Events and Webinars
Throughout the year, the UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies hosts events and webinars focused on food, biodiversity and sustainability, featuring partners throughout our network.
Upcoming Events
Growing a Just Food System: Migrant Labour in Canada
Rescheduled: Date | Time TBD
Please join the UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity, and Sustainability Studies as we support an upcoming hybrid panel discussion hosted by the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems on November 30, from 4:30-6:00pm EST.
Featuring activist, writer, and former migrant farm worker Gabriel Allahdua, as well as Drs. Janet McLaughlin and Jenna Hennebry, this important panel will take a close look at the role of migrant labour program reform in building just and sustainable food systems within Canada. Speakers will share their experiences with the current food system and the people who grow our food as they reflect on how the existing agricultural system impacts migrant workers’ health and wellbeing.
For additional details on the event, visit the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems website.
Speakers
Andrew Spring (Moderator, The Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems)
Gabriel Allahdua (Activists, Author of Harvesting Freedom)
Janet McLaughlin (Professor, Community Health, Wilfrid Laurier University)
Jenna Hennebry (Professor, Communication Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University)
Past Events
March 14, 2023
Presentation Abstract
Although we marked the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Rio Earth Summit last year, we still are farther than ever from our sustainability goals. In this webinar, our panel of experts, Robert McLeman, Miriam Medel Garcia, and Magdalena Ackermann, reflect on and answer questions at the intersection of food security, climate change, migration, desertification and land rights to address key directions about the future of people and the planet.
Speakers
Alison Blay-Palmer (Chairholder, UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies).
Magdalena Ackerman (Policy and Advocacy Officer, Food Systems, Nutrition and Agroecology, Society for International Development).
Miriam Medel Garcia (Chief, Global Policy Advocacy and Regional Cooperation for the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification, Mexican diplomat and former Special Assistant to the Executive Secretary of the UN Framework to Combat Climate Change).
Robert McLeman (Professor, Geography and Environmental Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University; Lead Author for IPCC Report, 2022, ‘Health, wellbeing and the changing structure of communities’).
December 8, 2022
Watch the event here.
Agroecology across mixed and diverse landscapes is a pathway for the global community to avoid ineffective “fortress conservation” approaches that have proven to have limited impact and in many situations lead to systematic violations of local communities’ rights. It can help to reconnect humans and nature as unified systems and offer pathways for just and resilient food systems. It is clear that without a strong focus on agroecology, our global targets for biodiversity conservation are bound to miss the mark.
This side event will explore the importance of agroecological approaches for the Global Biodiversity Framework and beyond. It will also shine a light on emerging coalitions and policy actions that are linking agroecology and agricultural biodiversity, as crucial pathways to transform food systems.
See the full side-event listing for more details.
November 17, 2022
Presentation Abstract
This online panel discussion explores how climate change is impacting terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems in the Northwest Territories. Drs. Jennifer Baltzer, Frances Stewart, and Heidi Swanson discuss the implications of climate warming induced disturbances in the boreal forests, changes to wildlife habitats and distribution, and warming of aquatic ecosystems for northern food systems and biodiversity. Panelists discuss links between northern landscapes, people, and food systems and explain how their research contributes to our understanding of how changing northern ecosystems can be managed in the future. Dr. Alison Blay-Palmer, UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies, moderates a group discussion connecting research taking place in the Northwest territories to global discussions about climate change, biodiversity loss, and sustainable food systems.
Speakers
Alison Blay-Palmer (Chairholder, UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies)
Dr. Jennifer Baltzer (Associate Professor and Canada Research Chair at Wilfrid Laurier University)
Dr. Frances Stewart (Assistant Professor and Canada Research Chair in Northern Wildlife Biology)
Dr. Heidi Swanson (Associate Professor and Jarislowsky Chair in Sustainable Water Futures)
January 25, 2022
For the UN International Day of Education 2022, the UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies delivered a keynote, "Sharing Stories of Sustainable Food System Transformation: Podcasts and Community Learning," at the Educational Pedagogies & Technologies for Sustainable Development—Translating Sustainable Innovation for Communities (EPTS 2022) international symposium, hosted by Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham.
Presentation Abstract
Work by the UNESCO Chair on Food Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies at Wilfrid Laurier University and the Balsillie School for International Affairs offers significant, relevant insights for sustainability pedagogy, knowledge mobilization and community learning. Sustainable food systems are at the nexus of healthy people and a healthy planet. They can address United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 2 (Zero Hunger) and underpin other SDGs including our capacity to address poverty and gender equality through viable livelihoods and food access, environmental regeneration through improved soils, air, water and biodiversity, the creation of more viable rural and urban communities, as well as social and cultural goals by valuing and honouring food heritage and traditions. This research also provides inspirational stories to bring learning to life. One of the most accessible and interesting ways we do this is through our podcast, Handpicked: Stories from the Field. The podcast allows us to bring together the many voices in communities that are addressing challenges such as climate change, food insecurity and biodiversity loss. For example, three podcasts focus on Indigenous communities in the Northwest Territories in Canada. Elders, youth and community leaders tell the stories of how traditional food systems are adapting to and can help mitigate the climate crisis.
Speakers
Alison Blay-Palmer (Chairholder, UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies), Amanda Di Battista (Director of Programs, Education and Communication, UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies)
July 8, 2021
Dialogue Page and Official Feedback | Plenary Recordings and Transcript
While there is increased recognition of the importance of territorial governance for transforming food systems and of its relevance to a variety of action areas and solution clusters within the final stages of the Food Systems Summit preparation, it is important to gain a better understanding of the concrete measures which could help bring this about. To catalyze change, we need to know more about the actions that help ensure success as well as what hampers implementation of integrated approaches. This dialogue added to the growing knowledge base about how to enact territorial governance to build resilient food systems and provided insights to ensure consistency and synergy of pathways leading to sustainable territorial food systems.
Territorial food systems must bring together stakeholders from relevant sectors across key administrative levels to enhance food system resilience and spark synergistic complementarities so that relatively lower-level actions can deliver a higher-level outcome. To do this effectively, users of such approaches need to define their aims according to the context and circumstances.
Speakers: Manuel Lapão (CPLP, Inter-governmental organizations), Gabriel Ferrero (Spain, National government), Rodrigo Messias (UCLG), Stefano Marta (A Territorial Approach to the SDGs, OECD), Elodie Valette (CIRAD, Research Institution)
Oct. 16, 2020 | World Food Day Webinar
COVID-19 has exposed many pre-existing challenges and inequities in our food system, and disproportionately impacted BIPOC communities and migrant agricultural workers across Canada. For World Food Day 2020, the UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies hosted a webinar featuring food system experts and advocates Melana Roberts, Stephanie Morningstar, Gabriel Allahdua, and Janet McLaughlin. During the webinar, the panelists discussed how people experience food system inequities and explored the impact of COVID-19 on their work. They also made suggestions on how we can work together to create a food system that is more equitable, responsive, and just.
Speakers: Gabriel Allahdua (Justice for Migrant Workers), Janet Mclaughlin (Migrant Worker Health Project, Wilfrid Laurier University), Melana Roberts (Food Secure Canada, Toronto Food Policy Council), Stephanie Morningstar (Northeast Farmers of Color Land Trust)
Moderator: Alison Blay-Palmer (UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies)
26 junio 2020
En este seminario examinaremos por qué la gestión de la biodiversidad y los ecosistemas son componentes importantes para construir sistemas alimentarios sostenibles. Escuchará a investigadores que trabajan directamente con comunidades que practican sistemas de producción de alimentos centradas en ecosistemas biodiversos. Basándose en la investigación fundada en comunidades en Brasil y México en el contexto de los movimientos globales actuales de biodiversidad e sostenibilidad, aprenderá sobre los desafíos únicos que enfrentan los actores de los sistemas alimentarios y cómo las comunidades utilizan la agroforestería y otros principios ecológicos de producción de alimentos para guiar su trabajo.
Ponentes: Alison Blay-Palmer (Catedra de UNESCO en Estudios de Alimentación, Biodiversidad y Sostenibilidad y Directora do Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, Canadá), Laura Gomez Tovar (Profesora Investigadora del Depto. de Agroecología, Investigadora miembra del CIIDRI, Universidad Autónoma Chapingo, Mexico), Andre Lacerda (Investigador, Embrapa Florestas, Brasil), Eve Nimmo (Investigadora Pos-doctora, Universidad Estadual de Ponta Grossa, Brasil), Anita Diederichsen (Líder mundial de restauración del paisaje forestal /Coordinador de la FLR ACAI, World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF))
Mediador: Eduardo Amazonas de Almeida (Doctor en Ciencias Biológicas, Productor agroecológico)
June 5, 2020 | 2020 World Environment Day Webinar
In this webinar our speakers explored why biodiversity and ecosystems management are important components for building sustainable food systems. The webinar features four researchers who work directly with communities engaged in food production practices that are centred on biodiverse ecosystems. Drawing on community-based research in Brazil, Southern Ontario, and the Northwest Territories, they spoke about the unique challenges facing food systems actors and how communities are using agroforestry and other ecological food production principles to guide their work. This was the first in a series of annual webinars hosted by the UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity, and Sustainability Studies.
Speakers: Alison Blay-Palmer (UNESCO Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies and Director of the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems), Sebastien Goupil (Secretary General of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO), Liette Vasseur (President of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and UNESCO Chair on Community sustainability: from local to global), Andre Lacerda (Researcher at Embrapa Forestry), Eve Nimmo (Postdoctoral Fellow in the Department of History at Ponta Grossa State University), Andrew Spring (Associate Director of the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems and Lead Researcher for the Northern Food Systems Research Group)
Jan. 28, 2020.
Watch the launch remarks and presentation.
Wilfrid Laurier University Professor and Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems Director Alison Blay-Palmer has been named United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Chair on Food, Biodiversity and Sustainability Studies. Led in Canada by the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, the prestigious UNESCO Chairs program promotes international inter-university cooperation in key priority areas for the agency.
The launch included the seminal presentation by Chairholder Alison Blay-Palmer and remarks from: Liette Vasseur, President of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO and UNESCO Chair on Community sustainability: from local to global; Sébastien Goupil, secretary-general of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO; Deborah MacLatchy, President and Vice-Chancellor of Wilfrid Laurier University; Jonathan Newman, Vice-President Research, Wilfrid Laurier University; Ann Fitz-Gerald, Director Balsillie School of International Affairs.