International Workshop: Agrobiodiversity and food systems: entangled questions

Climatic and geopolitical crises are challenging our food systems. Pushed by a looming food crisis, agricultural policies and the related scientific approaches highlight the need for a shift towards more sustainable agriculture. While it is difficult to find evidence of such a shift, agriculture has become a battlefield, and acts as a litmus test for the divides in our society. Taking an agroecological perspective, we will discuss plant breeding, and food systems entanglements for two days (27-28.10.). The first day is dedicated to the question of how participatory plant breeding can contribute to strengthening seed sovereignty and diversifying agrobiodiversity through interdisciplinary approaches. The second day will focus on food regimes and how a socio-ecological perspective can help us to identify changes and patterns in power relations, technologies, and energy balances in agriculture.

Day 1: Agrobiodiversity evolution: seed systems, participatory plant breeding and seed regulations

When? 27 October 2022 9 am - 6 pm

Where? Institut de géographie et durabilité, Universite de Lausanne, Aula IDHEAP

Day 2: Food systems under different lenses: science and technology, governance and metabolism

When? 28 October 2022 9 am - 5 pm

Where? Institut de géographie et durabilité, Universite de Lausanne, Amphithéâtre Biophore

Free entrance. For info: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Flyer

Markt der Vielfalt: 1001 Gemüse & Solidarische Landwirtschaft

Gen Au Rheinau organises together with the regional organic farmers' association and further organisations a two-days festival with a series of presentations on community-supported agriculture (Solidarische Landwirtschaft). We would like to draw you attention in particular to presentations of members/associates of our network (in German).

Sa, 3. Sept., 14-15.00: Neue Dörflichkeit: solidarische Landwirtschaft in Südkorea und Indien, Miniferme in Frankreich, 2000 m2 Weltacker international

Florianne Koechlin, Biologin und Autorin und Benny Haerlin, Zukunftsstiftung Landwirtschaft, Berlin

So, 4. Sept. 14-15.00 Neue Gentechniken bei Pflanzen und Tieren – weshalb wir eine strikte Regulierung brauchen

Tamara Lebrecht, Critical Scientists Switzerland

So, 4. Sept. 15-16.00 Monokulturen sind eine grosse Landverschwendung (auch bei Bio) – Neues aus der Wissenschaft

Florianne Koechlin, Biologin, Autorin, Blauen-Institut

When? Saturday 3. September & Sunday 4. September 2022, 11-18h

Where? Klosterplatz, 8462 Rheinau

More Information & Website

WHAT CAUSES WHAT IN LIFE? Explaining today's major challenges

A public conference about the riddles of cause and effect

Friday 26 and Saturday 27 November 2021 – Bern on site and online

Programme (PDF)

Registration

The COVID crisis, endocrine disrupting substances, genetically engineered organisms, climate change, etc.: all major challenges of today demand our understanding. Science does its best to oblige – yet is often criticised about its attempts. The understanding of 'causes' is at the core of scientific investigations and of public policy. It underlies all current efforts to face the big ecosystemic challenges. But upon closer inspection, it exposes widely different views of what causes what.

Eight scientists will share their views with the audience in the two-day public conference "Context, Causality and Consequences". One of the speakers is Denis Noble, author of "Dance to the tune of life: Biological relativity" and other books revolutionising our view of organisms and genomes. Much time is allotted to questions and discussion with the audience.

Fierce discussion regularly arises around different evaluations of the 'same' evidence. What underlies these different evaluations? One may ask what the biological influencers of causality are. Is it about material entities (e.g. genes), or also about interactions, relationships, and context (from subcellular to ecological)? What causes habituation and learning, and in which way do these influence the appearance of causality (in gene expression, disease and other phenomena)? What do we mean when we call something a cause: is it a 'difference-maker', a mechanism, a disposition? What other factors does it need to achieve its 'effect'?

Physics has framed and justified causality in robust and unifying 'conservation principles' (energy, momentum etc.). In biology and ecology, it is much more problematic to understand and verify supposed causal relations. Sources of disagreement and confusion – not just in science, but also in policy – are implicit paradigms and assumptions, different types of argumentation, value based choices, outright dogmas and disciplinary conventions of toxicologists, endocrinologists, epidemiologists, biologists, ecologists and lawyers.

Organised by European Network of Scientists for Social and Environmental Responsibility, Critical Scientists Switzerland, Mariolopoulos-Kanaginis Foundation for the Environmental Sciences & Association des amis de la génération Thunberg

Agrobiodiversity and participatory plant breeding for an agroecological transformation of agriculture?

This workshop will include several presentations about international and Swiss projects on participatory plant breeding, agroecological research, and grain legumes. Additionally, there will be a focus on the exchange between and networking of different actors within Switzerland.

When? Tuesday, 2 November 2021, 13:30-17:30

Where? Kirchgemeindehaus Steigerhubel, Steigerhubelstrasse 65, 3008 Bern

In 2021, CSS together with Getreidezüchtung Peter Kunz and semnar / saatgutpolitik & wissenschaft started a four-year interdisciplinary research project on participatory plant breeding and the cultivation of grain legumes began in Switzerland. We want to use this as an opportunity to enter an exchange with other (inter)national projects on the topics of agroecological research and plant breeding as well as to identify synergies. The event will be held in English and is aimed a professional audience. A non-professional translation into German is possible with prior registration.

Programme:

Registration