The Baltic Summer School of Anthropology 2022 - Global-to-Local Food chains: Food Sovereignty and Climate Change
Aim
The aim of the Summer School is to bring together theories, methods and knowledge of anthropology to this field, as well as to encourage the new generation of scientists not to be afraid to solve complex problems, doing so guided by the principle – think globally, act locally.
The additional goal is to raise the interest of the target audience to conducting research in the field, as there are few of them yet, but the existing challenges and problems, incl. food safety issues continue to escalate.
In order to achieve the main objective, the following activities are planned:
• lectures, discussions, seminars, and group work which will allow undergraduate, master's and doctoral students to generate ideas, reflect and realize their possible roles in the field,
• encourage participants to think about challenges and find a way to be mediators between different opinions and parties that often come into conflict with each other,
• through fieldwork and ethnographic research to examine and test the methods and tools offered by anthropology.
Planned benefits of the Summer School for participants:
• academic network and communication between students, scientists and institutions from Germany, the Baltic and other countries, stimulating further cooperation in research and especially in the field of food anthropology,
• inspiration and ideas for deeper research on food chains and other related topics for the benefit of society in Latvia and the Baltic States as a whole,
• useful knowledge for policy makers and the NGO sector in addressing food sovereignty issues.
Description
The tradition of the Baltic Summer School of Anthropology and this year's topick
The tradition of the Baltic Summer School of Anthropology started in 2013, and its organizers are graduates of Riga Stradins University and representatives of the Latvian Anthropological Society. The aim of the Summer School is to create an open environment for the exchange of knowledge and experience on anthropological considerations in solving various problems and to promote interdisciplinary discussions on the application of anthropological theories and methods in academic and applied research and practice.
The Summer School is an international event, which takes place every two years at the end of August in Latvia and brings together about 40 to 70 participants and highly qualified lecturers from the Baltic States and other countries of the world. Each time, the Summer School is dedicated to another sub-branch of anthropology or a topic relevant to society, looking at it from an anthropological perspective, while trying to develop an interdisciplinary discussion.
This year's topick Globa-to-Local Food Chains: Food Sovereignty and Climate Change focuses on food and its journey from the source to the end-user. The topic is especially important in the context of the ongoing war in Ukraine - the "breadbasket" of Europe. The anthropological study of food chains covers the entire range of food acquisition, production, and processing. The study of food chains allows us to address and reflect on contemporary issues, such as political-economic changes and environmental crises, and the movements that address them.
Why is it important?
Feeding the world's population is a difficult task. Technological innovations and scientific discoveries in various sectors, climate impacts and changes, energy constraints, policies, geopolitical challenges, competition and other factors make food production an increasingly complex and complicated field.
More information
The running of the Summer School is possible thanks to the financial support of the municipality of Cēsis region and the Baltic-German University Liaison Office. This project of the Baltic-German University Liaison Office is supported by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) with funds from the Foreign Office of the Federal Republic Germany. Informative support for the Summer School is provided by the Latvian Association of Anthropologists.
Baltic Anthropology Summer School is organized by head of RSU Social Anthropology Program Ieva Puzo, and students Liene Rācene-Riekstiņa, Egils Stūrmanis, RSU Social Anthropology Program graduates Ilze Mileiko, Līvis Lāma, Laura Cipruse, RSU Social Anthropology Program graduate and RSU Sociology PhD Program Anthropology student Mārtiņš Bitāns, LU Social Anthropology Program graduate Elizabete Grinblate.
More information about the Baltic Summer School of Anthropology: https://www.facebook.com/BSSoA
