Conference Purpose

The goal of convening national conferences is to encourage the continued development of learning and teaching within sustainable agriculture programs by facilitating a national dialogue.

Our conferences create a stimulating working environment in which faculty, students, staff and administrators feel free to share ideas and questions. Conference participants discuss what they have done and want to do in their education programs, what works, what doesn’t work, and what educational resources they have found most valuable.

We take a critical look at our programmatic goals and objectives, and assess how well we have been meeting our needs and interests as students, educators, and society, now and into the future. We share and explore teaching and educational ideas, practices, and theories. We discuss opportunities and challenges and how to best approach them.

Within the structure of our conferences, we form a community of practice. We enable educators, administrators and students to meet each other, learn from each other and, if and as it suits them, develop collaborations and working relationships across geographical, disciplinary and other boundaries. In doing so it is our hope that collectively we can encourage the development of educational programs that focus on learning, student self-empowerment, and the development of knowledge and skills needed to achieve more sustainable food and agricultural systems.