European Group of the
IFSA International Farming Systems Association
6th European Symposium on
Farming and Rural Systems Research and Extension
Vila Real, Portugal, 3-8 April, 2004
European Farming and Society in search of a new social contract
Learning to manage change
Welcome .. Background
.. Program .. To participate
.. To contact .. Useful
links
Please look at the allocation diagram and below the plenary sessions, parallel sessions and workshops
See also the field trips program.
European Farming and Society in search of a new social contract - Learning to manage change
The countryside is no longer seen as a space of food and fibre production. It is understood as multifunctional. Policies have change considerably over the last decade, and new changes are being discussed at the moment under the EU framework. The global context, markets and trade are part of the debate, as are equity, sustainability, and social inclusion and participation concerns. Urban representations about the rural areas and "nature" have changed, and such changes have influenced the emergence of the so-called new social demands. Economic diversification of rural areas, particularly through tourism promotion and valorisation of quality of agricultural and agri-food products, have become a focus of attention. But many questions and concerns remain, for instance about the benefits and risks of these diversification strategies. In the academic, professional, and policy-making communities, it has become clear that European farming and society in general (policy-makers, consumers, environmental groups, citizens) are searching for a new social contract. Farming systems researchers are active participants in this effort, through research activities and multiple events that they organise or in which they participate. The 6th IFSA Symposium will be a major opportunity to contribute to this on-going and crucial discussion. The five topics proposed for reflection in the Workshops emerged from this general concern: food quality and safety; sustainability of small farming; natural resources management and landscape construction; knowing and learning to manage change; developing new tools to support sustainable agriculture and rural development. As before, the 6th IFSA Symposium will be an occasion to present and share research results and to advance ideas on future research projects and initiatives. Besides, we also want it to be a privileged time to meet extensionists, farmers and other actors involved in the construction of new approaches, methods and projects leading to a renewed social contract between European agriculture and society. Join us and be part of this collaborative learning endeavour!
The programme features two plenary sessions, five workshops with presentation and discussion of the accepted papers, posters display, training and tools bazaar, field trips and special parallel sessions.
Plenary sessions will include the welcome addresses, introduction to the general topic and presentation of the localities where the field trips will take place, plus reports from the workshops, plenary discussion, summary and conclusions. Two special parallel sessions will focus on topics to be defined in accordance with the Symposium theme. Five parallel Workshops will deal with five different major topics and will be the major component of the Symposium.
Organisation of workshops and discussions
A small team will co-ordinate, review and organise the papers that will be submitted
for each workshop theme. The organisation of the workshops during the Symposium
is left to the team responsible. Time spent in workshop activities will be maximised
and the participation of all members of the group ensured. In general, the format
of each workshop will be as follows: (1) Presentation: A presenter will introduce
the papers to be dealt with in each session; (2) Discussion: Workshop participants
may break up into small discussion groups if wished. Each discussion group will
have a reporter; and (3) Reporting from workshops - General discussion: The
reporter of each group will present the results of the group discussion to be
examined and discussed by all the workshop participants. A summary will be presented
in the final plenary session on Wednesday by a reporter for each workshop.
Posters and tools bazaar
Posters will be displayed during the Symposium. Two sessions are allocated for
discussions of the posters. Authors will be available at the poster area. Two
sessions will be made available (parallel to the discussion of posters) for
participants to present examples of tools and techniques that have been used
in the field or in training courses.
Field trips
Field trips will be organised during the second day of the Symposium. They will
be planned in order to give the participants the possibility to speak with farmers
and extensionists working in the area. In each field trip, participants will
have the opportunity to split into small groups and discuss with the local stakeholders.
English speaking people will be available to facilitate the discussions
Topics and Content of Plenary Sessions
Plenary
Session 1 - Opening Session
Guest speakers
Prof. Dr. Manuel Belo Moreira
Dr. Belo Moreira is a full professor at the Department of Agricultural Economics
and Rural Sociology, Faculty of Agronomy, Lisbon Technical University. Among
different scientific tasks, he is President of the executive board of the International
Sociological Association Research Committee 40 on Sociology of Agriculture and
Food and member of the Editorial Board of the following scientific journals:
Economia Agro-Alimentare, Journal of the Italian Society of Agro-Food
Economy; International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food,
journal RC-40, Research Committee on Sociology of Agriculture and Food of the
International Sociology Association. He was co-Editor of volumes 5, 6 and 7
of Sociologia Ruralis. Recently he published a book on “Globalization
and Agriculture” (Portuguese edition).
Colin Newsham
Colin Newsham is a practitioner. Until 8 years ago he was a dairy, beef and
sheep farmer on a 70 hectare family farm in North West England. He still lives
on the farm but has diversified out of food production and now manages the land:
for leisure - golf and fly fishing; for learning; wooden lodges and outdoor
areas for management development and training; and for business - office space
that is attracting complimentary organisations and creating a rural business
community. He sees himself as working on the boundaries and values the advantage
this position can give, particularly in thinking about policies and practices
in agricultural development.
Dr. Clive Lightfoot
Dr. Clive Lightfoot divides his time between the International Support Group
(ISG), where he is he executive director, and consulting in rural development.
He is currently president of the International Farming Systems Association.
Since gaining his PhD from Reading University in 1983 he has worked on participatory
action research methods in sub-Saharan Africa and South-East Asia in many different
institutional settings: Donor projects with DFID, Universities with Cornell,
CGIAR research centres with IRRI and ICLARM, and international NGO’s with
ILEIA and ISG. His current research interests are in multi-stakeholder collaborative
learning approaches to the complex organizational changes associated with reconciling
conflicts in natural resource management and decentralization and privatization
of agriculture support services.
Plenary
Session 2 - Closing Session
Guest speakers
Not yet defined
Topics and Content of Parallel Sessions
Parallel
Session 1
Management
of consumer oriented quality and safety in the organic production system.
Chairpersons: Kirsten Brandt and Eduardo Rosa
Objectives:
Many consumers have more or less explicit expectations about the qualities and
safety of organic products. It is important to understand to what extent these
qualities are ensured in the organic production chains in different parts of
Europe, and consider the issue of what it would mean to secure consumer oriented
safety and quality of organic foods in the light of available research with
regard to consumer conceptions.
This is expected to show how some of the consumers’ expectations can be
met by recommending optimal methods for production and distribution throughout
the organic chain. Some expectations it is more difficult to meet at present,
and it is important to discuss to what extent the efforts should be focused
on developing methods that enable these qualities to be provided, or on providing
information that enable consumers to better understand what is realistic to
expect.
This section will comprise presentation of the results from one year of activities
of the EU concerted action “Organic HACCP” (www.OrganicHACCP.org)
and other studies on securing consumer oriented food safety and quality of organic
foods.
Presentations/speakers:
9.00: Kirsten Brandt, Gabriela Wyss, Katherine O'Doherty Jensen, Paolo Bergamo,
Iain Ogden, Alberta Velimirov, Eduardo Rosa, Clemens Oude Groeniger and Hanne
Torjusen Campoverde: Introduction to the concept and project “Organic
HACCP”.
9.20: Questions and discussion.
9.40: Lotte S. Sangstad, Hanne Torjusen Campoverde and Katherine O'Doherty Jensen:
The available research regarding European consumers' conceptions of organic
food.
10.10: Questions and discussion.
10.30: Coffee break.
10.50: Clemens Oude Groeniger, Krisztina Horvath and Lily Aryani: Collection
of information about control of quality and safety in organic production chains
in Europe.
11.30: Questions and discussion
11.50: Discussion of the “Organic HACCP” project in general.
12.10: Jana Hajslová: Composition data of organic farming versus traditional
farming products.
12.40: Questions and discussion.
13.00: Lunch.
Parallel
Session 2
What
Policies for Sustainable Agriculture and What Role for IFSA
Chairpersons: Julio Berdeque (RIMISP) and Paul Engel (ECDPM)
Objectives
This session will help IFSA members better engage with Policy debates concerning:
a) public investments in agricultural research and development, particularly
service delivery, and
b) government policies that directly effect the livelihoods of small holder
farming families.
Topic
In realizing its new mandate “to move beyond doing good research to making
a difference to the lives of small farmers’ and the rural poor”
IFSA undertakes a new contract to:
a) engage more democratically with society in generating and directing its R&D
efforts, and
b) represent our common concerns to our political leadership and governments.
How IFSA might organize itself and support its members engage in policy formulation
is the topic of this session. Should and can IFSA develop common policy position
in national, regional and global levels debates on public investments in agricultural
research and development? Should and can IFSA develop common positions in the
key policy debates of CAP reform, the US Farm Bill and WTO Doha round? Traditionally
IFSA has shied away from such engagement. What must we now do to change this?
What debates should we engage in and which should be avoid at what levels? How
should we organize ourselves to better engage in policy forums? These are some
of the questions the session will seek to answer.
Along with FSRE practitioners the session will include policy researchers and
lobbyists, representatives from Farmer and Consumer organizations as well as
Agri-business. Donors and UN agencies will also be represented in the session.
Facilitators
Julio Berdeque (RIMISP) will facilitate an e-discussion to prepare the session
in Portugal.
Paul Engel (ECDPM) will facilitate the session in Portugal on April 7th 9-11
am.
Topics and Content of Workshops
Workshop
1
Food System: Food Quality and Safety for Sustainable Rural Development
Coordinators: Donato Romano and Geir Lieblein
Events of recent years have heightened the awareness and concerns that consumers
have about food quality and safety. Food quality taken in its widest meaning
will include the organoleptic quality of food for the individual consumer to
food security at household and to national levels. Food safety touches on the
psychological and physical health of people, consumers' welfare, their cultural
appreciation of food, the right to food and indeed all the questions of food
ethics. These may all be primarily the reactions of the non-farming population.
Equally important are issues and concerns of the farming population on how to
keep the money circulating in the region for its development. Linking the typical
agri-food productions with their consumption, and accounting for the environmental,
recreational and cultural services provided by farmers, can represent an important
drive for sustainable rural development in many European rural areas. In this
regard, 'food systems' is a way of embracing the whole, linking the farming
and the non-farming sectors of society and the social contract between them.
Some of the questions to be considered in this workshop will be: Is it possible
for the characteristics of excellence linked to productive processes set by
local traditions to be maintained, even in the presence of a significantly growing
demand, and therefore of increased production? In which way can aspects of the
traditional Farming Systems (productive structures, production techniques, institutional
relationships, legislation, personal capacity, and relationships between producers
and consumers) cope with the expansion of the market, without a degeneration
of the specific characteristics of the local systems? What innovative models
do we need to fill the gap between the large players dominating the food systems
and the small-scale alternatives that have emerged to date?
Workshop
2
The sustainability of small scale farming
Chairpersons: David Gibbon, Jacques Brossier and Luigi Omodei Zorini
This theme will continue with some of the debates and ideas which were illuminated
by the Volos (2000) and Florence ( 2002) meetings. We would like to explore
the continuing roles of small-scale farming, both as a component within broadening
rural livelihood systems and in providing ecological and environmental services
that society at large demands. We will also examine the linkages between farming
systems research and the rural livelihood framework, which includes the analysis
of the importance of institutional, social, physical, natural, financial and
human capital, in the evolution of more sustainable systems. This theme will
welcome contributions from small-scale organic farmers who are building new
alliances in production systems, research and marketing methods.
We would appreciate contributions of both theoretical studies and case studies
from widely differing contexts, which will contribute to our ongoing debates.
We would particularly like to encourage joint contributions from natural and
social scientists, advisers and farmers that demonstrate synergy, systemic thinking
and evidence of learning in the approach to these complex issues.
Workshop
3
Natural resources management and farm functions in landscape construction
Coordinators: Herman van Keulen and Jacques Baudry
The societal demand on agriculture is shifting from production of commodities,
with special attention to avoid pollution or depletion of natural resources,
to integrated natural resources management, including rural landscape management
and development. Increasing public concern for sustainable development is leading
to increased attention for multi-functionality as a boundary condition for farming
activities. This theme will be discussed in the Workshop, considering the following
objectives:
• To identify options for improved natural resources and landscape management;
• To identify ways to evaluate potential impacts of improved natural resources
and landscape management;
• To review methodologies for assessing the efficiency of various incentives
in terms of environment; and
• To analyse possible conflicts among environmental objectives in specific
natural resources management and landscape management in a farming system setting.
Workshop
4
Knowing and Learning: labour and skills at stake for a multidimensional agriculture
Coordinator: Bernard Hubert
The Learning network
will meet again in Vila Real, with new issues: the consequences on labour and
activities of overall societal evolution (individual values, common sense, relation
to work and quality of life) and new market requirements in the fields of quality
of products, food and health security, environmental management, social conditions.
This year we suggest to focus our discussions and interactions on some radical
transformations at work in individual identities and social structures such
as professional bodies, farms, agri-food enterprises, local communities, in
the sense that new skills as well as labour management are required, relevant
networking between existing skills (in complementary social positions) is required
to enhance their efficiency.
How are those skills built in an intertwined questioning that addresses the
role of numerous agencies and actors, with a specific stress on the local level,
since a strong hypothesis may be that territorial assets are core components
of the evolution of agriculture towards multidimensionality? These questions
are addressed by a wide range of disciplines, in the human sciences (ergonomics,
psycho-sociology, sociology, anthropology, political sciences and economy) as
well as bio-technical sciences (agronomy, animal husbandry, forestry, food technology).
Hence, this workshop will welcome such diversity and has for ambition to cast
an interdisciplinary light on these questions.
Skills can be considered as products as well as conditions of professional history.
We look for papers describing and analysing individual learning processes through
personal trajectory, the role of training agencies, educational systems and
local or professional communities or any interactive systems of skill building.
How generic and specific skills are identified, translated into training products
and implemented through the cooperation between different actors, including
workers/workplace providers, relationships or innovative territorial projects?
Beyond individual skills, this co-operation highlights the need for collective
or organisational skills, which are the products as well as the conditions of
actions and interactions between stakeholders.
Workshop
5
Combined micro-economic and ecological assessment tools for sustainable rural
development
Coordinators: Peter Zander and Tommy Dalgaard
Sustainable development
of farming systems requires profound knowledge of complex interdisciplinary
processes. These comprise scientific as well as agricultural, social, economic
and political processes. Changes in farming systems management depend on the
decisions of a number of decision-makers in agricultural enterprises and public
authorities from the local level up to European agricultural and environmental
politics. Farmers generally follow the economic rationality in their decision
making, which is implicated by the economic conditions. These conditions currently
undergo considerable modifications through the actual practice of subsidising
agriculture in Europe. In the future, the EU funded agricultural subsidies will
increasingly be linked to the environmental performance of agricultural practices
(EU-Commission 2000).
To develop an effective agro-environmental policy, tools are needed that allow
detailed ex-ante economic and environmental analysis of different policy options
at a regional level. The sustainability of a certain land use combination can
only be defined in a participative societal discourse, which requires adequate
information. At the same time, much of the correlations between different aspects
of sustainability are not known, because of knowledge gaps on processes, data
or lack of models which can generate adequate information at the regional level.
The provision of tools that are able to analyse the interdependencies between
the relevant indicators of sustainability at a regional or national level will
contribute substantially to sustainable development. These issues will be debated
in this Workshop, with the contribution of all participants.
Welcome .. Background .. Program .. To participate .. To contact .. Useful links
opened at: 2003-01-27
last updated:
2004-05-12
Pedro Ferrão
pferrao@utad.pt