Beyond Ecosystem Services

Event details

Brokering Agrobiodiversity Management Enterprises in Europe and Internationally

Dr Labrada is an award-winning pioneer of participatory plant breeding research in Latin America. He established and coordinated a Local Agricultural Innovation Programme in Cuba and the broader region, through which he published 56 papers to demonstrate participatory plant breeding as a scientific discipline.

Due to his work in Cuba and Mexico, he received the ‘Rural Innovation Award’ from the International Agriculture Centre, Wageningen the Netherlands, and the ‘Goldman Environmental Award’ in San Francisco USA. Through coordinating participatory action research initiatives in Central Asia and Spain, he has transitioned to the social sciences and humanities as he explores the need for action learning and entrepreneurship knowledge and skills, as well as arts and music as tools for reconnecting people with agrobiodiversity values, he himself being an accomplished musician. During the last three years, Dr Labrada has been based in Spain, working for a Dutch research and training institute Stichting ICRA and with links to the University of Murcia.

Throughout the world, the management and use of agro-biodiversity plays a crucial role in sustaining the livelihoods of small farmers who are working in harsh, often marginal environments, as well as of commercial organic producers worldwide whose agro-ecological systems also depend on a diverse range of plant species both on- and off-farm. Within Europe, small farmers are the custodians of some of the continent’s greatest agro-biodiversity assets, and they increasingly require - and expect - more remuneration for their stewardship of these assets, not only from the public sector but also from actors in the agro-biodiversity-based food value chains.

This research initiative aims to explore innovative business models and arts-based learning approaches that will increase sustainable agro-biodiversity management and reconnect food chain players and civil society with agro-biodiversity values. It will do this through a transdisciplinary approach using participatory methods, with case studies in the UK, Spain and Cuba.

This event will be livestreamed via our Facebook page and a high-quality version of this seminar will be uploaded to out YouTube channel.

Enquiries

For enquiries please contact Operations Team Reception

cawroffice@coventry.ac.uk

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