CASFS Quarterly Lecture Series
Critical and Equity-Oriented Pedagogical Innovations in Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems Education
March 3, 2021, 12:00 – 1:30pm (PST) / 3:00 – 4:30pm (EST)
In response to the confluence of ecological, economic, and social crises associated with colonial and neo-colonial food systems, agroecology and sustainable food system education initiatives have emerged in institutes of higher education and popular social movements across the globe. Sustainable Food Systems Education (SFSE) initiatives are characterized by their emphasis on developing participant capacities for systems thinking, multi-, inter- and trans-disciplinary collaboration, community-based learning, and collective action projects.
This webinar seeks to serve as a platform to share recent pedagogical innovations for Sustainable Food Systems Education (SFSE), building on the associated Frontiers journal SFSE Research Topic call, for which many of the panelists are co-editors and contributors.
SFSE educators will benefit from examples of curricular and pedagogical innovation that span the complex SFSE landscape, ranging a continuum of non-formal learning in grassroots movements, to formalized curricular offerings in university contexts. Examples include food justice-oriented courses that infuse a social and environmental justice lens to food systems issues, and global grassroots movements and associated programmatic initiatives, both offering on-the-ground models from which SFSE educators can draw. The overall goal of this panel, and the associated Frontiers journal SFSE Research Topic call, is to highlight pedagogical innovations, with the outcome of more critical and equity-oriented SFSE initiatives and a more just food system.
The webinar is hosted by the UCSC Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, in partnership with the Sustainable Agriculture Education Association, the Inter-
Speakers
Selena Ahmed (she/her), Associate Professor in Sustainable Food Systems at Montana State University. Dr. Ahmed is an ethnobotanist with research and outreach interests at the intersection of the ecological, cultural, and health aspects of food systems. The ultimate translational goal of Dr. Ahmed’s collaborative research program is to transform the food system through evidence-based innovations that support human and planetary health.
Nils McCune (he/him/we), Research Associate in the Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative at the University of Vermont and a Visiting Researcher at El Colegio de la Frontera Sur (ECOSUR) in Chiapas, Mexico, as well as a professor at the Latin American Institute of Agroecology (IALA) Ixim Ulew in Nicaragua.
David Meek (he, him his), Assistant Professor in the Department of Global Studies at the University of Oregon. Dr. Meek is an environmental anthropologist, critical geographer, and food systems education scholar with area specializations in Brazil and India. Professor Meek theoretically grounds his research in a synthesis of political ecology, critical pedagogy, and agrarian studies.
Albie Miles (he/him), Assistant Professor in Sustainable Community Food Systems at the University of Hawai‘i–West O‘ahu. Dr. Miles teaching and research explores the relationship between farming system biodiversity and ecosystem services from agriculture and the structural obstacles to sustainable food and farming systems.
tanamá varas (they/he/we/elle/él) is a returning jíbaro who is devoted to earth stewardship, agrarian social movements, and land based healing. tanamá has his B.S. in Sustainable Agriculture & Food Systems from UC Davis and has been involved in various land based projects to support the massification of agroecology including co-founding Black Earth Farms and Agroecology Commons. They have been involved with urban agroecology research at UC Berkeley and social movement work with the U.S. Food Sovereignty Alliance. He is currently applying to agroecology graduate programs.
Will Valley (he/him), Associate Professor of Teaching in the Faculty of Land and Food Systems at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Valley plays a central role in the development and implementation of the faculty’s core curriculum, the objective of which is to create learning opportunities that encourage students to become citizens, professionals, and leaders who understand the opportunities and obstacles to creating regional, national, and global food systems that are ecologically regenerative, socially just, and economically viable. His research focuses on sustainable food systems education, food justice pedagogy, food literacy development, urban agriculture, and community-engaged scholarship.
Moderators
Maywa Montenegro (she/her/hers), Assistant Professor in Environmental Studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Dr. Montenegro work draws on political ecology, science and technology studies, and rural political economy in research on transitions to agroecological food systems. Dr. Montenegro’s projects span the development of new biotechnologies such as CRISPR/Cas, the emergence of grassroots movement-scientist research partnerships, and politics of knowledge in and around the advancement of agroecology, food and seed sovereignty, and commoning alternatives to intellectual property.
Damian Parr (he/him), Academic Coordinator and Lecturer at the University of California, Santa Cruz, Center for Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems and Environmental Studies Department. Dr. Parr focuses on experiential and transformational learning, curriculum design and program development, critical pedagogy, and participatory action research in higher education settings.
About SAEA
The SAEA exists to serve and connect educators, teachers, students, staff, and administrators who focus on the teaching and learning of sustainable agriculture at the adult level.
