World Conference on Agriculture and Food Will Be Held in Brazil

The Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS, a centennial institution recognized as one of the most qualified educational centers in Brazil, will promote III International Conference on Agriculture and Food in an Urbanized Society from the 17th to the 21st of September 2018. The central themes will address “Healthy food, socio-biodiversity, and sustainable agro-food systems: innovations from consumption to production”.

Having the contribution of FAO - Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations as a strategic partner of the organization, the Conference will bring together over 170 experts from 36 countries during five days, in an intensive program that includes panels of international scope, symposia, presentation of scientific papers in thematic working groups, experiences reports from civil society, field trips and activities cultural activities. Those interested in participating should register on the website: bit.ly/AgUrbRegistration.

Renowned academics and experts, as well as government representatives, international institutions, and social movement leaders will take part in the panels. The goal is to reflect and debate different views on theories, practices, and processes related to sustainable and resilient agrifood systems, contributing to the articulation and construction of a new agenda of research, studies, and actions. The speakers include José Graziano da Silva (General Director of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations - FAO - Brazil), Patrick Caron (President of the Panel of Experts of the World Food Security Committee - France), Elizabeth Mpofu (General Coordinator of Via Campesina International - Zimbabwe), Elisabetta Recine (National Council for Food and Nutrition Security - CONSEA - Brazil) and Hannah Wittman (Academic Director Center for Sustainable Food Systems at the University of British Columbia - Canada). The UN Sustainable Development Goals (ODS), Climate Change, Food Security and Sovereignty, and Policy and Governance are some of the issues that will be addressed in the morning. The panels take place in the amphitheatre of UFRGS, with simultaneous translation.

The Symposia aim to contemplate a wide range of discussions on agriculture and food. In all, there will be 20 symposia during the Conference, which will take place in the early afternoon, in auditoriums for audiences of about 250 people. Among the confirmed speakers are Harriet Friedmann (Munk School of Global Affairs, University of Toronto, Canada), Marijke D'Haese (Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Ghent, Belgium), Terry Marsden (Sustainable Place Institute from Cardiff University, UK), Jan Douwe van der Ploeg (University of Wageningen, The Netherlands) and Renato Maluf (Rural Federal University of Rio de Janeiro -CPDA/UFRRJ, Brazil).

In the Working Groups research on topics such as Sustainable Food System, Food policies, supply dynamics, production chains, consumer practices, governance and social innovation, gender, agrobiodiversity, food security and sovereignty, field-city relations, and agrifood markets will be presented. The objective is to create conditions for researchers, activists, policymakers, public and private agents to discuss and share knowledge and to establish the theoretical, empirical and methodological bases for issues that need to be deepened. Altogether, there will be 21 Work Groups. The complete list of themes can be found at: http://bit.ly/WGroups. Academics, researchers, students, and professionals interested in proposing scientific papers can submit their proposals until June 8th, following the guidelines in the link: bit.ly/AgUrbPapers

Experience Reports aim to enable organized civil society groups to share their experiences and trajectories. The experiences can be technical or communal and do not need to be presented according to a theoretical-methodological framework.  Farmers, members of organized civil society, social movements, traditional communities (indigenous people, quilombolas, fishers, family farmers), nongovernmental organizations, networks, cooperatives, associations, extension projects, among others can participate submitting their reports from May 8 to July 8. Access the full call here: http://bit.ly/ExprienceReports.

Field Trips will be held on September 20th. Conference participants will be able to experience best local practices in agriculture and food in locations that are up to 1h30min away from Porto Alegre. The activities will last a day (approximately 8 hours), including meal times. Overall, there will be nine itineraries, with specific registration for each one, the list will be announced soon.

Since 2016, a series of preparatory activities have been carried out in different cities in Brazil with the objective of mobilizing researchers, teachers, students and the community, in general, to participate in the III AgUrb. In total, there will be more than 80 activities such as lectures, workshops, dialogue tables, and meetings.

The organization of the III AgUrb is conducted locally by a multidisciplinary Commission composed of 20 UFRGS departmentslinked to the agrifood fields and is under the general coordination of Prof. Dr. Sergio Schneider and the executive coordination of Dr. Potira Preiss. Prof. Dr. Gianluca Brunori chairs the International Scientific Committee where 24 food experts such as Cecilia Rocha(Ryerson University - Canada), Michael Carolan (Colorado State University  - US), Jane Battersby (African Centre for Cities - South Africa and Ye Jingzong (China Agricultural University - China) help to give form to the program. Check out all the organizers here: http://bit.ly/IIIAgUrbOrganization

Service III AgUrb - International Conference on Agriculture and Food in an Urbanized Society http://agricultureinanurbanizingsociety-com.umbler.net/ Facebook: @AgUrbConference

17-21 September 2018 Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul - UFRGS

Registration for participation: bit.ly/AgUrbRegistration. Papers submission: until June 8, at bit.ly/AgUrbPapers Experience Reports submission: until July 8, at  http://bit.ly/ExprienceReports.

Location: UFRGS Central Campus Av. Paulo Gama, 110 - Bom Fim | Porto Alegre | RS | Brazil

For further Information: 55.51. 3308.1191, email: alimentossaudaveis.workshop@gmail.com

About AgUrb The first edition of the International Conference on Agriculture in an Urbanized Society was held in April 2012 at Wageningen University in the Netherlands. The theme was Multifunctional Agriculture and Urban-Rural Relations, in which 253 participants from different countries attended the meeting and 19 working groups. The event aimed to bring together experts, academics, managers and organizations involved in agrifood issues and who were interested in discussing new food production, distribution and consumption strategies for the 21st century.

The second Conference - in Rome / Italy in September 2015 - welcomed 370 participants from more than 60 countries, organized into 24 working groups. Held at Roma Tre University, the central theme was Reconnecting Agriculture and Food Chains to Societal Needs. On occasion, the 4th edition of the "Social Innovations for Future Agriculture" award was promoted by Icare, which recognized social innovations through agriculture and revolutionary best practices. This edition consolidated the international character of the event, encouraging the realization in other continents. In this context, Brazil was chosen to host the 3rd edition of the Conference in 2018.

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Adriana Martorano | journalist | adrianamartorano@adrianamartorano.com.br | 55.51 99213 6558 |