This year, the team behind the 9th SARAS Public Conference on Food and Sustainability presents a series of virtual events entitled: "Knowledges on the Table: Towards sustainable food systems and practices".
The cycle consists of a series of virtual gatherings aimed at understanding, discussing and collectively imagining how to navigate the complexity of our food systems to enable sustainable futures.
The process
A collective process
In 2021, and as a product of a collective process in with the organising team has been engaged for 2 years, SARAS institute is launching a series of virtual spaces for dialogue, debate, learning and imagination. Our goal is to help advance and nourish a series of discussions about the food-related challenges that our societies face today, and that we believe are key to determining the possibility of ensuring human and planetary health for current and future generations.
EVENT #1, March 2021:
“Food and crises: resiliences”
EVENT #2, June 2021:
“Food, society and nature: synergies”
EVENT #3, October 2021:
“Food and just futures: transitions”
Overview
Food, more than any other aspect of our lives, connects us to nature. Our daily food choices impact both nature and us. How is it possible to eat well while staying within planetary boundaries? Good nutrition (in quantity, quality and appropriateness) and healthy ecosystems depend upon each other. Without the right socio-ecological synergies, humanity will not be able to secure a safe, just, and desirable future for everyone.
Our food systems, including their diversity of actors (consumers, producers, retail, and transportation services, among others) and processes (agricultural production, fishing, processing, transportation, waste disposal and management, commerce, preparation, and cooking, among others) must be aligned with the natural systems and processes on which human well-being has always depended. To do this, we must recognize the multiplicity of existent interactions and the fact that our current food systems are neither equitable nor environmentally sustainable. However, food also offers concrete opportunities for empowerment and change in our daily lives.
The event
SARAS has taken these tensions and opportunities seriously. That is why we are inviting you to participate in our cycle of conversations and activities. Last March, we launched the first public virtual activity of our 2021 cycle “Knowledges on the table” with an event entitled “Food and crisis: Resiliences”, where we explored the existing perspectives on this issue with a focus anchored in the current crisis.
In alignment with the World Environment Day (June 5th), this month SARAS is preparing a second virtual event focused on expanding and including new and “bold” perspectives. We will introduce our participants to a rich menu of contributions that will unfold over the next four months. These activities and products will include keynote lectures, videos, and other materials, along with a program of participatory workshops and webinars.
Between July and September, in preparation for the third event to take place in October, we will seek to we will seek to expand and gain insights on the wisdom needed to transform food systems towards sustainability and equity.
We are interested in hearing all voices, especially those that are often excluded. We seek your comments, reactions, and ideas for concrete actions and/or visions.
Join the space for conversation and collective learning on our website and through social media using the tag
#saberessobrelamesa2021
PROGRAMME
Workshops and webinars 2021
We offer a program of virtual activities that will take place between July and October of this year. Registrations and pre-registrations are open from each link.
July
Martes 13
10:00 - 11:30 hs (GMT-3)
Sabidurías alimentarias I:
Resiliencia e integración de saberes
Este taller propone explorar y comprender colectivamente lo que significa y caracteriza a las sabidurías alimentarias, así como compartir algunos ejemplos en la práctica, indagando también sobre los vínculos con el concepto de resiliencia.
A cargo de:
Silvana Juri
Martes 27
14:30 -16:00 hs (GMT-3)
Claves en la transición agroecológica
Este taller forma parte de la línea de trabajo sobre ambiente y desarrollo. Exploramos los desafíos relacionados a las transformaciones de los sistemas productivos desde la perspectiva de la sostenibilidad, inocuidad y desarrollo socio-económico.
A cargo de:
Néstor Mazzeo
Co-organizado entre SARAS y FAO
August
Martes 3
9:30 a 11:00 hs (GMT-3)
Cosechando localidades: segundo encuentro de Cocinería Colectiva
Cosechando lo local apunta a plantear en colectivo una serie de temas para empezar a intercambiar qué oportunidades existen hoy en el ámbito local para inspirar la transición hacia la alimentación sustentable.
A cargo de:
Proyecto: Cocinería Colectiva (Cristina Zurbriggen, Gabriela Torres, Florencia Alvarez y Silvana Juri)
Literatura a la mesa:
Nuevas perspectivas sobre alimentación y sabor
A cargo de:
Jorge Marcone, Mauricio Cheguhem, Sofía Rosa
Impacto de la COVID-19 sobre el sistema alimentario internacional: vulnerabilidades y resiliencias
A cargo de:
Proyecto: COVID Foodways
September
Sabidurías Alimentarias II: nutriendo futuros alimentarios en la práctica
A cargo de:
Silvana Juri
October
Alimentos y Cultura: ¿Cómo cambiamos?
Laboratorio de Futuros
A cargo de:
Lydia Garrido y
Constanza Bourdieu
Ongoing projects
There are over 10 ongoing projects related to the thematic cycle, where scientists, actors from the civil society, chefs and artists converge.
COVID Foodways: changes in practices during pandemic / producers and consumers
Cocineria colectiva: mapping and connecting emerging seeds of transformation (futures) in local sustainable food scene
Fluruguay: visualizing flows and impacts of 5 key Uruguayan commodities (soy, beef, fish, paper, rice), locally and globally.
Huella de un Plato: Assessing social and environmental footprints behind a particular Uruguayan dish.
Cadenas de pescado + Innovación, adaptación y transformación en pesca artesanal: Looking at fisheries from various perspectives, mapping contributing with data and analysis to other projects.
100 relatos/100 datos: understanding links and challenges behind Uruguayan models of development and the food sector.
Identidad Uruguaya en la cocina: publication of a book analysing the Uruguayan food identity, how it emerged (culture) and the current imaginaries.
Transformando desperdicios: exploring the opportunities to imagine food-waste free futures around the concept of circular economy (futures literacy perspective).
Sobremesa: a podcast exploring the dilemmas consumers face everyday in relation to food and navigating complexity of food systems (artistic perspective).
Recetario Linda Cohen: analysing a recipe book as an artistic genre and what it tells us about food in Uruguay (humanities perspective).
The various areas of analysis, frames and dynamics are covered from local to global scales and categorized in three thematic work areas: fisheries, agro-exportation, and agroecology. This way, it has been possible to create and sustain spaces of work and debate that reach and span diverse topics such as: development models for Uruguay, trading logics, local and global trading policies, population’s consumption habits and practices, traditions and cultural identity, emerging initiatives and opportunities for social change, opportunities for education and food literacy, and review and exploration of future visions and scenarios.
Organising Team
Matilda Baraibar (Stockholm University, SARAS), Laurie Beth Clark (University of Wisconsin-Madison, SARAS), Lisa Deutsch (Stockholm Resilience Centre, SARAS), Esteban Jobbágy (Universidad Nacional de San Luis, SARAS), Silvana Juri (Carnegie Mellon University, SARAS), Jorge Marcone (Universidad de Rutgers-New Brunswick, SARAS), Néstor Mazzeo (CURE-Udelar, SARAS), Mariana Meerhoff (CURE-Udelar, SARAS), Micaela Trimble (SARAS), Mauricio Cheguhem (integrante de RESACA Red - SARAS), Gabriela Torchio (Universidad Nacional Arturo Jauretche), Fiorella Polcaro (SARAS), Gabriela Bardecio (SARAS).
Would you like to learn more about our first event?
You will find more information and access to the videos of the event held last March 2021
If you would like to contact the organizing team, please send an email to: