Developing a transition agenda for Catalunya

Does Catalonia need a food transition? Last week DRIFT facilitated a three-day intensive transition training and conference around the transition in the food system of Catalunya to find out. The meeting was co-organised with and hosted by renowned research institute IRTA.

DRIFTers PJ Beers, Mees Schouwenaar and Derk Loorbach worked with about 50 Catalans to develop a transition agenda for Catalunya in which the social, ecological and economic challenges the regional food system faces are addressed.

Prof. Loorbach discussing pathways towards zero waste with the participants

The program started with a public lecture on transitions and the Dutch food transition, after which three groups participated in a transition arena process on the issues of waste, water and food security. During an afternoon and a whole day these groups formulated guiding values, future images, back-casting pathways and transition experiments.

Working on Catalan food security

On Friday, the results were presented to the Catalan Minister of Agriculture and the CEO of IRTA, as well as to the participants and the interested general public. This was followed by an open dialogue on the role of researchers in sustainability transitions, the persistent unsustainability in the food system and finally the potential of co-creating alternative transition pathways.

Catalans exploring the future together

The program, intended to gain some experience with transition processes, helped to generate innovative ideas for research and policy and practically led to new coalitions and commitment to action by participants. DRIFT wants to thank the participants and colleagues at IRTA for their enthusiasm and commitment and of course looks forward to seeing the ideas, network and actions grow and develop further.