The Year Ahead in Events

The Landscapes for People, Food and Nature Initiative is not only striving to develop a knowledge base through the Global Review process outlined on Monday, but it also aims to turn that knowledge into action and scale-up activities and policies already in place. One strategy for accomplishing this objective is to target pertinent meetings and events. There are very many such meetings on the horizons, and we have sought to identify those that will provide a forum for scaling up integrated landscapes for people, food and nature, with stakeholder groups relevant to advancing integrated agricultural landscape approaches. Here are some major ones to keep on the radar:

Planet under Pressure Conference 2012
26-29 March, London, UK

The focus of this conference will be on the interconnected environmental and social challenges facing the planet – climate change, ecological degradation, human well-being, planetary thresholds, food security, energy, governance across scales and poverty alleviation. A wide range of conference participants is expected, including researchers, policy makers, private sector leaders, NGO and development representatives, and individuals from the engineering and technology sectors. Solutions at all scales to the aforementioned challenges will be an important topic of the conference. It will also provide scientific leadership towards the 2012 UNCSD Rio +20 EarthSummit. One of the three main themes of the conference is meeting global needs for food, energy, water and other ecosystem services.

Second Global Conference on Agriculture, Food Security and Climate Change
7-11 May, Hanoi, Vietnam

This follow-on meeting to the conference held last year in The Hague, Netherlands, will build on the ‘Roadmap for Action’ developed in November of 2010. It will bring together global leaders, practitioners, scientists, civil society and the private sector in an effort to advance climate-smart agriculture as a means to enhance sustainable productivity, increase rural livelihoods, build resilience to climate change, and sequester carbon.

ISEE Ecological Economics Conference
16-19 June, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

The conference will focus on ecological economics and policy, with the goal of contributing to innovative mechanisms to address institutional and market failures in sustainable development. Key themes of the conference are greening the economy; the political economy of green development (including agriculture and food security issues); environmental justice, ethics, and values; and methodological issues. It directly precedes the Rio+20 EarthSummit.

United Nations Convention on Sustainable Development (UNCSD) Rio+20 EarthSummit
20-22 June, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This year’s UNCSD meeting marks the 20^th anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on Economic Development (UNCED) in 1992 and the 10^th anniversary of the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). Focused on the green economy in the context of sustainable development, and poverty alleviation, the conference will tackle seven major themes: jobs, energy, cities, oceans, disasters, water, and food. It is a high-profile event, at which many organizations are preparing to share their visions for the future of sustainable development.

World Water Week: Water and Food Security
26-31 August, Stockholm, Sweden

This annual event organized by the Stockholm International Water Institute is focused on food security for 2012. Increasing water efficiency in food production, linking agriculture to the protection of health and ecosystem services, and building partnerships for knowledge and good governance are organizing themes of the week.

IUCN World Conservation Congress
6-15 September, Jeju, Korea

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) hosts the Conservation Congress to discuss and unite the areas of biodiversity conservation, climate change, livelihoods, food security and green economy. This year’s theme highlights the resilience of nature, and how improving the ability of nature and people to adapt to change enhances not only ecosystem health and biodiversity, but also the welfare of people, communities and economies.

Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 11th Conference of the Parties
8-19 October, Hyderabad, India

This will be the first meeting to assess the impact of the Nagoya biodiversity compact. All countries that are parties to the Convention are expected to have developed or updated their national biodiversity strategies and action plans by the time of the meeting. It falls in line with the 20th anniversary of the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity.

United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) 18^th Conference of the Parties
26 November – 7 December, Doha, Qatar

With agriculture finally making its way into the climate change negotiations in 2011, there is considerable optimism about bringing more attention to both mitigation and adaptation in the sector. Moreover, the linkages between agriculture, forestry, and a larger landscape perspective have become more prominent in the side events at the meeting. Drawing a close to 2012, the COP18 will be an event to mark on the calendar.

Did we miss one? Let us know.