food will build, among other things, on lessons learned in ODIN, another OIS initiative where CFA also conducted an impact assessment.  

The aims of the impact assessment are to assess the results and impact of Plant2Food, in accordance with an impact framework developed by Plant2Food in collaboration with the Novo Nordisk Foundation. The impact assessment will provide documentation for activities, outputs and outcomes related to both the Plant2Food platform and funded projects. 

In addition to reporting on key performance indicators determined in the impact framework, the impact assessment will also touch upon additional questions determined by the research team at CFA in order to provide valuable knowledge on, e.g., OIS platforms in general, the incentives for private firms to engage in Plant2Food, and the motivation of academic researchers to participate in Plant2Food-funded projects.  

The main deliverables of the impact assessment are a midterm report (2025) and a final report (2027). In addition, the research team at CFA will use data collected via the impact assessment in ongoing scientific research on OIS platforms.