Food tech transitions: reconnecting agrifood, technology, and society
The Food Tech Transition Summer School 2019 is the outcome of an academic partnership between Universität Hohenheim as main partner, and Queen's University Belfast and University of Cambridge, together with industrial partner Energy Pulse.
Funded in collaboration with EIT Food, the Summer School is the outcome of the partnership between both academic and industrial partners: Universität Hohenheim, Queens' University Belfast and Cambridge University, together with Energy Pulse Systems and Puratos. The Summer School aims at providing future professionals the critical skills and tools to understand current and future challenges in the food industry (e.g. processing, conservation, distribution, meal creation) and enable the transition towards a more sustainable industry.
The course is designed to integrate knowledge about food technology and the production side with social sciences and a wider social perspective, focusing on the impact food technology implies, with the disruption potential of production and consumption logics; nutrition patterns; agronomic practices; available raw materials, human, environmental and animal ethics that are associated to it. We aim at getting to the heart of the transition issues by having participants tackle the disconnect between agrifood, technology and society and unleash their creativity in terms of possible solutions and business ideas that can be created out of the issue itself.
The course aims at raising a new generation of conscious students and future professionals, fit for the business and for the wider challenges in the industry and outside with more than practical knowledge. We will deliver academic lectures with state-of-the-art research and thought-provoking readings to be complemented by guest lecturers selected from the business partners.
The focus of the summer school is the EU food sector with its specificities (political systems, economic paradigm, role of enterprises) at the crossroad with new technological advancement and the main challenge represented by sustainability. In the age of transition, to respond to the sustainability imperatives it is highly desired to train and equip young professionals to make sense of contemporary and future challenges and respond to the needs of consumers and employers. The development of critical skills together with an up-todate and high-standard-goals course is paramount for ensuring the flexibility necessary for the contemporary EU food sector to ensure high competitiveness in the global market. Therefore the final aim is to contribute to the creation of a more sustainable and efficient food system.
The summer school will take place at Universität Hohenheim (Stuttgart, Germany) from 29 July 2019 to 09 August 2019.