There is growing interest in agroecology and how we transition to a food and farming system which works in harmony with nature, adapts to climate changes, builds a thriving farming sector and sustainably provides citizens with healthy and nutritious food.

FFCC’s latest report Farming for Change introduces new research from IDDRI which includes comprehensive and systematic technical modelling for a transition to agroecology across UK nations. We are now exploring how to translate this detailed and rigorous piece of research into practical projects which support the transition to agroecology by 2030.

We are now taking our hugely successful Routes to Action series to UK nations. Still featuring a fascinating array of contributors (from farming, science, economics, ecology, food businesses and more), this mini series will address the challenges and opportunities of transitioning towards an agroecological food system and share ideas on how to implement more agroecological farming practices - from farm to landscape to nation.

We hope that this work contributes to the groundswell of interest in agroecology and helps turn the findings of our report Farming for Change into real action. We will be including the outputs of these meetings in our final Farming for Change report, due to be published in Spring 2021.

The first in the devolved inquiry series, A Scottish Vision for Agroecology, will explore the challenges and opportunities of a transition to agroecology in Scotland.

Chairs: Professor Lorna Dawson CBE and Mat Roberts (FFCC Scotland Inquiry Co-Chairs)

Panel: Ana Allamand (Soil Association Scotland), Jim Booth (SAOS), Andrew Moir (Arable Climate Change Group), Professor Christine Watson (SRUC)

Examples of questions that are on our mind for this session: 

• What makes the context different in Scotland to the rest of the UK? 
• What are the key agronomic, economic, cultural and political challenges to overcome in Scotland in transitioning to agroecology? 
• What are the key practices and approaches to start out transitioning a farm to agroecology?
• Where do we need more research and knowledge development? 
• What do we already know that we need to get on with faster and at scale? 
• How can technology help us scale up agroecological approaches and pursue them in areas where it would otherwise be impractical?