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“An Agroecological Worldview in Action” Workshop

Date: Friday, November 1, 2019 - Sunday, November 3, 2019

Time:

Location:
Huston-Tillotson University
900 Chicon St.
Austin, TX 78702

Friday, Nov 1   7-9:00 pm
Saturday, Nov 2    9:00 am -5:00 pm
Sunday, Nov 3   9:00 am-11:30 am

Registration is now closed.

The Land Institute will hold a free workshop Nov. 1-3 in Austin, including a program open to the public on Friday night, Saturday sessions for participants, and a Sunday morning time for reflection and planning. Registration is not necessary for Friday, but is for the workshop on Saturday and Sunday.

The workshop will focus on understanding how to apply a perennial, polyculture philosophy for just food system transformation and will provide participants an opportunity to learn with community partners in an emerging urban food hub, especially around issues of diversity and equity. Food movement leaders, activists, farmers, gardeners, teachers, students, researchers, and the general public are all invited.

Workshop sessions will introduce The Land Institute’s scientific research to develop perennial grain crops in arrangements based on natural systems, integrated with the institute’s cultural and educational efforts to learn about the human place in the ecosphere in order to transform human community behavior along with food systems and landscapes. The core question: if the ecological future of agriculture is to be perennial and diverse, what is required of us in social terms?

Featured Land Institute researchers and staff include Aubrey Streit Krug, director of Ecosphere Studies; Wes Jackson, president emeritus; Stan Cox, lead scientist, perennial sorghum; and Rachel Stroer, chief strategy officer. Additional presenters include Alex Racelis, associate professor of agroecology and resilient food systems at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley; Amanda Masino, associate professor of biology at Huston-Tillotson University; and Karen Magid, director of sustainability and STEM for Huston-Tillotson University’s Center for Sustainability and Environmental Justice.

The workshop is co-sponsored by the Center for Sustainability and Environmental Justice at Huston-Tillotson University. For more information about the event, please contact ecosphere@landinstitute.org.

There will be free parking in the Chalmers Avenue lot and free street parking around campus. See program details below the map.

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PROGRAM DETAILS

Friday, November 1, 7-9 pm, King-Seabrook Chapel

Agroecologist Alex Racelis will speak on “Boundary Spanning and Building Pathways to Equitable Food Systems.” Racelis is a professor of agroecology and resilient food systems in the School of Earth, Environmental, and Marine Sciences at the University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley, and also serves as Associate Dean for Community Engagement and Outreach in the College of Science.

Racelis and his students and community partners focus on how agriculture, urban development, invasive species, and resource management affects certain ecological processes in the light of pressing social and environmental issues, such as climate change, food and water security, sustainable development, and social justice.

Rachel Stroer will introduce Racelis and facilitate discussion. After the talk, Racelis will participate in a conversation with Aubrey Streit Krug and Amanda Masino.

Saturday, November 2, 9-11:30 a.m.

“Perenniality and Diversity as Threshold Concepts” session that introduces the intellectual and scientific work of The Land Institute with talks and activities led by Aubrey Streit Krug and Stan Cox.

Saturday, November 2, 12-2 p.m.

“Re-envisioning the Role of Universities in Shaping Food Systems” lunch and panel discussion on university curriculum, public engagement projects, and transdisciplinary partnerships with presenters from Huston-Tillotson (Amanda Masino and Karen Magid) and University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley (Alex Racelis) and their students and community partners.

Saturday, November 2, 2:30-5 p.m.

“Radical Care for the Ecosphere” session that invites social-emotional learning, unlearning, and truth-telling with talks and activities led by Aubrey Streit Krug.

Sunday, November 3, 9-11:30 a.m.

“How to Power Down” session that features participant reflections and planning toward agricultural economies fostering ecospheric health with talks and activities led by Wes Jackson, Rachel Stroer, and Stan Cox.

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