Lecture Series: Interdisciplinary Perspectives on Agriculture and the Food System, January and February 2025
5th of January 2025, 6pm-8pm, H13, Steinstraße 19, Witzenhausen and online (https://uni-kassel.zoom.us/j/97029738643)
Agroecology in Iran: Bridging traditional practices with modern practices with Prof. Dr. Hossein Azadi
Agriculture in Iran has faced several multifaceted challenges including chronical and acute droughts, inefficient irrigation practices, severe land degradation, and the escalating impacts of climate change. Agroecology is recognised as a key approach to enhancing the sustainability of food systems with many positive socio-economic and environmental impacts and is hoped to address these challenges effectively and offer a systemic framework bridging Iran’s rich traditional agricultural heritage with modern practices. The successful implementation of agroecology in Iran requires an inclusive, multi-stakeholder and polycentric approach encompassing policymakers, researchers, and farmers. By fostering biodiversity, enhancing resource efficiency, and revitalising traditional knowledge, agroecology offers a transformative pathway to ensure food security and safety, socio-economic resilience, and environmental sustainability of smallholder farmers.
About the speaker: Prof. Dr. Hossein Azadi Agricultural economist and human geographer and currently professor at University of Liège in Belgium. His main focus is on land governance and agroecology. He is a member of the editorial boards in Land Use Policy, Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, Climatic Change, and Land Degradation & Development. He also serves as a research project evaluator for several international councils and organizations)
22nd of January 2025, 6pm-8pm, H23, Steinstraße 19, Witzenhausen and online (https://uni-kassel.zoom.us/j/99078596342)
The (Land)politics of Re-localizing Agroecological Food Systems: Lessons and challenges from the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Area with Prof. Facundo Martín
Ongoing urbanization processes coupled with the expansion of globally connected industrial agriculture has meant a critical shift in rural-urban linkages such as growing inequalities linked to land ownership, land use patterns and spatial distribution of resources and access to food. In the face of multiple crises, one proposed solution is relocating agri-food systems. Looking at the examples of the Berlin-Brandenburg Metropolitan Area this lecture will explore the transformation of agri-food systems, analysing recent changes in the state's land ownership and land use structure. Together with Facundo Martín we will learn and discuss to what extent control over and access to land constitute an obstacle to the agroecological transformation of agri-food systems. How can we imagine relocating urban food system towards agroecology and food sovereignty?
About the speaker: Prof. Facundo Martín is a researcher at the National Council for Scientific and Technical Research (CONICET) and Professor at the Geography Department of the National University of Cuyo in Mendoza, Argentina. He investigates agrarian transformations, land and water politics in Latin America. He was recently awarded the Georg Forster Fellowship for experienced researchers of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation (2024-2025) and is currently a researcher at the Department of International Relations with a focus on Latin America at the University of Kassel.
5th of February 2025, 6pm-8pm, ONLINE
Real Anger and Fake News - Dynamics of Agricultural Protests in the Face of Crisis, Disinformation and Media Change with Prof. Christian Stöcker (HAW Hamburg) and Janna Luisa Pieper (University of Göttingen)
More info here
We are looking forward to seeing you there! For any question please don't hesitate to reach out to ages[at]uni-kassel[dot]de.