Transdisciplinary Action Research
"Agriculture is essentially co-production - that is, the interaction between and interweaving and mutual transformation of the natural and the social" (van der Ploeg 2003)
Living Lab "Urban Agroecology" in Zurich
With this external page transdisciplinary project funded by Citizen Science Zurich (formerly Swiss Participatory Science Academy) (2022-2023), we start an “Urban Agroecology Living Lab”, bringing together different actors from civil society, city government, and the education sector, providing input for exchange with other city dwellers and organizations in order to scale-out urban agroecology (i.e. inspire more people and manage more land together and according to agroecological principles).
Agroecology as a transformative science, practice and social movement is an important strategy to address the multidimensional social and ecological crisis our society is experiencing. To do this, the project works with two practice initiatives: an existing community garden that will be strengthened, and at least one new initiative (a food coop or a food forest).
The activities are tested and implemented with the help of the community-supported Mehalsgmües and supported and accompanied by the network "Technikum Urbane Agrarökologie (TUA) and the ETH Zurich.
The Living Lab will be a space for collaborative production, collaborative design, and testing of inclusive, multifunctional agroecological activities. The goal is to develop a new type of reallaboratory that is specifically applicable to urban agroecology in and outside of Zurich and provides a scalable method for the creative development of urban green - or rather colorful - spaces.
Urban agroecology space in Zurich before and after
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(Images: Mehalsgmües) -
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Sustainable trade for diversified food systems (since 2019)
With external page this project, we want to support diversified food systems by framing trade relations in a nuanced way. Diversified food systems perform in a more sustainable way than specialized systems, primarily focusing on the quantity of food production. They support ecological and economic diversification, equitably distribute social benefits, and contribute to a diversified food basket. A core research question is: If a domestic government seeks to grant tariff preferences for sustainably produced food, how can it do so in an effective, proportionate, context-sensitive, non-discriminatory, and reliable way, complying with its international obligations and the objectives enshrined in its Constitution? We combine in-depth legal analysis with analysis of best-practice examples, current challenges in private-sector certification, farmers’ perceptions, and emerging innovations. Workshops in Bolivia, Laos, and Switzerland will help us to generate transdisciplinary knowledge, and a critical historical reflection will shed light on the public/private divide in food labelling. An international and practice-oriented advisory board will bring in additional perspectives.
Women, sustainable ecosystems management, and adaptation to climate change in the Andean region. A review for SDG-oriented policies (2020-2021)
This review project, funded by the Mountain Research Initiative (MRI), analysed the available scientific literature regarding the role of women in the management of ecosystems in the Andean region and relationships with biodiversity and adaptation to climate change. It identified different contextual aspects that affect the agency of women in ecosystem management, and reflected on the importance of women’s management of ecosystems in the Andean region in relation to the Sustainable Development Goals 13 and 15, and to the water-food-energy nexus. The project aimed to identify the most important knowledge gaps and research needs, and to provide relevant evidence for the design and implementation of public policies, leading to gender-responsive decision-making for a positive transformation of the reality of women in the Andes and the ecosystems in which they live.
R4d Towards food sustainability (2015 – 2021)
The main objective of external page this project was to provide evidence-based knowledge for innovation strategies to make our food systems more sustainable. In Phase 1 (2015-2018), we focused on inter- and transdisciplinary research in six different food systems in Kenya and Bolivia and their contribution to five dimensions of food sustainability (food security, the right to food, poverty and inequality, environmental impact, and resilience). Phase 1 established a knowledge base necessary to shift the focus in Phase 2 (2019-2021) from research to implementation (applying results, advising, and informing decision makers). This shift included further development, application and dissemination of aFood Sustainability Assessment Framework, which is intended for non-scientific stakeholders to help find ways to improve sustainability within and between food systems. Furthermore, promising innovation strategies and policy options for improving sustainability have been identified, evaluated and co-created. Together with various stakeholders, 13 such activities and innovations have been implemented in so called Transformative Pilot Actions, three in Bolivia, and two each in Kenya, Peru, Brazil, Ghana, and Zambia.