2.3 Co-creation of knowledge for transformative actions towards food sustainability and democracy
Figure 4. Five dimensions and 15 indicators of food sustainability
Transformation of food systems towards sustainability and democracy starts by recognizing the huge diversity of food-related practices and forms of knowledge, which go far beyond the dominant understanding expressed in “modern” food systems. The process of jointly assessing and transforming today’s unsustainable, often rather authoritarian food systems is one of knowledge co-creation and action, integrating the diverse knowledge of families, food artisans, processors, traders, retailors, consumers, scientific experts, NGOs, small- or medium-sized businesses, interested public authorities, and more. Food system transformation can be conceptualized as a spiral of change based on deliberative action research among practitioners and key actors of food systems, together with people from research, NGOs, business, or public administration. The process includes several key events or moments: (1) participatory definition of the problem; (2) integration 4. Social learning process of the natural and social sciences; (3) integration and joint reflection of non-academic actors and their knowledge; (4) social learning that also reflects on the meaning of “development” and (5) collective action for implementation (Figure 5).
Figure 5: Spiral of transdisciplinary processes of change (Rist and Herweg, 2016).
5. Collective action, implementation
1. Joint problem definition
3. Integration of nonacademic actors and their knowledge
Diagnosis of the state of the food system is a key part of the FoodSAT process and the starting point for transformative actions. The goal of the latter is to transform the food system towards greater sustainability and equitability. To date, our experience with transformative actions mainly involves the local level – including local communities, agricultural cooperatives, rural mu-
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MANUAL FOODSAT
