Mission and Vision | Pillars | Action Strategies
The UVM Institute for Agroecology (IFA) is powering more equitable and sustainable food systems.
Our global food system is in crisis. Industrial agriculture is one of the leading causes of climate change and health inequity around the world. Agroecology offers the potential to regenerate the environment, cool the planet, and provide good, healthy food for all.
The UVM Institute for Agroecology (IFA) is seeding more equitable and sustainable food systems. IFA uses a systems approach that addresses the root causes of problems in the food system. We challenge the status quo by centering equity, participation and social transformation in our work. Through research, learning, action, and connecting across geographies, the IFA mobilizes knowledge to support agroecology research, practice and movements.
What Is Agroecology?
“Agroecology” is a way of understanding and designing food systems using social, ecological, and political principles to regenerate nature and create a more just society. It is rooted in indigenous practices and ancestral knowledge, which are combined with scientific knowledge to address the current food crisis. Agroecology is not only about changing farming techniques, but is also about transforming policy, science, cultures, and economies to bring about more just food systems.
This is a new chapter for UVM's commitment to agroecology, building on a decade of work by members of the Agroecology and Livelihoods Collaborative, a community of practice that will remain the beating heart of the new Institute.
This video shares our participatory action research approach with examples from Vermont and Mexico for the co-creation of knowledge through deep community partnerships.
Mission
Using participatory, holistic and equity-focused approaches to learning, research and engagement, the Institute for Agroecology will co-produce and mobilize knowledge to support just transformations in food systems.
Vision
We seek thriving food systems that confront inequities, foster human and ecological wellbeing and support dignified and meaningful livelihoods.
Pillars
The Three Pillars of the Institute for Agroecology
Action
Locally Rooted, Globally Connected Action Strategies
The Institute will pursue these action strategies through processes of research, learning, and action, both locally and internationally. This reach across several geographies gives the Institute a special perspective, allowing processes in one part of the world to inform and be informed by processes in another.
