Keywords: Ecological Transition, Food Ecology, Agroecology, Circular Economy, Climate Change, Human Ecology, Regenerative Economy, Green Agriculture, Renewable Energies
Area Coordinators: Franco Fassio and Paola Migliorini
Keynote speaker: Roberto Danovaro, Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Naples, Italy
Call for papers: open
We are all one system, but we have to learn to dream as a single system. In this microcosm of interdependencies in continuous vibration, no part can exist on its own but each part derives its meaning and its existence solely from the place it occupies as a whole. We live in networks nested within networks, a single system in which the equilibrium between the parts is worth more than the sum of the single elements. For this reason, it is specifically the systemic thinking, that can help us to evolve our intuitions about the whole food system, sharpen our ability to understand the parts, see the interconnections and be creative and courageous about redesigning a food chain that has rendered us slaves to linear thinking. The biggest problems in the world derive from the difference between how nature works (system) and how people think (linear). As humankind, we tend to constantly break down the complexity that surrounds us into a set of independent sub-problems, a linear logic of thought. This problem-solving attitude loses the transdisciplinarity of ascientific and intellectual approach that aims to fully understand the complexity of the present world.
The industrialized food system has a big impact on planetary health, contributing to global greenhouse gas emissions, causing immense biodiversity loss, the contamination of soils, water, and food with pesticides, the eutrophication of water bodies, it is also a major contributing factor in the decline of farm numbers, and the high use of antibiotics has led to serious human health problems. Furthermore, structural inequities across the food system compound the impacts on vulnerable communities. Consensus is growing: this model is no longer fit for purpose; it is failing people and the planet. Yet, key debates about how to transform food systems remain steeped in controversy. In this respect, agroecology can provide insights into important pathways and guide the design, development, and promotion of the transition towards sustainable farming and food systems. Hill (1985) and Gliessman (2016) distinguish three levels in the process of transitioning agricultural production systems from so-called conventional agriculture to agroecology: efficiency, substitution, and redesign of production systems. This approach shows that agroecology is not just another tool for transforming food systems, it is a paradigm shift that is not limited to a set of practices but aim to reach Food Sovereignty.
This panel will accompany you to the table of the global emergency that the food system is facing as creator of the same problems of which it is victim. The desire is to share information and perspectives to live the ecological transition on a daily basis, because a sustainable economy can only be an economy of knowledge.
Accepted papers: News soon