Tag Archives: Centre for Sustainable Food Systems

FREE WEBINAR: Sustainable Food Hubs in Ontario

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Food Hub Webinar Registration OpenJoin us on Wednesday, January 31st at 12pm EST for a free webinar exploring results from research conducted between 2014 and 2017 on sustainable food hubs in Ontario.

In this webinar, Katie Nolan (OMAFRA), Kendal Donahue (OMAFRA), Phil Mount (JustFood) and Alison Blay-Palmer (Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems) will discuss the Ontario Food Hub surveys that were conducted as part of an OMAFRA New Directions funded project. Showcasing the infographics created with the information collected, the presenters will highlight lessons learned and future research directions. Following the presentations, there will be time for a Q&A.

Please register in advance for this webinar:
https://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_bzgOZRg_QVWNOjzuc0MKVA

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

For more information or media inquires, please contact Amanda Di Battista, Project Coordinator, Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems: adibattista@wlu.ca.

Master’s Position in Sustainable Food Systems

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MA Student Research Opportunity in Sustainable Food Systems in Northwest Territories starting May 2016 (new student opportunity)

The Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, in partnership with Carleton University, are looking for an exceptional candidate to continue to develop their food systems research in the Northwest Territories as part of their Masters program. The student will support on-going community-based research from May-September 2016, when they will then take up their Masters program at either Wilfrid Laurier or Carleton University under the supervision of Drs. Alison Blay-Palmer (Laurier) and Peter Andrée (Carleton).

Required Qualifications: A Bachelor’s degree in a related arts discipline is needed.  Strong interest in sustainability, community development and food systems is required. Knowledge of Participatory Action Research and experience in Canada’s North will be an asset. Excellent verbal and written communication skills are also desired.

To apply for this position, please send a letter of interest, a full CV, unofficial transcript(s), and the names of two references via email to Andrew Spring (aspring@wlu.ca). Informal inquiries are welcome. The candidates will also be required to officially apply for graduate studies at Laurier or Carleton and meet the requirements. The preferred start date for this position is May 2016 and applications will be considered as they are submitted. This project is funded through the FLEdGE (Food: Locally Embedded Globally Engaged) SSHRC Partnership Grant.

Laurier’s Alison Blay-Palmer appointed CIGI Chair in Sustainable Food Systems

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from Wilfrid Laurier University, Oct. 19, 2015

Wilfrid Laurier University’s Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS) Director Alison Blay-Palmer has been appointed the Centre for International Governance Innovation Chair in Sustainable Food Systems, located at the Balsillie School of International Affairs.

Blay-Palmer’s background is in the area of resilient food systems and sustainable communities. Her work brings together community, researchers and many collaborators to shed light on the issues of food systems and community prosperity – using food as a lens to address complex community issues.

Blay-Palmer’s current research received over $2.4 million from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Partnership Grant Program to support the Food: Locally Embedded, Globally Engaged (FLEdGE) Partnership. This partnership links two of the most pressing issues of our time – sustainability and food – and will support co-creating knowledge about sustainable regional food systems and explore the current and potential role of community food initiatives across Canada and globally.

“Local and sustainable community food initiatives reflect growing public awareness that food can act as a vehicle for positive change,” said Blay-Palmer. “This support will allow us to engage in hands-on research projects with members of our national and international advisory committees who have up until now only informed our research.”

Through the study of food, citizens, practitioners, policy-makers and academics can grasp the importance of and interconnections between ecological stewardship, social justice, cultural vitality, prosperous economies and citizen engagement.

Blay-Palmer, who is also leader of the Nourishing Ontario research and community outreach project (nourishingontario.ca), has worked for over five years to bring together a group of over seventy Canadian and internal participants into the project. Collaborators include researchers and community members from Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario (Guelph, Ontario), Ecology North (Yellowknife, NWT), Garden Party (St. Agatha, Ontario), Resource Centres on Urban Agriculture and Food Security (The Netherlands), Cardiff University (United Kingdom), Institut national de la recherche argronomique (France) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. A full list of partners can be found on the CSFS website.

Read more…

Sustainable Regional Food Systems Workshop: Theory, Practice and Policy

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Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems

Thursday, 26 June 2014 from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM (EDT)
Waterloo, ON

Hosted by the Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, this workshop brings together international academics, practitioners, and policy makers to share on-going research and policy initiatives. The workshop is SOLD OUT!

SCHEDULE

8:30 – 9:00 – Registration & Welcome
9:00 – 10:30

FLOWS OF PEOPLE, KNOWLEDGE & RESOURCES

Discussant: Terry Marsden, Director, Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff University 

 Rich Pirog, Senior Associate Director, Michigan State University, Centre for Regional Food Systems

The Michigan Good Food Charter: Using networks to create change in the food system
Juliane Brandt, Christoph Kasper and Undine Giseke, Technical University, Berlin

Urban agriculture as an integrated planning strategy – a productive green infrastructure for Casablanca
Andrew Spring, PhD Candidate, Wilfrid Laurier University, and Joe Hanlon, Sahtú Renewable Resources Board

Food security in the Sahtú Region, NWT
Charles Levkoe, Postdoctoral Fellow, Wilfrid Laurier University

The food movement in Canada: A social movement network perspective

10:30 – 10:45 – Networking Break
10:45 – 12:15

SOCIAL DIMENSIONS OF REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS

Discussant: Cornelia Flora, Distinguished Professor, Department of Sociology, Iowa State University

 Damien Conaré, UNESCO Chair in World Food Systems, Montpellier SupAgro

Emerging linkages in global food studies: A UNESCO Chair perspective
Peter Andree and Patricia Ballamingie, Carleton University, and Carolyn Doris

Challenges at the intersection of food and housing security with fair wages for farmers
Molly Anderson, Partridge Chair in Food and Sustainable Agriculture Systems, College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, Maine

Fostering food security through sustainable regional food system visions
Erin Nelson and Karen Landman, University of Guelph

Alternative agri-food initiatives and social capital: Learnings from Ontario and Mexico

12:15 – 1:30 – Networking Lunch
1:30 – 2:45

ACTIVATING FOR CHANGE

Discussant: Laurette Dube, Professor, Desautels Faculty of Management, McGill University

 Connie Nelson and Mirella Stroink, Lakehead University, and community partner

Crowd sourcing and sustainable food system projects
Irena Knezevic, Research Associate, Centre for Sustainable Food Systems, Su Morin and Linda Best

Innovative food initiatives in Atlantic Canada
Lori Stahlbrand, PhD Candidate, Wilfrid Laurier University

Institutional local sustainable food procurement: Building capacity

2:45 – 3:00 – Networking Break
3:00 – 4:30

SUSTAINABLE REGIONAL FOOD SYSTEMS: POLICY AND PLANNING

Discussant: Wayne Roberts, Food Policy Consultant, Retired Toronto Food Policy Council Manager

 Phil Mount, Postdoctoral Fellow, Wilfrid Laurier University

Supply management and local food: Solving chicken and egg riddles
Jill Clarke, Assistant Professor, John Glenn School of Public Policy, Ohio State University

Integrating sustainable food systems into planning
Samina Raja, Associate Professor, School of Architecture and Planning, State University of New York at Buffalo

Planning for food: Insights from the Healthy Communities Lab
Jane Battersby-Lennard, African Centre for Cities, University of Cape Town

Everyone’s problem, no-one’s mandate: Working towards an urban food systems approach in Cape Town, South Africa 

4:30 – 5:00 – Closing

Centre for Sustainable Food Systems Public Launch

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**This event was a huge success, “sold out” well in advance [okay, the tickets were free], with an engaging panel discussion on the limits and opportunities involved in the transition towards sustainable systems – including a rousing discussion of the dangers and benefits of using those (often abused) words! The launch of the Centre was one of the reasons that, for the second week in a row, the research partnership is “trending” on the SSHRC website!

November 14

4:00 – 8:00 pm EST
At Balsillie School of International Affairs
Multipurpose Room #142
67 Erb Street West, Waterloo

4:00 to 5:30 pm

Panel on Sustainable Food Systems

FEATURING:

Simon Dalby (Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University)
Karen Landman (School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph)
Theresa Schumilas (Garden Party CSA and Food Club, Waterloo)
Av Singh (Perennia / JustUs Centre for Small Farms, Nova Scotia)
Randy Whitteker (Ontario Natural Food Co-op)

5:30-6:30pm

Reception

6:30 to 8:00

 Public talk and official launch
Keynote speaker

Bryan Gilvesy

YU Ranch, Owner

Alternative Land Use Services, Eastern Canada Lead

Recipient of the Ontario Minister’s Award For Environmental Excellence in Small Business, and the Canadian Farmer-Rancher Pollinator Award

Launch of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems

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Please join us for the official launch of the
at Wilfrid Laurier University

WHEN:
November 14th, 2013
Panel
on Sustainable Food Systems
4:00 to 5:30pm
FEATURING:
Simon Dalby (Balsillie School of International Affairs, Wilfrid Laurier University)
Karen Landman (School of Environmental Design and Rural Development, University of Guelph)
Theresa Schumilas (Garden Party CSA and Food Club, Waterloo)
Av Singh (Perennia / JustUs Centre for Small Farms, Nova Scotia)
Randy Whitteker (Ontario Natural Food Co-op)
5:30-6:30pm: Reception
Public talk and official launch
6:30 to 8:00
Keynote speaker 
Bryan Gilvesy
Recipient of the Ontario Minister’s Award For Environmental Excellence in Small Business
and the Canadian Farmer-Rancher Pollinator Award
YU Ranch, Owner
Alternative Land Use Services, Eastern Canada Lead

WHERE: 
Balsillie School of International Affairs (Multipurpose Room #142)
67 Erb Street West Waterloo, ON N2L 6C2

SPACE IS LIMITED
PLEASE RSVP AT
https://www.eventbrite.ca/event/8452823623

Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS)

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WATERLOO – Wilfrid Laurier University is launching a world-class research centre linking two of the most pressing issues of our time — sustainability and food.

The Laurier Centre for Sustainable Food Systems (CSFS) will be led by Alison Blay-Palmer, a widely-published associate professor of Geography and Environmental Studies at Laurier and leader of the Nourishing Ontario research and community outreach project. Blay-Palmer brings her international connections with leading authorities to the centre, many of whom will be sitting on the advisory committee.

“We are very excited about the creation of the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems,” said Blay-Palmer. “Local and sustainable community food initiatives reflect growing public awareness that food can act as a vehicle for positive change. We plan to be at the forefront of research on these initiatives.”

“The Centre for Sustainable Food Systems will open more opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration in an area that is critical to society as a whole,” said Abby Goodrum, vice-president: research. “The vitality of our newest centre is representative of the thriving research climate at Laurier.”

Jonathan Crush, CIGI Chair in Global Migration and Development at the Balsillie School of International Affairs and leader of the Hungry Cities Initiative, will be the associate director of the new centre. Crush is also the founder and lead researcher of the African Food Security Urban Network, focusing on urbanization, food security and migration. He has a lifetime external funding record of more than $18 million.

“The new centre is very timely and has the potential to contribute greatly to addressing the research and policy challenge of urban and rural food insecurity in Africa and elsewhere,” said Crush. “New and innovative solutions to the problems of over and undernutrition are urgently required and the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems will be in the vanguard of applied research and policy-making with partners across the Global South.”

A core of Canadian and international researchers involved with Nourishing Ontario will continue their collaboration through the CSFS. In addition, the centre will involve the more than 20 Laurier faculty with expertise in a range of food research areas.

“This centre will put Laurier and Kitchener-Waterloo on the map on the issue of sustainability and food,” said Blay-Palmer. “We’re looking forward to bringing in internationally recognized speakers, attracting top graduate students and faculty as visiting scholars, and engaging the entire university and regional community.”

A grand opening for the centre is planned for this fall.

Contact:

Dr. Alison Blay-Palmer, Associate Professor
Geography and Environmental Studies
519-829-0059 or

Kevin Crowley, Director, Communications & Public Affairs
Wilfrid Laurier University
519-884-0710 ext. 3070 or kcrowley@wlu.ca