This module in the first winter semester will address the questions: What are food systems, how to analyze them, how are food systems governed and what are the institutions constituting it? What are trends in food system development in Europe and worldwide?
To answer these questions the module addresses food system, institutions and governance and their analysis. Institutions are shaped by policies, economic rationales and social norms. They allow actors to collaborate in resource management and agricultural production. Further the module introduces how institutions shape different food systems and types of production systems through collective action, contracts, cooperatives, value chains, policies, property rights. It connects institutional analysis to the analysis of ecosystem services. Further, food system transformation, approaches to consider transformation discussed and practiced. That way, the module addresses core dimensions of what connects Agriculture, Ecology and Society.