The ‘Agroecological Turn’ in Research and Training on Agricultural and Food Systems

Abstract

Whether considered as a science, a set of agricultural practices or a social movement, agroecology calls for new ways of doing research and training. Drawing on key elements of the literature, this article sets out to illustrate the ‘agroecological turn’ in research and training on agricultural and food systems. Two examples of the co-creation of knowledge and innovations, in interaction with training, are presented and discussed: a European project to increase the use of agrobiodiversity in farms and food value chains, and the French network of experts on short food supply chains, bringing together research, development and training organizations. The first example illustrates a systemic and participatory approach from seed to plate, anchored in multi-stakeholder living labs, in which agroecology is a catalyst for the collective redesign of food systems. The second example shows how the national network supports and up-scales local initiatives around short food supply chains conducive to the agroecological transition, including by identifying training gaps. These two examples open up a discussion on two issues raised by place-based research on agroecology, namely stakeholder participation and the articulation of scales to transform food systems.