Grijze Cellen: De Toekomst van de Landbouw

LECTURES AND DEBATE WITH OLIVIER DE SCHUTTER & RUDY RABBINGE

Free, but subject to reserve (+32(0)2 212 1930)
The lectures are in English.

With current conventional agricultural methods we will no longer be able to feed the growing world population in the future. In addition, natural resources are being depleted, the climate is becoming increasingly erratic and the available space is limited. How should the agricultural sector develop to guarantee food security? Should we strive for increased production and free trade and opt for a further development of industrial agriculture or should we limit overconsumption, respect the carrying capacity of the ecosystem and move towards small-scale agroecology?

Olivier De Schutter (Former UN Rapporteur on the right to food, Franqui Prize 2013) and Rudy Rabbinge (emeritus professor of sustainable development and food security at Wageningen UR) give a lecture. They will then have a discussion led by Eos editor Dieter De Cleene.

WHO?

Olivier De Schutterstudied law at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), the Université Panthéon-Assas in Paris and Harvard University. De Schutter obtained his PhD in 1999 from the Université catholique de Louvain, where he currently works as a professor at the Center for Philosophy of Law. De Schutter is also a member of the Global Law School Faculty of New York University and a visiting professor at Columbia University. Olivier De Schutter is a specialist in the field of international law, human rights and legal theory. From 2008 to June 2014, he was also the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food. De Schutter is a great supporter of local and agro-ecological agriculture. In 2013 he received the Francqui Prize for his multidisciplinary contribution to a more sustainable world.

Rudy Rabbinge (1946) is a Dutch agronomist, former politician and emeritus professor of sustainable development and food security at Wageningen UR (2001-2011). He graduated as a plant pathologist at the then agricultural school in Wageningen and obtained his PhD there on biological control against spider mites. Rabbinge worked as a professor with various chairs at Wageningen University (1985-2001), University of California (Berkeley, 1978) and KU Leuven (1981-1984). He held many management positions in the scientific, private and public sectors. In addition to his academic career, he was active for the PVDA for many years as a member of the Provincial Council of Gelderland (1978-1988) and as a member of the Senate (1999-2007). In the Senate he dealt with Agriculture, Finance and Development Cooperation. Rabbinge is currently involved as chairman of the World Food Supply Research Foundation.

Free, but provided reserve (+32(0)2 212 1930)