Food and Peace
Food and Peace
Date: 02.03.2023
Time: 18:00 – 20:00
Price: 125 NOK (ordinary), 65 NOK (student)
In this event, we are exploring the relationship between Food and Peace.
We cannot achieve sustainable development goals without stable access to food. However, in the past year, the fragility of the food systems and their dependency on geopolitics has become even more apparent than before.
We invited speakers from academia, non-profit, and business sectors to hear interdisciplinary perspectives on the topic.
The event will be hosted by Vitenparken´s CEO, Solveig Arnesen.
Speakers:
Ruth Haug, Food and Peace
Ruth Haug is one of the Ruth Haug is Professor of International Development Studies at the Norwegian University of Life Sciences (NMBU). She received her Ph.D. from the University of Maryland and began her professional career working nationally and internationally within the field of food security and rural development. At the Norwegian University of Life Sciences, Ruth Haug was Deputy Vice Chancellor in the period 2008-20013, and before that she was heading the Department of International Environment and Development Studies (Noragric) for seven years. Her field of expertise is within food systems, food security and international food policy; conflicts, forced migration and humanitarian action; climate change and management of natural resources; agricultural extension and community development; and gender issues in development. Ruth Haug has research, teaching and consultancy experience in Africa and Asia, and has worked with NORAD, the World Bank, and the Norwegian Ministry of Agriculture. She has supervised many M.Sc and Ph.D students and has a good publication record. She likes teaching and has taught many university courses. Ruth Haug has been member of numerous national and international boards and commmittees; and she has been involved in several international policy processes in relation to food and agriculture. In particular, she has been representing Norway in CGIAR meetings in the period 1995 to 2012 and has been a member of the CGIAR Fund Council. She was a member of the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) Board of Trustees until the end of 2017, and the Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA) board until the end of 2020. She has also been representing Norway in several CFS and FAO meetings and was a member of the Svalbard Seed Vault Council for eigth years.
Ola Hedstein, Rethink Food
Ola has a master’s degree in animal science from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and previously worked at the Norwegian Ministry of Food and Agriculture, Norwegian Food Foundation (Stiftelsen Norsk Mat), Norwegian Agricultural Cooperatives, and more. Ola is one of Norway´s most in demand specialists in sustainability and food. In 2021 he founded Rethink Food together with Siv Heimdal.
Ola Westengen, Seeds of conflict, seeds of peace
Ola Westengen is an Associate Professor at Noragric. He does research on agrobiodiversity; conservation and use of genetic resources; seed supply systems; food security and adaptation to climate change; crop evolution and crop diversity as biocultural heritage. Westengen leads the research projects ACCESS and BOLD (see project sites) and co-leads the NMBU Sustainability Arena on Sustainable Food Systems.
Margie Maria Gonzalez, Tonamil
NMBU Alumni, Margie Maria Gonzalez has been dedicated to the topic of sustainable agriculture for the past 6+ years between her home country Mexico and Norway. She is the Co-Founder of Tonamil, a company that trades sustainable coffee only from small-scale farmers in Mexico, and distributes it in Norway. In addition to trading, she works on a knowledge-sharing project about sustainable production and consumption. With this project, she has been a guest speaker at the Free University of Amsterdam, the local government of Mexico City, and Young Ambassadors Norway among other events.
What is PechaKucha?
Pecha Kucha, or 20 x 20, is a Japanese presentation format where a speaker shows 20 slides describing each for 20 seconds, making an overall presentation no longer than six minutes and 40 seconds. After a long break following the COVID-19 pandemic, we are happy to start hosting PechKucha events at Vitenparken again.
Program
Cafe is open 16:00 – 20:00 Grab your friends and enjoy a nice evening!
18:00 – 18:15 Welcome and introduction to Vitenparken
18:15 – Presentation by Ruth Haug, NMBU
18:30 – Presentation by Ola Hedstein, Rethink Food, NMBU
18: 45 – Presentation by Ola Westengen, NMBU
19:00 – Presentation by Margie Maria Gonzalez, Tonamil
19:15 – 19: 45 Panel discussion lead by Solveig Arnesen, CEO at Vitenparken Campus Ås