Educating Tomorrow's Agents of Change for Sustainable Food Systems: Nordic Agroecology MSc Program.

Autor: Lieblein, Geir, Arvid Breland, Tor, Salomonsson, Lennart, Sriskandarajah, Nadarajah, Francis, CharlesA.
Předmět:
Zdroj: Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition; 2008, Vol. 3 Issue 2/3, p309-327, 19p, 1 Diagram
Abstrakt: Two key issues in the development of sustainable food systems on a global basis are education in how research will be done and informing a general public to become more aware of the food, nutrition, and hunger issues facing society. Knowing that food production, national and local food security, and equity in access to adequate nutrition are important is only the first step. Educating today's students to become motivated researchers, effective communicators, and agents of change in future systems is a larger challenge. The agroecology MSc program in Norway is one example of current educational initiatives that are addressing the production, economic, environmental, and social dimensions of farming and food systems in the region. Using an action learning and whole systems approach, we have built on our prior experience of intensive courses to develop one 8-week module focused on farming systems and a second 8-week module on food systems. In each case, an experiential learning strategy is used, with students spending time on farms and in communities, talking with key players who have different roles in the system. After two additional semesters of courses in specific areas of interest, each student completes a thesis project dealing with some aspect of agroecology and sustainability of food systems. Twelve examples are included here to illustrate the range of topics of recent MSc thesis research. Quotes from students who have completed the program are provided as testimonies to success. We conclude that integrating teaching and research has been highly effective in preparing agroecologists to deal with the complexity and uncertainty in dealing with food systems and nutrition in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index