Agroecology and sustainable intensification

Event Date : January 14, 2015

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Can agroecological approaches contribute to sustainable intensification?

Trevelyan Hall, St Matthew’s Conference Centre, St Matthew’s House, 20 Great Peter Street
Westminster, London SW1P 2BU 10:30 to 15:30

One-day seminar designed to explore the potential for agroecological approaches to contribute to the sustainable intensification of agriculture.

In parallel with the promotion of sustainable intensification, there is a growing interest in agroecology, as exemplified by a number of reports (e.g. Mainstreaming agroecology and Agroecology and the Right to Food). Following the previous work that the Land Use Policy Group (LUPG) commissioned on sustainable intensification, LUPG asked the Organic Research Centre (ORC) to examine the relationships between the sustainable intensification and agroecology concepts via a desk-based study. This project is intended to explore the extent to which the two concepts are compatible as well as assessing whether agroecological systems and strategies are a valid and/or necessary path to sustainable intensification in both the UK and European contexts.

ORC will present their findings at the St Matthew’s Conference Centre in London on Wednesday 14 January 2015.

The event will start at 10.30 am and finish at around 15.30 in the afternoon. It is intended that all of the feedback received will be taken into account in the preparation of the final report.

The agenda is likely to cover the following themes:

• A review of agroecological systems and strategies;
• Assessing the relative performance of agroecological systems/strategies against more conventional approaches to sustainable intensification;
• Establishing whether and to what extent agroecological systems/strategies can contribute to sustainable intensification;
• A discussion on barriers and opportunities to the uptake of agroecological systems/strategies.

If you wish to attend please contact: kelly.matheson@snh.gov.uk