Friday 29th - Saturday 30th October 2010

Urban Performance Group, University of Brighton

INTRODUCTION:

Planning for sustainable food production and consumption is an increasingly important issue for planners, policymakers, designers, farmers, suppliers, activists, business and scientists alike.

In the wider contexts of global climate change, a world population of 9 billion and growing, competing food production systems and diet-related public health concerns, are there new paradigms for urban and rural planning capable of supporting sustainable and equitable food systems? This conference will promote cross disciplinary discussions between active researchers and practitioners in response to this question, and related issues articulated during the first European Sustainable Food Planning Conference held in 2009 in Almere. Click here to download a report from the Almere conference.

Working at a range of scales and with a variety of practical and theoretical models, we will review and elaborate definitions of sustainable food systems, and begin to define ways of achieving them. To this end 4 different themes have been defined as entry-points into the discussion of ‘sustainable food planning’. These are (1) Urban Agriculture, (2) Integrating Health, Environment and Society, (3) Food in Urban Design and Planning and (4) Urban Food Governance.

Conference themes will enable an articulation of the manifold problems associated with, and possible solutions for, food provision in urbanizing societies in developed and developing countries.

Keynote Speakers:

Professor June Komisar, Ryerson University, Toronto.  Architect, member of the Toronto Food Policy Council and a co-curator for the exhibit Carrot City: Designing for Urban Agriculture.

Dr. Joe Nasr, Co-coordinator, MetroAg – North American Alliance for Urban Agriculture, and Associate, Centre for Studies in Food Security, Ryerson University ,Toronto.

Prof Tim Lang, Professor of Food Policy at City University, London

Carolyn Steel, Architect, Columnist, Lecturer and Author of 'Hungry City: How Food Shapes Our Lives'.

CONFERENCE FORMAT

The conference follows the successful format used in Almere, a short intense event allowing ample time for questions and discussion. The conference will be conducted in English and translation facilities will not be available.

Peer reviewed proceedings including context setting essays will be published following the conference by Wageningen Academic Publishers.

The conference fee is £210. This includes a copy of the proceedings (Hardback and mailed directly to delegates) refreshments, lunch on Friday and Saturday and a buffet dinner on Friday. Food will be prepared using locally sourced ingredients.

Please note that the conference fee does not include accommodation, but advice on suitable accommodation will be provided at the registration stage.

Unfortunately we are unable to provide reduced student fees or offer travel grants.

More information

For conference themes and call for abstract and or registration go to: http://artsresearch.brighton.ac.uk/research/projects/continuous-productive-urban-landscape/aesop-2nd-european-sustainable-food-planning-conference