Speaker
Description
Keywords
social sustainability, food systems, cohesion, justice, culture, identity
Introduction
In order to contribute to greater climate-related protection and justice, food systems must be designed in particular to be ecologically sustainable and socially acceptable. While the knowledge regarding ecological aspects is constantly improving and environmental impacts largely can be captured well, social sustainability in the context of nutrition has so far been underrepresented. There is disagreement about the definition of social sustainability, and the relevant aspects therein. Controversially discussed are also possible objectives and how individual goals could be achieved and progress recorded.
Objective
The project "Social dimension of climate-friendly nutrition" investigates what social sustainability means in relation to selected areas of the food system and what opportunities exist for various stakeholder groups to promote it. These questions relate to the areas of food production and processing as well as consumption at household level.
One aim is to strengthen social perspectives in the context of sustainable nutrition through the participatory development of action-oriented knowledge. For this purpose, the state of knowledge on social effects within food systems is analysed. This concerns social problems, criteria, and data as well as ongoing activities, for example in the area of sustainability certification. Needs for action to strengthen the social dimension are identified and possible options for action are discussed.
Another aim is to initiate societal understanding of objectives and to connect stakeholders from different areas of society and support their exchange. As part of the project, conceptual principles regarding the relevance of social sustainability in nutrition will be developed. These principles serve as a normative frame of reference to collectively identify and analyse social aspects. Thereby social sustainability will be embedded and gains visibility in food systems and in discourses on transformation.
Methods
The project combines literature studies, expert workshops, interviews, and topic-specific small group discussions. Thus, stakeholders from academia, politics, civil society, and the economy have the opportunity to share their knowledge and experience on various aspects of the project in order to analyse key problems, topics and objectives of the social dimension from different perspectives. Through feedback loops, responses can be further developed into conceptual considerations. For example, findings from literature research are discussed and enriched in expert workshops. This creates an iterative process in which the insights from different exchange formats are brought together and complement each other.
Findings
Important impulses for relevant aspects of the social dimension come from existing definitions and systematics of sustainable development. Examples are the UN Sustainable Development Goals (United Nations, 2015), the Doughnut Economics model, which relates planetary and social boundaries (Raworth, 2012), or the Integrative Concept of Sustainable Development (Jörissen et al., 1999) as well as considerations from the ethical sciences on social aspects in nature conservation (Berger, 2021).
The first concepts developed so far focus on the terms of justice and cohesion. This allows essential social aspects to be related to two large sub-areas. The subject area of justice mainly comprises socio-economic aspects that can be regulated or quantified by law, such as working conditions, wages, but also includes the opportunity for participation and education. Cohesion, on the other hand, covers softer, socio-cultural aspects that are not easy to regulate or quantify, but which have significant influence on human coexistence, such as tolerance and acceptance of cultural diversity, different social identities, or shared norms and values. These topics can be transferred to food systems and the areas of production and consumption at household level and provide a framework to define social aspects and make them visible.
Conclusion
A better understanding of social sustainability in relation to nutrition, which addresses socio-economic and socio-cultural aspects, has the potential to identify key elements for change that are also important for the successful transformation of food systems. These considerations can be transferred to topical areas in nutrition or applied to current food policy concepts and strategies. This, in turn, sharpens the focus as to the extent that key social characteristics are already factored in – or not.
Literature
Berger, L.; Eser, U.: Naturschutz und Soziale Fragen: Theoretische Grundlagen. In: Berger, L. ed.: Das Soziale im Naturschutz. Theorie – Praxis – Handlungserfordernisse. BFN-Schriften 605. Bundesamt für Naturschutz, Bonn, 7-21, 2021.
Jörissen, J.; Kopfmüller, J.; Brandl, V.: Ein integratives Konzept nachhaltiger Entwicklung. Wissenschaftliche Berichte, Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe, Karlsruhe, 1999.
Raworth, K.: A Safe and Just Space for Humanity. Oxfam Discussion Paper, Oxfam International, February 2012.
United Nations: Transforming Our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, 2015.
