The aim of SUSFOOD2 is to foster research and innovation in the field of sustainable food systems through enhanced cooperation and coordination between EU member and associated states. It will thereby contribute to the overall EU objective of building the European Research Area as well as a newly emerging Food Research Area. Major challenges will influence future food chains asking for innovative solutions to - respond to increased demand for food by increasing production sustainably (Food and Nutrition Security) - make optimal use of resources while mitigating impact on the environment - reducing losses and waste - follow a whole food chain approach from production to consumption - improving competitiveness of the European agri-food-business SUSFOOD2 focusses on sustainability in post-harvest food production, thus covering relevant fields from natural sciences to food engineering and social sciences. Building on the achievements of its predecessor in FP7, SUSFOOD2 Cofund will strengthen efforts to support and fund excellent research in the food area by one co-funded call of around 11.4 Mio. €. The consortium also aims at implementing other additional activities in a three-fold approach: i) strengthening networking and knowledge transfer among various stakeholders (i.e. by workshops, stakeholder events etc.) ii) additional funding activities without EU co-fund (preferably linked with other initiatives) iii) implementation and further advancement of the SUSFOOD SRA (developed in FP7) With the outlined approach SUSFOOD2 will contribute to - maximizing impact of transnational cooperation pooling resources (material and intellectual) and implementing best practice - using synergies and reducing overlap by interacting with related (international) initiatives (especially JPIs HDHL and FACCE) - Promoting the outputs of SUSFOOD2 network and funded projects via targeted dissemination thus sharing common vision and creating awareness for the field of food sustainability.