The workshop began at 10 am on November 1 2011 at the Bristol and Bath Science Centre, with 19 participants plus the Converge Project research team (9 people, Vala Ragnarsdottir, Harald Sverdrup, Deniz Koca, Sigrun Maria Kristinsdottir, Ian Roderick, Alice-Marie Archer, Charlotte Olof Biering, Emmilie Brownlee, and Jenneth Parker).
We started with a lecture given by Vala Ragnarsdóttir (see above slideshow), including an introduction of the Converge research project and of the research participants, and setting the stage for the day’s project. The introduction included “the state we are in”, resource depletion (including oil and phosphorous), what sustainability means, the TNS sustainability principles, the ISIS compass, city food production and an overview of what sustainable food production could look like for Bristol.
The aim with the whole project is to map what sustainable food systems in Iceland, Bristol and two impoverished villages in India look like. The outcome, the model, will be sent to the European Union, but participants will also get a copy of it and can use it as they please.
The CONVERGE project is an interdisciplinary research project funded by the European Union. We recognize that resources are not equally distributed, and the annual draw-down of many resources exceeds the capacity of the planet to supply them. We explore the concept of equity in the light of biological planetary limits - with regards to the various sustainability challenges and positive sustainability initiatives the world is witnessing.
