This paper utilises the ‘sustainable innovation journeys’ concept to trace how people organise and design urban food initiatives and influence city-region food policy. We evaluate whether designs succeed or fail and monitor the exchange of ideas that takes place between stakeholders. Tracing these interactions reveals the transformative potential of innovative projects, particularly if the food system changes they bring to the fore are aligned with policy interests. Three case studies provide on-the-ground insights to assess how small and medium-sized enterprises at the micro-level induce sustainability shifts. The case studies are businesses in the city-regions of Rotterdam, The Netherlands (urban farm and circular food economy); Vigo, Spain (food, forest and multi-functional land use); and Zurich, Switzerland (organic food and short supply chains). Each initiative was studied in-depth over a two-year period, with follow-up analysis for a further four years to monitor change over time (2013–2018). The cases promote the adoption of micro-level innovation practices: locally designed transition pathways that bring the benefits of change to the city-region (i.e. from the micro-level initiative to meso-level policy). The analysis highlights the importance of ‘soft change’. This can be something as simple as visiting an inspiring urban food initiative and meeting with stakeholders to generate mutual understanding, from where interests align to influence food chain practices and policy. Soft changes act as ‘seeds of transition’ for a shift towards more sustainable urban food systems, but we observe too potentially negative impacts due to lack of alignment at the micro- (initiative) or meso- (city-region) levels.

本文利用“可持续创新之旅”的概念来追溯人们如何组织和设计城市食品计划并影响城市区域食品政策。我们评估设计是成功还是失败，并监控利益相关者之间的想法交流。追踪这些互动揭示了创新项目的变革潜力，特别是如果它们带来的粮食系统变化与政策利益保持一致。三个案例研究提供了实地洞察力，以评估中小型企业如何在微观层面引发可持续性转变。案例研究是荷兰鹿特丹城市地区的企业（城市农场和循环食品经济）；西班牙维戈（食品、森林和多功能土地利用）；和苏黎世，瑞士（有机食品和短供应链）。每项举措都在两年内进行了深入研究，并在接下来的四年中进行了后续分析，以监测随着时间的推移（2013-2018 年）的变化。这些案例促进了微观层面创新实践的采用：本地设计的转型路径，为城市地区带来变革的好处（即从微观层面的举措到中观层面的政策）。分析强调了“软变革”的重要性。这可以像参观一个鼓舞人心的城市食品倡议并与利益相关者会面以产生相互理解一样简单，从利益一致的地方影响食物链实践和政策。软变化是向更可持续的城市粮食系统转变的“过渡种子”，