IFLA agricultural landscapes WORKING GROUP

IFLA World Working Group on Agriculture and Landscape (WG A&L)

The IFLA Working Group on Agricultural and Landscape was appointed at the Oslo World Council, in September 2019. its organization was completed in March 2020 when operations began after the formal approval of its Terms of Reference 

Vision

Together with world hunger, we understand Food Security and sovereignty as a way of life closer to nature and the environment. Through this Vision, we reconsider, not only agricultural economic values, but also the concepts of new rurality and urbanity. Thus, a number of options for the improvement of life and landscape quality, as well as, identity is brought about by exploring new alternatives of community production and distribution modalities closer to nature, so contributing to the betterment of landscape quality and public space through social and ecological resilience and the promotion of clean energies.

Objectives

The IFLA WG A&L was created to set up within IFLA a globally organized team of specialists capable to

• Understand and awake awareness regarding the relations between agriculture and productive landscapes in order to address managing solutions to conflicts and demands identified as priorities.

• Establish a core of thematic axes on emergency and priority issues as to generate lines of action and projects by local teams whose implementation be guaranteed through participatory and monitoring systems.

• Promote actions based on transformation, innovation and resilience regarding territorial justice, food security and food sovereignty.

• Ensure high standards and good professional practice by IFLA members.

• Manage the means to articulate the knowledge and the binding actions that characterize the bond between agriculture and ancestral knowledge, tradition, identity and sense of place.

• Address the link between climate change, agriculture, landscape, livelihoods, environmental health and life quality.

The group achieves these objectives based on its organization, core action areas, networking, hands on projects, as well as joint initiatives with international allies, an important result of which are webinars carried out at the regional and international level.

Organization                    

The IFLA WG A&L is made up by representatives of each IFLA region

Since 2021 representatives presented and agreed with the WG the Strategic Plan for each region. In addition, regional advisory councils were established to support the action of Regional Chairs and the PPP's voting members, who are considered as regional leaders carrying out their action through key collaborators from national Associations and inter-regional cooperation. Such meetings and support took place from the WG starting point, and continued until present.

Strategy: Core Target Areas

The core areas were defined according to the objectives and priorities. For each of them, a strategy, project or proposal at a global level was created as goal to be attained as described below.

Focused on rural landscapes as a heritage to be preserved and learn from.  Also, as source for innovation based on ancestral knowledge and creation of alternative systems (Under the leadership of IFLA Europe)

Devoted to agriculture solutions through productive landscapes in oasis and drought areas (Under the leadership of IFLA Africa and IFLA Middle East)

Attentive to the forecast, prevention and solution to disastrous situations emerging from flooding, tsunamis, see level rising and other forms of water related extreme events (Under the leadership of IFLA Asia Pacific)

Dedicated to the pursue of landscape-agriculture related solutions for migrant populations in their new temporary or permanent settlements. (Under the leadership of IFLA Americas)

NOTE: Although each core target area is under the leadership of one or two regions, this happens because the specific related issues are fundamental in that region. However, the concern, information and collaboration are always global.

Webinars and Networking

The four initiatives mentioned above have been and are widely disseminated through webinars, networking and the use of specialized platforms, amongst which a remarkable case in point is "Living with Disaster", a platform hosted by teachable.com developed by Misato Uehara and his Shinshu University team within the Asia Pacific Region. Followed by the recent set up in the Americas of the “Landscape Platform” led by Pedro Camarena and his colleagues from UNAM (University of Mexico).

From its creation to the present, at least three webinars have been held per year with wide participation and great dissemination of the results. Also, since 2023 up to date the broadcasting of short interviews on key topics started.

Hands on Projects

Also, through the four Core Areas initiatives described before, a hand-on projects portfolio was compiled for regional and national level. A special case in point is the successful development along the Americas.

The above mentioned projects, carried out within the IFLA - IICA agreement (Inter-American Institute for Agricultural Cooperation of the UN Organization of American States: OAS) this agreement signed in 2019 in July 2023 was extended until 2026.

 (Please see videos on this subject using through the attached link)

https://vimeo.com/688132966/ca2cc32342

https://vimeo.com/688125792/047631c498

International Allies

Since the establishment of the WG A&L, the approach and dialogue with our international allies is and has been permanent. The signing of the IFLA - ICAA agreement at the time the Group was appointed was decisive. Likewise, negotiations with FAO and IUCN, together with UNESCO have allowed us to broaden our panorama and opportunities.