The motto of the Global Landscapes 2015 implies that everything is connected. Indeed, land use change and related issues are among major drivers of the changing climate. As the global leaders gather in Paris for the COP21, the Global Landscape Forum aims to leverage the opportunity to shape the global development agenda. The Forum, led by the International Center for Forestry Research (CIFOR), will gather over 3000 participants. Over 100 organizations will host a variety of Discussion Forums, Launchpads, and Landscapes Labs within the pavilions.
Working on the connections between science, practice, governance, business and communications, SIANI (the Swedish International Agricultural Network Initiative) is well-equipped for making a valuable contribution to the discussions held at the Global Landscapes Forum. SIANI has been a contributor of the Forum since the very first time it was held in Warsaw in 2013 and in its previous guise as the Agriculture and Rural Development Days in Brazil and South Africa.
Together with Focali (a Swedish forest and livelihoods network) and SLU Global (Sweden’s biggest agricultural University), SIANI is co-hosting an exhibition booth at the Food Security and Livelihoods Pavilion. There you can meet the scientists from the Swedish research institutions and pick up the latest of our publications about agroecology, foreign direct investments, development projects in the frontier regions and the theory of the landscape approach – the topics that we chose to highlight at this year’s event.
The format of thematic Pavilions implies joint activities, and SIANI is cooperation with the Fairtrade International for the event “How to ensure responsible practices along agricultural supply chains?” The event will spotlight experiences of various actors operating along agricultural supply chains. Globalized supply chains can have a lot of benefits, but they also harbor social injustice and outsource environmental impact to the places of production. The discussion during this multi-stakeholder dialogue will attempt to get to the roots of these problems and explore solutions. The event will kick off with short speeches from the Swedish Government, Sida, Danoneand representatives from farmer and indigenous groups and will be followed by a dialogue with the public.
Complementary to the core SIANI activates at the Forum, our communications team, led by Ekaterina Bessonova is part of the Social Media reporting team and will be covering the event together. Read her blog at the official website of the event or at siani.se. Follow @SIANIAgri and @KatjaBessonova for the live updates from the event.