Ethics of Food Security in a Changing Society - Conference for Early Career Researchers

Ethics of Food Security in a Changing Society – Learning from the Past to Shape the Future
24^th September 2014 @Cumberland Lodge, Windsor Great Park

Food security is a significant concern in today's world and this conference will view the issue in European countries and their former colonies from the colonial period until the present day and beyond. Particular focus will be on how being a former colonised or a colonising country has impacted upon food security. The consequences of the resultant agricultural systems in the colonies affect daily life, the spread of wealth and food security up to this day. The engineering, along with the socioeconomic, aspect of this conference will explore how technological advances, particularly in the fields of food preservation and decentralised energy supply, can play a vital role in securing the livelihoods of people, especially in disadvantaged regions.

The conference is open to PhD students and early career researchers of all disciplines whose research is relevant to the conference topics and is conducted in Europe, Africa and the Americas. As such, potential areas of debate are:

· How can history influence our understanding of food security and the resulting ethical dilemmas?

· What influence have behavioural changes, such as consumer waste in Europe, had?

· What effect have local, national and global policies had on food security and its wider ethical context?

· How have advances in engineering impacted upon the development of agriculture and rural livelihoods?

· What are the implications of food security to environmental conservation?

· How have global demands for food been affecting local livelihoods in the global South?

The explicit aim of this conference is to develop new concepts based on past experiences with the existing systems which are not constrained by the lack of communication between disciplines and not dominated by advocates of the current systems and approaches. This inter-disciplinary conference will allow us to use the expertise of the different disciplines involved to help develop new and more ethical approaches to global food security. Participants will be able to engage with academics and representatives from governmental and nongovernmental organisations. They will also be able to receive critical feedback on their work and network with other researchers.

The organisers are planning to follow this conference with other events to which the participants are invited to contribute.

The conference will be followed by a public lecture for which the confirmed speaker is Professor Tim Benton, the UK Champion for Global Food Security.

Abstract submission:

Abstracts will be selected for poster and oral presentation according to their relevance with the conference’s core themes. Abstract submission will open on the 25^th of April and close on the 1^st of June.

Abstracts have to be sent to foodsecurity@cumberlandlodge.ac.uk

Conference fee:

Fee: £45

Included in fee:

· Entrance fee for public lecture (normally £5)

· Refreshments throughout the day

· Lunch

· 3-course dinner

For further information and registration please visit: www.cumberlandlodge.ac.uk/foodsecurity

Twitter: @CL_Foodsecurity

Facebook: facebook.com/CumberlandFS

For queries regarding the conference, please contact foodsecurity@cumberlandlodge.ac.uk

Organising Committee:

Helen McKee – Newcastle University – Helen.mckee@ncl.ac.uk

Dr. Barbara Sturm – University of Kassel – Barbara.sturm@uni-kassel.de

Grace Iara Souza – King’s College, London – grace.souza@kcl.ac.uk

Dr. Stefan Sütterlin – University College of Lillehammer - Stefan.sutterlin@hil.no