scholarly journals Food, Sustainability, and Science Literacy in One Package? Opportunities and Challenges in Using Aquaponics Among Young People at School, a Danish Perspective

Author(s):  
Bent Egberg Mikkelsen ◽  
Collins Momanyi Bosire

AbstractThe call for sustainable food production and consumption has led to an increased interest and new policy measures to support the circular economy and climate-smart farming practices. The merits of aquaponics and closed-loop nutrient cycling systems are increasingly being examined in terms of sustainable productivity in various settings including urban environments. Aquaponics also has the potential to be applied as a learning tool for people of all ages but especially for young people at school. This chapter studies the potential of aquaponics to teach food and science literacy and the use of the technology as an educational tool in primary school. The chapter draws on data from the Growing Blue & Green (GBG) program carried out in cooperation among Aalborg University, Copenhagen, municipal schools and their teachers and a private aquaponic enterprise. The chapter draws on three empirical studies including an exploratory study on the educational opportunities at school, a feasibility study carried out among teachers, as well as the educational Growing Blue & Green (eGBG) study, in which a digital-based regulation component was added. The conclusion is that low-cost versions of aquaponics have considerable potential for supportive learning in elementary school. Preliminary findings furthermore suggest that fitting the setup with easy-to-install intelligent sensors and devices offers the opportunity to provide learning about food, sustainability, and a basic understanding of the control and management of biological systems in one package.

Resources ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 111
Author(s):  
Francesc Fusté-Forné ◽  
Maria Fusté Forné

Most of the global population live in urban environments and the majority of tourist flows are concentrated in cities. Urban agriculture has recently emerged as an avenue for the protection of sustainable food production and the promotion of sustainable food consumption. Also, the relationships between horticulture and tourism are attracting growing interest in the context of urban studies. Drawing on a qualitative approach based on ten semi-structured interviews, this research analyzes the relationship between urban gardens and family tourism. The paper innovatively contributes to the understanding of gardens as an urban attraction that improves the sustainable production and consumption of food in the context of family tourism experiences. The results show the relevance of urban gardens for the creation of sustainable experiences that engage families with local food, enhance local supply chains, and inform the future of urban environments. Urban gardens are a visitor attraction that may lead to the development of sustainable people, places and products, and they represent the sustainable integration of horticulture in tourism based on participatory experiences, direct contact with the natural environment and the discovery of the origin of food.


2020 ◽  
pp. 12-24
Author(s):  
O. Ya. Gelikh ◽  
A. N. Levitskaya ◽  
N. N. Pokrovskaia

A sociological analysis of the factors of integration of young generations into active economic life is based on a study of the values of young people in relation to employment and professional growth. The information society has two key parameters that influence the construction of the trajectory of educational, professional, labor or entrepreneurial activity — the significant role of knowledge in creating value and the digital space as a source of information and the place for individuals to fulfill themselves in society and the social and professional community. A theoretical analysis of labor socialization allows researchers to move on to the results of empirical studies carried out with the participation of authors in 2017 and 2019-2020. The data obtained are evaluative in nature and allow authors to draw conclusions about the influence of the media space on young people entering working age taking decisions on choosing a profession and a form of economic activity, planning employment and career growth.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 7597
Author(s):  
Bálint Balázs ◽  
Eszter Kelemen ◽  
Tiziana Centofanti ◽  
Marta W. Vasconcelos ◽  
Pietro P. M. Iannetta

The food- and feed-value systems in the European Union are not protein self-sufficient. Despite the potential of legume-supported production systems to reduce the externalities caused by current cultivation practices (excessive use of N fertilizer) and improve the sustainability of the arable cropping systems and the quality of human diets, sufficient production of high-protein legume grains in Europe has not been achieved due to multiple barriers. Identifying the barriers to the production and consumption of legumes is the first step in realizing new pathways towards more sustainable food systems of which legumes are integral part. In this study, we engage stakeholders and decision-makers in a structured communication process, the Delphi method, to identify policy interventions leveraging barriers that hinder the production and consumption of legumes in the EU. This study is one of a kind and uses a systematic method to reach a common understanding of the policy incoherencies across sectors. Through this method we identify policy interventions that may promote the production of legumes and the creation of legume-based products in the EU. Policies that encourage reduced use of inorganic N fertilizer represent an important step toward a shift in the increased cultivation of legumes. Relatedly, investment in R&D, extension services, and knowledge transfer is necessary to support a smooth transition from the heavy use of synthetic N fertilizer in conventional agriculture. These policy interventions are discussed within current EU and national plant-protein strategies.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5661
Author(s):  
Raffaele Matacena ◽  
Mariangela Zenga ◽  
Marco D’Addario ◽  
Silvia Mari ◽  
Massimo Labra

The COVID-19 emergency and the consequent social distancing requirements have caused major disruptions in daily food-related practices at the household level. In this paper, we evaluate the transformations that occurred in the daily nutritional choices and behaviors of a convenience sample (n = 2288) of Italian residents during the first nation-wide lockdown (March–May 2020) to assess the impact on the health and socio-environmental sustainability of their diets. Results portray a scenario of wide-spread change, especially in relation to the quantity of daily food consumed, the composition of diets and the time and commitment devoted to home-cooking, with young individuals emerging as the most impacted generational cohort. Through the construction of an indicator for healthy–sustainable transition (HST index), we demonstrate that such changes unfold on a gradient, revealing that while for many respondents lockdown nutrition implied overeating and weight gain, a substantial segment of the population conversely improved the healthiness and sustainability of their daily nutritional patterns. In this sense, improvements are associated with young age, socio-economic status, frequency and enjoyment of cooking-from-scratch and, more generally, an attentive attitude towards the quality, provenance and materiality of food that, in turn, the COVID-19 crisis appears to have re-kindled. We conclude by highlighting five areas of institutional intervention (i.e., young people, time, tools, food supply at work, and local food chains) on which to focus in order to ensure the current crisis does not represent a missed opportunity for creating the necessary conditions for sustainable food production and consumption to take hold as the ‘new’ normal in the post-pandemic era.


Author(s):  
Sanna Vehviläinen ◽  
Anne-Mari Souto

AbstractThe aim of this article is to show how interaction research can contribute to the understanding and praxis of socially just guidance. The article is theoretical, but it makes use of our previous empirical studies. We combine the ethnographic study of school and racism, and interactional research on guidance. We define guidance for social justice, explaining how this translates to the level of interactional practices. We show two empirical examples of interactional phenomena hindering socially just praxis. We lastly discuss our practical conclusions on how to help school career counsellors change their interactional practices.


2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (12) ◽  
pp. eabc8259
Author(s):  
Izabela Delabre ◽  
Lily O. Rodriguez ◽  
Joanna Miller Smallwood ◽  
Jörn P. W. Scharlemann ◽  
Joseph Alcamo ◽  
...  

Current food production and consumption trends are inconsistent with the Convention on Biological Diversity’s 2050 vision of living in harmony with nature. Here, we examine how, and under what conditions, the post-2020 biodiversity framework can support transformative change in food systems. Our analysis of actions proposed in four science-policy fora reveals that subsidy reform, valuation, food waste reduction, sustainability standards, life cycle assessments, sustainable diets, mainstreaming biodiversity, and strengthening governance can support more sustainable food production and consumption. By considering barriers and opportunities of implementing these actions in Peru and the United Kingdom, we derive potential targets and indicators for the post-2020 biodiversity framework. For targets to support transformation, genuine political commitment, accountability and compliance, and wider enabling conditions and actions by diverse agents are needed to shift food systems onto a sustainable path.


2014 ◽  
Author(s):  
Juan Manuel López R. ◽  
Jose Ignacio Marulanda B.

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