Performing Department
(N/A)
Non Technical Summary
The Aspen Global Change Institute (AGCI) proposes to host a workshop entitled, "Reducing Food Loss and Waste: Dual Impact Actions to Address Climate Change Improve Nutrition." The five-day workshop will be held in June 2024, led by a team of expert co-chairs: Ahmed Kablan, Ann Vaughn and Nika Larian (USAID Bureau for Resilience and Food Security); Shibani Ghosh (Feed the Future Food Systems for Nutrition Innovation Lab); and Jean Buzby (USDA). This workshop is proposed for June 2024, to be held in western Colorado. AGCI will provide guidance and logistical support for a weeklong program consisting of presentations, discussions, breakout groups, and a public lecture.Food losses and waste (FLW) impact the sustainability and resilience of agricultural and food systems and their ability to ensure food security and nutrition for all and for future generations. Reduction in FLW also supports better use of natural resources such as water, energy, and soils. Our workshop aims to identify pathways to create more robust and sustainable food systems (in the US and globally), by providing recommendations to government agencies and funders on priority policies, programs, technologies and research opportunities to reduce food, loss, and waste.The workshop will bring together around thirty participants including scientists, private sector actors and government officials. Participants will represent a diverse group of actors, each of which have a significant stake in ensuring FLW is reduced.Participants will identify food loss reduction methods and innovations (including technologies, processes, policies), as well as food waste reduction approaches (including upcycling and appropriate uses ofsubstandard products). An emphasis will be to identify options that are actionable and easy to adapt/implement in low resource environments. Participants will also identify opportunities for how to fund these opportunities. The group willidentify priority research and evidence gaps, especially data gaps to informpolicy actions. They will provide actionable policy and programming recommendations for policy makers and donor organizations to support reducing FLW globally.All workshop presentations and video recordings will be made available on AGCI's website as educational resources. All post-workshop publications (reports, peer-reviewed papers, etc), will also be made publicly available.
Animal Health Component
100%
Research Effort Categories
Basic
0%
Applied
100%
Developmental
0%
Goals / Objectives
This workshop will focus on identifying and discussing post-harvest loss reduction and mitigation methods and innovations (technologies, processes, policies), and food waste reduction and management approaches that are actionable and easy to adapt/implement in low resource environments, as well as how to drive financing to these options. Additionally, this workshop will provide actionable policy and programming recommendations for policy makers and donor organizations to support reducing FLW globally.The workshop will bring together scientists, private sector actors and government officials to identify opportunities for action on reducing FLW. Participants will represent a diverse group of actors, each of which have a significant stake in ensuring FLW is reduced and that support policies and programming to reduce FLW. The group will be tasked to identify research and evidence gaps, including data gaps, and innovations/technology needs to drive policy actions and development of technologies and innovations (including novel foods and manufacturing advances) to cut food loss and waste in agricultural products. Recommendations will be prioritized and communicated with federal agencies and donor organizations to advocate for resources to fill these gaps.Specific workshop objectives include:- Development of policy and programmatic recommendations (including possible financing options) to support sustainable food systems transformation with an emphasis on nutrient-dense foods in low and middle income countries (LMIC).- Development of policy recommendations towards reducing Domestic FLW (including after foods have been delivered to consumers such as identifying behavioral strategies to drive consumers behavior change) in the US with an intent to support US efforts to meet sustainable development goal (SDG) Target 12.3- Identification of innovations (technologies, novel foods, behaviors, preferences, policies, and processes), with potential for scaling, to support reduction of FLW- Generation of awareness of the negative effects of loss and waste of nutrient-dense foods on both economic development and nutritional status, and the flaws in our current supply chain that make it unsustainable- Donor organizations, governments and the private sector to allocate funding and resources for research projects and development programs to reduce FLW of nutrient-dense foods- Elevate the need to address FLW to address multiple global issues (i.e., climate change, malnutrition, economic development). This includes recognition that achieving climate change targets of 1.5 & 2 C requires changes in our agriculture-food systems on a global scale; and that the opportunity for reducing food waste in high income countries can reduce pressure to produce more food in marginal lands around the world.- Framework for better quantifying FLW (aggregate and disaggregate), and recommendations for how to address key data collection gaps, including food losses (pre-harvest and post-harvest) in low vs. middle vs. high income country contextsThis workshop will be convened by the Aspen Global Change Institute due to the institution's long-standing record for organizing and facilitating interdisciplinary science workshops on pressing global change topics important to humanity's future. This workshop series, now entering its 35th year, advances scientific understanding of priority topics in global change, strengthens interdisciplinary collaboration within the research community, and engages the public on the societal relevance of global change science. AGCI workshops have a track record of achieving influence by facilitating exchange of knowledge and interdisciplinary cooperation. Workshop presentations and public lectures are video-recorded and made available on AGCI's website. Workshop findings are often published in leading scientific journals such as Science and Nature Climate Change, and are utilized to inform broader research agendas.
Project Methods
AGCI staff work closely with volunteer co-chairs throughout the workshop life cycle to design the workshop goals and agenda and to recruit a diverse participant roster. Co-chairs are well-recognized leaders in their individual disciplines, whose combined expertise represents the interdisciplinary breadth of the workshop topic.METHODS FOR PROGRAM DEVELOPMENTAGCI employs a distinctive and time-tested approach to fostering interdisciplinary dialogue and continues to overcome logistical and institutional obstacles to interdisciplinary activities (NASEM 2004; NRC 2014). AGCI workshops are characterized by their integrative, intimate, and intensive nature - convening approximately 30 participants with diverse expertise for a week of focused presentations and discussions on a designated topic. This extended format provides the necessary time for participants to share their topical expertise, contribute to plenary and breakout group discussions, and build connections with each other through informal discussions outside of planned events.All attendees are invited as full participants, regardless of career stage, with opportunities to present on their research, lead discussions, and contribute to post-workshop outputs and publications. This approach to workshop design provides common frameworks across scientific disciplines, and establishes a workshop culture of active engagement, community, and collaboration.AGCI workshops provide a rare but crucial venue for participants to develop a common language, new understanding, and ideas for productive next steps. Our approach to workshop organization complements larger convenings hosted by professional societies and agencies, which may be more disciplinary in focus or limited in duration.METHODS FOR PARTICIPANT RECRUITMENTAGCI recruits approximately 30 in-person participants and 10 virtual participants per workshop through a careful process designed to maximize a diversity of perspectives, expertise, geographies, career stages, and demographics among attendees. Workshop co-chairs, in consultation with AGCI staff and federal agencies, draw on their knowledge and experience of the field to identify areas of expertise to include at the workshop.The co-chairs then develop a participant roster that reflects those areas of expertise, by drawing on co-chairs' existing networks, literature reviews and utilizing voluntary databases of scientists from underrepresented groups, to broaden participation beyond established research networks. AGCI requires co-chairs to cite how suggested participants' expertise and background meet workshop needs and why they have been selected. AGCI may also circulate an open call for participants to apply to attend. AGCI explicitly offers options to support invitees' accessibility and caretaking needs in order to overcome participation barriers.Because formal and informal feedback confirms that AGCI workshops can have significant influence on participants' career development, AGCI works carefully to ensure diverse and inclusive rosters. By design, the vast majority (83%) of AGCI workshop participants are first-time attendees. Most participants are from universities, federal agencies, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, and the private sector, or are independent scholars. Participants include senior, mid-career, and early career professionals - since 2018, 32% of participants self-identified as early career (within seven years of receiving their terminal educational degree).METHODS FOR ADVANCING DEIAAGCI regularly engages experts on diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA) to identify practices that create positive and inclusive scientific meeting spaces, both in-person and virtual. To that end, AGCI has led a collaboration of the Earth Science Women's Network, 500 Women Scientists, and other professional societies serving underrepresented groups in the sciences to develop a "Guide to Planning Inclusive Scientific Meetings." AGCI has adapted the practices in this guide for our own specific context in order to cultivate more diverse rosters and create an inclusive workshop culture and physical workshop space. To this end, our actions span the entire workshop planning and implementation process.Upon registration, workshop participants are asked for their gender pronouns and required to agree to AGCI's workshop code of conduct. AGCI also distributes a print version of this code of conduct in each participant's folder and reviews it in the opening presentation at every workshop. The code of conduct outlines standards of expected behavior, examples of unacceptable behavior, such as harassment, consequences of code violation(s), and guidance on informal and formal reporting. The code of conduct is available at agci.org/agci-code-of-conduct.The pre-workshop registration process also includes an anonymous demographics survey that asks about participant career stage, age, education level, if they are the first in their family to attend college, country of origin, gender identity, ethnicity, race, preferred language, caregiving responsibilities, and ability (including a "Prefer not to respond" option for all questions). Survey results are not linked in any way to participants' personal records out of respect for privacy, and data is stored in a private and encrypted format. Survey results help AGCI evaluate our ongoing effort to foster diversity and inclusion in our workshops.At the outset of every workshop, AGCI leadership reaffirms its commitment to DEIA and encourages participants to be allies of DEIA in their own work. AGCI proactively confronts some participants' experience of "imposter syndrome" by asserting at the workshop outset that all participants have valuable experience and expertise to identify and advance solutions to the workshop topic at hand. AGCI also introduces workshop-specific methods for engaging in discussion (e.g., raising name tents to engage in discussion instead of talking over one another).As part of our efforts to create inclusive communities, AGCI plans social activities throughout the workshop week. Participants' families and guests are also welcome at all group events. These measures and activities are designed to foster group cohesion, so no participant feels isolated or excluded. AGCI formally evaluates progress toward long-term DEIA goals through our post-workshop evaluation form, which invites feedback for future actions.METHODS FOR EVALUATION OF WORKSHOP IMPACTAGCI formally evaluates each workshop using questionnaires circulated during and one year after each workshop. At the close of each workshop, participants are asked to complete an anonymous evaluation form on the quality of workshop topic selection, presentation formats, logistical support, communication of science to the public, and DEIA practices. In our anniversary questionnaire, we also collect data on longer term outputs and collaborations resulting from each session.Workshop impacts also extend beyond attendees by way of AGCI's ongoing public lecture series, which affords an educational opportunity for members of the broader public and research community. This series is held in honor of Walter Orr Roberts, the founder of the National Center for Atmospheric Research. The public lecture usually consists of a presentation by a workshop participant, followed by a question and answer session and reception with other participants. Through this design, each lecture affords members of the public an opportunity to both learn about cutting edge research and personally connect with scientists. The public lecture is live-streamed on Zoom, and a post-lecture video recording is also posted on our website and shared through our social media and YouTube channels.