Food Security and Sustainable Food Systems: Interdisciplinary Perspectives from Law, Economics and Nutrition
The University of Parma and NNEdPro will jointly host this workshop to discuss food security and sustainable food systems from an interdisciplinary perspective. The workshop will explore how legal frameworks, public policies, economic approaches and nutritional research interact in shaping food systems, with particular attention to sustainability, equity and human rights.
Hosting Institutions:
FOSTER is a Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence coordinated by the University of Parma. The project brings together early-career researchers from diverse disciplines to develop research, teaching, and outreach activities addressing the legal, economic, policy, and nutritional dimensions of food systems.
NNEdPro is an international institute dedicated to nutrition research and education, based in Cambridge. Founded in 2008 following UK initiatives to improve nutritional care in healthcare systems, it now promotes evidence-based approaches to integrate nutrition into health policy and food systems.
Presentations
- Angelo Buttignol — Developing Sustainable Food Value Chains: the work of the Department of Agricultural Economics of the University of Parma
- Chiara Cerbone — Evolution and Establishment of Urban Policies Against Food Waste in Europe
- Nicola Bergamaschi — The Nexus between Food Security and Trade Liberalisation in EU Trade Agreements
- Ludovica di Lullo — Securing Food, Securing Peace? An International Law Perspective on Food Security Threats
- Luca Romano — The International Protection of the Human Right to Food and Food Sustainability
- Cinzia Franchini & Perla Degli Innocenti — An Integrated Assessment of Food Security and Food Safety Awareness among Young Adults in a Developing Country
Panelists and Contributors from NNEdPro
- Saeeda Ahmed
- Sarah Armes
- Prof Pauline Douglas
- Francesco Giurdanella
- Prof Martin Kohlmeier
- Dr Kathy Martyn
- Prof Sumantra Ray
Food Security in International and European Affairs
The Food Security Team of Early-career Researchers (FOSTER), a EU Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence of the University of Parma, has organized this interdisciplinary workshop in collaboration with the University College Dublin. The workshop brings together scholars from the domains of international law, EU law, and international relations to foster an intensive interdisciplinary dialogue on Food Security in International and European Affairs.
Food security increasingly sits at the intersection of conflict, sustainability, trade and global governance. Yet scholarly debates often remain fragmented across disciplinary boundaries. The workshop aims to create a focused space for exchange, conceptual clarification, and collaborative thinking.
The programme is structured around two main thematic sections. The first addresses the relationship between food and conflict, focusing on topics such as food insecurity in war contexts, the weaponisation of food, and legal and strategic responses. The second section concentrates on the governance and regulation of food systems within the framework of international and EU human rights and trade legal instruments. Each section will include short presentations followed by roundtable feedback and open discussion.
The overarching goal is to provide a forum for scholars to share ongoing research, identify future avenues of inquiry, reflect on methodological challenges, and lay the groundwork for sustained academic cooperation across disciplinary boundaries.
Programme
h. 9.45 — Registration
h. 10.00 – 10.30 — Welcome and Opening Remarks
h. 10.30 – 12.45 — Panel 1 "Food Security in Times of Armed Conflict"Chair: Caitriona Dowd, University College Dublin
- Functions of Food Weaponisation in Ukraine — Maksym Skrypnyk, Dublin City University
- Food as a Weapon of War: Theoretical Implications and Empirical Puzzles for Conflict Studies — Caitriona Dowd, University College Dublin; Mikael Hiberg Naghizadeh, German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA)
- Water as a Weapon in the Siege of Gaza — Simone Papale, University of Parma; Emanuele Castelli, University of Parma
- Peace Agreements as a Legal Tool for Food Security — Ludovica Di Lullo, University of Parma; Elena Carpanelli, University of Parma
h. 12.45 – 14.00 — Lunch Break
h. 14.00 – 16.15 — Panel 2 "Food and Inequalities: Structural Dimensions of Global Food System"Chair: Emanuele Castelli, University of Parma
- Mapping Gendered Violence in the Haitian Food System — Caitriona Dowd, University College Dublin (with co-authors Colleen Andrews, University of Wisconsin, Kelsey Gleason, University of Vermont, not in attendance)
- Protecting Vulnerable Communities Now and in Future: Towards a Right to Sustainable Food? — Luca Romano, University of Parma
- Food Sustainability in EU Trade Relationships with ACP Countries: A Legal Appraisal — Nicola Bergamaschi, University of Parma
- The Vulnerable Food Donor: Food Aid, Risk, and the Arab Gulf States — Heba Elsahn, University College Dublin
16.15 – 16.45 — Concluding Remarks
