ICTA-UAB researchers at the Sustainable Food Citizen Week
Several ICTA-UAB researchers participate in the Sustainable Food Citizen Week, an initiative that will take place in Barcelona from October 14 to 24.
The Sustainable Food Citizen Week aims at providing an opportunity to understand the relationship between food habits and cross-cutting aspects such as the climate emergency, local economic development, culture, politics, social rights and health. A week dedicated to citizens, in which knowledge, reflection and debate about food systems and sustainability combine with art, entertainment and experimentation.
In 2021, Barcelona is the World Capital of Sustainable Food. This represents a unique opportunity to consolidate projects to transform food systems into healthier, fairer and more sustainable and resilient models, on which work has been ongoing for years and to give these efforts some fresh impetus looking beyond 2021.
However, sustainable food cannot become a new pillar for city management without the involvement of citizens.
Over the course of Sustainable Food Citizen Week, from 14 to 24 October 2021, the city will project a transformational and disruptive vision with cultural, artistic, leisure, information and participatory activities. The aim is to raise awareness of the importance of sustainable food and encourage reflection and debate about the processes and factors involved in the food cycle. This is because personal health, the sustainability of communities and territories and the sustainability of life on Earth are all at play.
Sustainable Food Week is a project organised by Barcelona City Council through the Commission for Social Economy, Local Development and Food Policy and the Barcelona Metropolitan Strategic Plan.
Activities involving ICTA-UAB researchers
1. Discussion between Vanesa Freixa and Joan Rieradevall
Date: Saturday, October 16th 2021
Time: 12h - Jardí dels Tarongers- On-site with maximum capacity
Making the urban setting rural in three ways: production, environment and values. Understanding urbanised spaces as producers of biodiversity, health and food, as well as natural spaces. Understanding the rural setting as a live space and one which gives life, not a space which consumes nor which is consumed, without us feeling linked in some real way to its values and rhythms.
2. Talk: Food low in CO2-eq emissions. The life cycle of food and its carbon footprint
With the participation of Carles Martinez Gasol, ICTA-UAB associated researcher
Date: Sunday, October 17th 2021
Time: 13h - Plaça del Rei - On-site with maximum capacity
Talk looking at all the most common stages of the life cycle of our food. From the farm to the table, we’ll be pondering the carbon footprint of agriculture, packaging, logistics, cooking, organic waste etc. The overall goal is to provide information for deciding on food which has a lower impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. The session will also stress the contradictions in environmental communication for consumers.
3. Round table: Socio-environmental conflicts surrounding the food system in Catalonia
With Gonzalo Gamboa, ICTA-UAB researcher
Date: Sunday, October 17th 2021
Time: 17.30h - Plaça del Rei - On-site with maximum capacity
The current industrial agri-food system generates a series of environmental conflicts that are manifested through struggles and mobilisations in response to the impact this system has on the environment and society. These conflicts are mainly associated with the defence of environmental conditions or equal access and distribution of natural resources, often occurring in production and transit areas, and ultimately affecting the regions and communities where they happen. They often reveal conflicting interests, different development paradigms, and aspects related to involvement in decision-making.
The aim of this roundtable is to address some of the main current socio-environmental conflicts in Catalonia, arising from the food system, and to understand the causes and impacts both in Catalonia and the Global South, in order to make them visible, encourage dialogue and provide possible solutions or alternatives.
4. Talk: (Eco)feminist food Systems
Organised by Postgrau en Dinamització Local Agroecològica (UAB)
Date: Wednesday, October 20 2021
Time: From 18 to 20h – Videoconference Sign up here - Access the chat through this link.
Is it possible to organise our agro-food systems in a way which affords a decent life to everybody involved in them? How can we make it easier for people struggling to combine production, reproduction and care work to access alternative or organic food systems?