SystemShifters in Food

For experienced leaders in the food system, ready to leverage their agency for triggering collective systemic change.

Dates: 18 September (12:00) & 19 September (16:00) 2025

Language: English

Participation fee: For corporate participants - €1210 per session, including VAT
For participants from small businesses, social enterprises, or government - €250 per session, including VAT

Location: The Netherlands - De Nieuwe Melkboer (The New Milk Farmer), near Enschede

About : Trigger a system shift in 2025!

Together, we act where it matters most.

We currently have a global food system that needs to become healthier, more sustainable and more just. By pulling essential levers for change, we can trigger a positive tipping point that might shift the system. Join a powerful alliance reshaping the food system by changing what we grow, sell, and eat - together. SystemShifters in Food is more than a programme, it’s a catalyst for change.

Are you ready to take more collective action in shifting the food system? We bring together senior leaders across Europe’s food system to lead this transformation: farmers, researchers, retailers, NGOs, policymakers, and executives from major food companies. By thoroughly connecting each other’s perspective, we’ll see the bigger global picture and act accordingly. We will connect the different perspectives that are needed to bridge the silos in the food system, beyond boundaries and organizations.

Our mission in the EIT System Shifters is to trigger a system shift that supports people in Europe to find this new balance in how they eat. We engage with this shift on a personal level, by taking this food intake journey ourselves and discovering the challenges and solutions that are involved. And we also engage as food system actors, working together to trigger change in the food system, making it easier for people to consume more sustainably (and mitigating negative feedback loops from the existing system).

Are you ready to take more collective action in shifting the food system?

We bring together senior leaders across Europe’s food system to lead this transformation: farmers, researchers, retailers, NGOs, policymakers, and executives from major food companies.

By thoroughly connecting each other’s perspectives, we’ll see the bigger global picture and act accordingly. We will connect the different perspectives that are needed to bridge the silos in the food system, beyond boundaries and organizations.

Why join EIT Food’s SystemShifters? :

Be a pioneer in systemic change

Tackle the systemic challenges of enabling healthy and sustainable food consumption within planetary boundaries.

Grow as a system leader

Lead beyond your role: navigate complexity, build coalitions, and drive change - pragmatic and personal.
Hone your ability to influence stakeholders, negotiate across silos, and raise your voice with clarity and purpose.

Learn through action

Engage in dynamic, immersive sessions rooted in real-world challenges.
Translate insights into action directly within your organisation, sector and network.

Build a cross-sector movement

Collaborate across sectors to design interventions with the potential to tip the system that no single organisation could achieve on its own.
Harness the credibility, scale, and momentum of a diverse alliance to drive systemic change.

Help shape the future of food

Contribute to the shift towards Planetary Health Diets by rethinking what we grow, sell, and eat.
Be part of a growing movement making sustainable food choices the easy and attractive default.

“This is where I hear the voices that challenge my thinking and inspire new possibilities. SystemShifters creates the space to step outside our roles, connect deeply, and unlock the bold ideas we need to truly pull the levers for change.”

Daniella Vega - Global SVP Health & Sustainability, Ahold Delhaize
“System change doesn’t start with a single breakthrough - it begins when courageous leaders come together to ask better questions, challenge assumptions, and act beyond their roles.”

Joanna Trewen - Director Pro-Veg International

Next Shift session - 18, 19 Sep 2025 : 28-hour ShiftSession – a deep dive into system change for planetary health

This session will focus on engaging farmers for whom the protein shift will likely be significantly affect their businesses and ways of life.

Dates

18 September (12:00)
19 September (16:00), 2025

Location

De Nieuwe Melkboer (The New Milk Farmer), near Enschede, the Netherlands.

What to Expect

Tackle personal leadership challenges together.
Learn from pioneering farmers who transitioned from dairy to soya.
Deepen your systems change knowledge with Peter Lefort (Global Systems Institute).
Understand the role of young farmers in the protein transition.
Reflect and plan your next actions as a force for change.

Day 1: From insight to immersion

12:00 – Nourish & connect
We open with a vibrant vegan lunch, setting the tone for conscious choices and meaningful connections.

13:00 – Your leadership, your leverage points
Explore your personal leadership challenge in the context of systemic change. Gain deeper insight into how shifts happen—within yourself, your organisation, and the food system.

17:00 – Food as a system experience
Check in to your hotel and head out to a local vegan restaurant. Hear first-hand from the founders about their concept, mission, and the real-world challenges of driving a plant-based transition.

Day 2: From deepening to direction

09:00 – Leading at three levels
Deepen your understanding of the three levels of intervention: personal leadership, organisational transformation, and systemic tipping points. Work alongside Peter Lefort from the Global Systems Institute to explore how we can trigger positive tipping points
in the food system.

12:00 – Conscious lunch
Another fresh, vegan meal shared with purpose and perspective.

13:00 – Real talk, real impact
Engage in open, honest dialogue with key stakeholders—young farmers, policymakers,
and others shaping the protein transition. Listen deeply, share your leadership lens,
and co-create new perspectives.

16:00 – Meaning-making & moving forward
Say goodbye to our guests and reflect on what you’ve learned. Capture insights,
define next steps and prepare to lead with more clarity and connection.

17:00 – Close of session

Your commitment to change : Invest in your growth – and in the transformation of Europe’s food system.

Fees

For corporate participants: €1210 per session, including VAT
For participants from small businesses, social enterprises, or government: €250 per session, including VAT

Participation is a commitment to lead meaningful change. It’s also a unique opportunity to collaborate, learn, and act with a powerful network of senior leaders dedicated to reshaping how we eat, produce, and sustain food.

If you are part of a small business, a social enterprise or a government, contact Rick Koster, the programme lead, founder and CEO of our partner Leaderscope, via email - rick@leaderscope.nl - or mobile phone - +31 625087853.

Applications are open until the 1st of September 2025.

Includes all food and beverages; excludes travel and overnight stay.