SCAR NEWS

“Humans in transitions: towards agroecological approaches and sustainable food systems”

The SCAR Conference was held on 14 June 2022 in Paris, and was hosted by the EU French Presidency. The conference was built as an interactive SCAR-level event, to discuss two topics:

• The transition that the agri-food sector needs to undergo in the current crisis context (COVID, climate change, war…) and the opportunities linked to those (e.g. animal well-being, promoting more resilient farming and food systems)
• Ways to address the various elements in the transition simultaneously (agroecosystems, food systems, knowledge systems…) putting the human factor at the centre.

The conference included two keynote speakers and four parallel workshops. The themes were (1) Digitalisation, (2) Genetic resources and Agrobiodiversity, (3) Stakeholders and networks and (4) Skills and Education.

The workshops helped to identify the conditions under which research can contribute to transition:

• Research activities should consider the ‘big picture’ and have a holistic approach.
• It should involve farmers and citizens in projects from the start.
• It should consider trans/interdisciplinarity as an asset, and social sciences should clearly be in scope.

You can read the full conference report here.