The Chair’s mission is to generate, disseminate and transfer knowledge about alternative food systems that enable a social transformation and “live” rural areas throughout the promotion of agroecology, knowledge co-generation, social and solidarity economy and social innovations. The Chair was created in 2015 at Universitat de Vic – Universitat Central de Catalunya.
The Chair aims to become a meeting point for the different food systems’ stakeholders. The Chair wants to boost the collaboration among researchers and associations, companies and individuals linked to agroecology; as well as among those actors and internationally recognized professionals in the field of agroecological food systems, food security and food sovereignty.
The Chair also aims to build collaboration with collectives and food institutions in the closer territorial context of UVic-UCC, Catalonia and Spain. The objective is to promote projects, research initiatives and policies that encourage agroecological production and alternative food systems.
Finally, the Chair tries to promote new models of relationships between the citizens and their food system through the promotion of short distribution channels, critical and responsible consumption and the right to food.
Why is it important (or not) a Chair on Agroecology?
Olivier de Schutter, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to food from (2008-2014) talking about the Agroecology and Food Systems Chair at UVic: