Seminar - August 2017

Exploring Agrobiodiversity to Generate Resilience

Dr Douglas Bardsley, Senior Lecturer, Geography, Environment & Population, University of Adelaide

For our August seminar, the Food Values Research Group is pleased to present Dr Douglas Bardsley.

Diversity within systems provides opportunities for complex adaptative responses to external drivers of change. That is true for agricultural systems where farmers and their associated industries must respond rapidly to risks, and especially if they have limited access to external support, such as financial capital, agro-inputs or information. Agricultural biodiversity theory will be framed initially based on the author’s research from Turkey and Switzerland. Recent work with Dr Elisa Palazzo in the McLaren Vale region, South Australia suggests that the values of agrobiodiversity are also being understood by local farmers at field, farm and regional levels. Such values of agrobiodiversity could be formally recognised within policy to better support resilience within farming systems experiencing climate change and market competition.

When: Tuesday, 8th of August, 1-2 PM

Where: Ira Raymond Room, Barr Smith Library, North Terrace Campus, University of Adelaide (click here for campus map)

Douglas Bardsley is Senior Lecturer in Geography, Environment & Population at the University of Adelaide. For the last 20 years, he has been researching opportunities to respond to risks within agricultural and food systems in Australia, Asia and Europe. Key risks that he has worked on include the loss of diversity within agricultural systems, climate change, resource constraints, globalisation of supply chains, out-migration from rural areas, and education systems.