RSO Students at Summer school at Kyoto University in Japan

Posted on by

20150914_144117On the fifth day of our program of the 2015 Kyoto Graduate Seminar on Economic Development and Sustainability Studies we went on a field trip excursion on food, agriculture and environment. The bus from Kyoto University brought us into the beautiful foresty hills just outside of Kyoto, where we visited Yamaguni Sakikage Center and Tagayashiuta Farm. The Yamaguni Sakikage Center makes, grows and develops various typical Japanese products such as the basic ingredient for the well known miso soup. The miso is made by fermented ecologically produced soybeans and said to have many health benefits to it. The center is a reaction to the increasing depopulation of Kyoto’s rural backyard, mainly populated by elderly  part-time farmers, and dependency on overseas import of genetically modified soybeans. Continue reading →

Call for Paper Abstracts – Sustainable and Just Rural Transitions: Connections and Complexities

Posted on by

FoodGovernance's avatarFood Governance

XIV World Congress of Rural Sociology
August 10-14, 2016,  Toronto, Canada
Call for Paper Abstracts: Open May 19 – November 1, 2015
Sustainable and Just Rural Transitions: Connections and Complexities
Global environmental changes, shifting resource scarcities, deepening social inequalities, both innovation and crisis in urban centers, and new patterns of voluntary and involuntary migrations are among the conditions and dynamics now shaping the futures of rural places and people. Intensifying and intertwining forces of commodification, industrialization,  neoliberalization and globalization over the last several decades have produced uneven and arguably illusory gains, given evidence of the increasingly precarious position of labour and livelihoods throughout the rural world and the widespread distribution of environmental harm and ecological degradation. Within these general patterns and trends, circumstances can vary greatly across rural contexts within and between continents.
Rigorous analysis of the interconnected challenges now experienced by rural people and places, as well as…

View original post 275 more words

RETHINK Final conference in Brussels December 2, 2015

Posted on by

RETHINKOn behalf of the Rural Sociology I’m having a seat in the Advisory Board of the RETHINK: a transdisciplinary research project supported by the European Commission and funding bodies in 14 countries under the umbrella of FP7 and the RURAGRI ERA-NET. The RETHINK Final conference will take place in Brussels, December 2, 2015. It will be an interesting event with a final reflection by:

  • Rob Peters, Head Unit ‘Research & Innovation’ of DG Agri;
  • Christiane Canenbley, Unit ‘Agricultural Policy Analysis and
    Perspectives’ of DG Agri
  • Egizio Valceschini, Director of Research at L’Institut National de la
    Recherche Agronomique (INRA), representating the RURAGRI ERA network
  • A RURAGRI country representative

You can download the program here and register yourself at the RETHINK website.

For more information you can contact the RETHINK scientific coordinator Dr. Karlheinz Knickel: knickel@em.uni-frankfurt.de