Category Archives: Research

Research

New ideas, but where are the new policies?

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On behalf of Merel Heijke: second year student Master of International Development Studies at Wageningen University.

Thursday the eight of October I took part in the mini-conference: ‘Dynamics and Robustness of Multifunctional Agriculture: Lessons from abroad’ organized by Wageningen University’s Rural Sociology Group. I participated in the conference because since I came to Wageningen to study International Development Studies (I did my bachelor in interdisciplinary social science at the University of Utrecht), I really got interested in the way life is approached by people in the countryside. The topic multifunctional agriculture however, was quite new to me. Some considerations:

This conference opened my eyes about the difficulties people can face with certain top-down rural policies. The Norwegian guest Katrina Rønningen argued that too much attention and pressure is directed towards rural actors active in multifunctional agriculture. People that do not have sufficient knowhow and capacities to adjust their business to this way of life, fail and get into a lot of stress. This might be a consequence of a second point of view that struck me that afternoon, namely: policies implemented by the (national and/or local) government may not be relevant or can even hinder the development of new ideas. From a sustainable point of view: if we, as the global society, want to sustain the luxurious life we have, we need to adapt. Export versus quality, economical versus sustainable, short-term incomes against long-term investments – the choices are hard to make when governmental policies do not really support new initiatives (even the cheap ones) or the advertisement to the big public. An interesting topic to study…

I am very curious what the future will bring us… How will our food be produced in twenty years? What does our relationship with the countryside look like? How is our land going to be used? Let’s have an other conference about this subject in five years! This international exchange of information was really interesting and asking for new thoughts to develop. I am hungry for more!

Merel Heijke

Terugblik kenniskringbijeenkomst: buitenlandse ervaringen multifunctionele landbouw

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Op donderdag 8 oktober jl. organiseerde de vakgroep Rurale Sociologie van Wageningen Universiteit een discussiebijeenkomst in het kader van het onderzoeksproject: “Dynamiek en Robuustheid van Multifunctionele Landbouw”. De bijeenkomst kende het uitwisselen van buitenlandse ontwikkelingen en ervaringen met multifunctionele landbouw als doel en was met 70 deelnemers goed bezocht.

Een korte terugblik op de bijeenkomst en de presentaties van de internationale sprekers zijn te vinden op het weblog Dynamiek en Robuustheid van Multifunctionele Landbouw.

Discussiebijeenkomst buitenlandse ervaringen van multifunctionele landbouw

Sustainable Food Planning Conference

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De KemphaanIn her recent blog, Petra already reflected on the Sustainable Food Planning Conference that was held in Almere (at De Kemphaan) on 9 and 10 October. My personal impression is that it was a very successful kick-off of the AESOP thematic group on sustainable food planning. In addition to lots of interesting presentations, there were interesting discussions and the strong will and desire among the participants to continue collaboration. One of the ways to continue collaboration is by means of an annual conference. Another is to create an electronic platform to facilitate exchange of experiences, examples, articles, reports, etc… Soon we will launch such a platform by means of a weblog similar to this one. For the time being, this post provides the links to the dowloads of the presentations and the discussion.

De Kemphaan, 9 and 10 October 2009, Almere, The Netherlands
The program
The participants
Presentation 1 Mr. Henk Mulder Including food and agriculture in urban planning: The Almere approach
Presentation 2 Prof. Han Wiskerke An integrated and territorial perspective on food studies, policy and planning
Presentation 3 Mr. Henk de Zeeuw Feeding the city: Practices, challenges and lessons from developing countries
Presentation 4 Prof. Gianluca Brunori Reconnecting consumers and producers: Dynamics, diversity and potentials of alternative food networks
Presentation 5 Dr Roberta Sonnino Urban food and public spaces: Planning for security and sustainability
Presentation 6 Dr Marin Caraher Food and the city: The links between food, public health and sustainable urban development
Presentation 7 Mrs. Lenie Dwarshuis Food and agriculture in Europe’s peri-urban regions
Presentation 8 Dr. Nevin Cohen The practice of food planning in New York City
Presentation 9 Mr. Bart Pijnenburg, MSc Amsterdam’s food strategy (“Proeftuin Amsterdam”)
Presentation 10 Prof. Jerry Kaufman Including food in planning studies and planning practices: Experiences from the USA
Report of the discussion

Sustainable food planning conference – reminder & update

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As mentioned in my blog of 28 August 2009 the Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP), the International Studygroup on Multiple Use of Land (ISOMUL) and the Rural Sociology Group are hosting the first European Sustainable Food Planning conference. The conference will take place at De Kemphaan in the city of Almere in the Netherlands on 9 and 10 October 2009. It is still possible to register for this conference. If you are interested to participate in this conference, please apply by e-mail to corine.diepeveen@wur.nl. Costs for participation are € 100,- (incl. drinks, lunches and diner).

City estate De Kemphaan

Since the first announcement a couple of weeks ago, the conference programme has changed slightly. Below you can find the most recent version of the programme:

Day 1 – Generating ideas, exchanging experiences and comparing perspectives
09.00 – 09.30

Welcome and coffee/tea
09.30 – 09.45 Food and planning: an introduction to the conference Prof. Kevin Morgan (Professor of Governance & Development, Cardiff University, UK)
09.45 – 10.00 Including food and agriculture in urban planning: the Almere approach Mr. Henk Mulder (director urban planning Almere)
10.00 – 11.00

Session 1: Setting the scene
10.00 – 10.30 An integrated and territorial perspective on food studies, policy and planning Prof. Han Wiskerke (Chair of Rural Sociology – Wageningen University, Netherlands)
10.30 – 11.00 Feeding the city: practices, challenges and lessons from developing countries Mr. Henk de Zeeuw (director of the RUAF Foundation)
11.00 – 11.30

Coffee/tea break
11.30 – 13.00

Session 2: Theoretical perspectives and academic issues

11.30 – 12.00 Reconnecting consumers and producers:  dynamics, diversity and potentials of alternative food networks Prof. Gianluca Brunori (Professor of Agriculture Economics – Pisa University, Italy)
12.00 – 12.30 Urban food and public spaces: planning for security and sustainability Dr. Roberta Sonnino (Lecturer in Environmental Planning – Cardiff University, UK)
12.30 – 13.00 Food and the city: the links between food, public health and sustainable urban development Dr. Martin Caraher (Reader in Food & Health Policies – City University London, UK)
13.00 – 14.00

Lunch break
14.00 – 15.30

Session 3: Food planning practices and policies
14.00 – 14.30 Food and agriculture in Europe’s peri-urban regions Mrs. Dwarshuis (President of Peri-Urban Regions Platform Europe – PURPLE)  
14.30 – 14.50 The practice of food planning in New York city Dr. Nevin Cohen (Associate Professor in Urban Studies – New School for Liberal Arts, New York)
14.50 – 15.10 The practice of food planning in New York state Mr. Bob Lewis (senior planner New York State)
15.10 – 15.30 Amsterdam’s food strategy (“Proeftuin Amsterdam”) Mr. Bart Pijnenburg MSc (Programme manager Proeftuin Amsterdam)
15.30 – 16.00

Coffee/tea break
16.00 – 18.00 Excursion to City Farm Almere Tineke van den Berg (urban farmer)
19.30 – 22.30

Diner (Restaurant De Kemphaan – Almere)

Day 2 – Towards an agenda for sustainable food planning
09.00 – 09.30

Welcome and coffee/tea
09.30 – 10.00 Including food in planning studies and planning practices: experiences from the USA Prof. Jerry Kaufman (Professor Emeritus of Urban and Regional Planning – University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA)
10.00 – 10.45 Issues, topics, themes for a sustainable food planning agenda (plenary inventory) Moderated by Prof. Arnold van der Valk (Chair of Land Use Planning – Wageningen University, NL)
10.45 – 11.15

Coffee/tea break
11.15 – 12.45 Developing the building blocks for a sustainable food planning agenda (parallel working sessions)
12.45 – 14.00

Lunch break
14.00 – 14.45 Plenary presentation of and discussion about results of parallel working sessions Moderated by Prof. Terry Marsden (Professor of Environmental Planning – Cardiff University, UK)
14.45 – 15.00 Sustainable food planning in Europe: concluding reflection and look ahead Prof. Kevin Morgan (Professor of Governance & Development, Cardiff University, UK)
15.00

Coffee & tea / end of conference

 

Multifunctional Agriculture miniconference

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On Thursday 8 October 2009 we are organizing a miniconference about multifunctional agriculture (recently also announced in Dutch). This event is part of a two year research project entitled ‘Dynamics and Robustness of Multifunctional Agriculture’ and is funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality. Aim of this conference is to examine what we can learn from experiences in other countries to enhance the development of multifunctional agriculture in the Netherlands. Four speakers will talk about (aspects of) multifunctional agriculture in different countries: Italy, United Kingdom, Norway, Brazil and China.

Mariënwaerdt (source: http://www.marienwaerdt.nl/)

Mariënwaerdt (source: http://www.marienwaerdt.nl/)

The miniconference will be held at Rural Estate Mariënwaerdt and participation is free of charge. All presentations as well as the discussion will be in English. If you are interested to participate, please apply by sending an e-mail to corine.diepeveen@wur.nl. You can also use this e-mail address for any queries about the miniconference.

 

Dynamics and Robustness of Multifunctional Agriculture – Lessons from Abroad

 Thursday 8 October 2009

 Rural Estate Mariënwaerdt, De Hooge Schuur, ‘t Klooster 5 in Beesd
12.30 – 13.00

Welcome and coffee/tea
13.00 – 13.05 Conference opening by the chairman Krijn Poppe – Chief Science Officer Agro-chains and fisheries, Ministry of Agriculture, Nature & Food Quality
13.05 – 13.15 The multifunctional conference setting – a short introduction to Rural Estate Mariënwaerdt     Frans van Verschuer – Owner of Rural Estate Mariënwaerdt
13.15 – 13.30 Dynamics and robustness of multifunctional agriculture – introducing the project and presentation of the first results Han Wiskerke – project coordinator and Professor of Rural Sociology, Wageningen University
13.30 – 14.00 Multifunctional agriculture in Italy – the rural district approach in Tuscany Gianluca Brunori – Professor of Agricultural Economics, Pisa University, Italy
14.00 – 14.30 Multifunctional agriculture in the UK – the role of the state and the public sector Roberta Sonnino – Lecturer in Environmental Policy & Planning, Cardiff University, United Kingdom
14.30 – 15.00 Multifunctional agriculture in Norway – the relation between multifunctional agriculture and sustainable rural community development Katrina Rønningen – Senior Researcher at the Centre for Rural Research, Trondheim, Norway
15.00 – 15.30

Coffee/tea break
15.30 – 16.00 Agrarian and rural development dynamics across the globe – comparing Europe, China and Brazil Jan Douwe van der Ploeg – Professor of Transition Studies, Wageningen University
16.00 – 16.55 Debate: inspiring lessons for multifunctional agriculture in the Netherlands
16.55 – 17.00 Conference closing by the chairman
17.00

Drinks