Research

Research: Digging Deep to Better Understand Agroecology

The Institute for Agroecology leads and facilitates transdisciplinary and participatory research that examines the root causes of food system crises and that develops alternatives. Our research centers social learning and works with diverse networks of diverse actors to integrate science with local and Indigenous knowledge and inform practice and policy. By weaving these knowledges together, we work together to generate new solutions and to catalyze transformations. The Institute both leads signature research programs as well as supports faculty-led (see small grants program), community-led, and student-led (see PhD student pages) research from across and beyond UVM.

Our work tackles several of the most urgent societal challenges including: The biodiversity crisis, climate crisis, global inequity, Food and nutrition insecurity and planetary (un)health. We aim to drive forward knowledge, evidence and innovation in food systems transformation through our writing and publishing. Please click through below to read about our programs, projects and to view our publications

Publications

Current Areas of Research

Vic Izzo and AX fellows looking at research in the field

Pedagogy and Learning for Agroecology

Processes of learning are a critical piece to advancing broad transformation for justice and sustainability. So what are the proven techniques, the approaches, and processes that can make education truly transformative?
UPAE-Burlington

Urban and Peri-Urban Agroecology

Our signature Urban and Peri-urban Agroecology (UPAE) program is built around a long-term, participatory research partnership with four local organizations in Burlington, VT. We carry out research, learning, and action with community gardeners, farmers, residents and others.
AlePRChiapas

Coffee Agroecology and Livelihoods

Our community has decades of experience collaborating with smallholder coffee farmers and cooperatives in Latin America. Over this time, our work has evolved from focusing mostly on ecological processes in coffee agroecosystems to a transdisciplinary approach grounded in PAR.
Transformations-Mindmapping

Agroecology Transformations

This stream of work focuses on understanding and supporting the societal transformations necessary to enable agroecology as a model for sustainable and just food systems. The work is based on the commitment to co-producing and mobilising knowledge to advance societal transformations for agroecology.
VEPART_LeekMoth_LarvaDamag

On-Farm Participatory Research for Redesigning Farming Systems

In our work directly with farmers, we engage in participatory action research, visualization, entymology, soil health and other approaches to help farmers to adjust and redesign their farming systems to optimize the integration of agroecology principles.
FoodSov_Chiapas

Agroecology & Planetary Health

While agroecology has been most strong in relation to the ecological design of agroecosystems and the production side of the food system, the relationship between health and agroecology needs further elaboration and support.
Claire Lamine picking blueberries at Knoll Farm

Transforming Regional Governance in New England

This participatory action research project investigates how collective efforts to build more equitable, ecological and just food systems in the Northeastern US can benefit from thinking and acting regionally.

Agroecological Corridor of Mesoamerica

With deep roots in the history of Mesoamerica, the agroecological corridor applies social movement methods to the ecological concept of connectivity, allowing human and non-human life to migrate in healthy working landscapes of agroforestry, diversified farming systems, forest patches and wetlands.