2018 Asia-Pacific Agri-Food and Food Ethics International Symposium to Debut in Taiwan in May
Text / Wang Chun-hao (Chair of the 2018 APSafe Symposium, Head of the Department of Bio-Industry Communication and Development, National Taiwan University)
The Department of Bio-Industry Communication and Development at National Taiwan University and the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics (EurSafe) will co-organize the "Asia-Pacific Agri-Food and Food Ethics International Symposium (APSafe)" from May 10 to 12, 2018, bringing together domestic and international representatives from industry, government, academia, research, and public-interest NGOs to focus on the serious issues of agri-food production, food safety, and environmental stewardship. Through cross-national academic dialogue on agricultural production and food consumption, the symposium aims to raise Taiwan's international visibility in agricultural and food ethics research, with the hope that Taiwan will become an academic hub for advancing agri-food and food ethics in the Asia-Pacific region.
In addition to soliciting more than 60 academic papers from over 10 countries, the symposium has invited several heavyweight scholars in food, agriculture, and environmental ethics to serve as keynote speakers, including Dr. Vandana Shiva, an Indian ecological movement scholar and leader of the international globalization forum; Prof. Dr. Paul Thompson, who specializes in agricultural and practical ethics and currently holds the Kellogg Foundation Chair in Agricultural, Food, and Community Ethics; Prof. Dr. Matthias Kaiser, president of the European Society for Agricultural and Food Ethics (EurSafe) from 2006 to 2017, who studies aquaculture ethics; Prof. Dr. Holm, who studies European fisheries history and serves as president of the World Humanities Alliance; and Prof. Dr. Thompson, vice president of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences at National Taiwan University. The content promises to be outstanding, so please register early.
Participating Partners and Ten Call-for-Papers Topics
After the Department of Bio-Industry Communication and Development at National Taiwan University consulted and reached a resolution on February 20, 2017, with Prof. Thompson, vice president of the Institute for Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences at National Taiwan University, Prof. Kuo Hua-jen, professor emeritus of the Department of Agronomy, and then-EurSafe president Prof. Kaiser, it actively brought together scholars and experts from various colleges at National Taiwan University, National Tsing Hua University, National Chiao Tung University, National Cheng Kung University, National Chengchi University, National Dong Hwa University, Academia Sinica, and the Industrial Technology Research Institute; agricultural organizations such as the Agricultural Extension Society of Taiwan, the Taiwanese Rural Sociological Society, and the Taiwan Animal Society Research Association; and opinion leaders from public-interest groups such as the Tse-Xin Organic Agriculture Foundation, the Homemakers United Foundation, the National Association for the Promotion of Community Universities, and Permaculture Gardening, to jointly organize the symposium.
Starting with the composition of the symposium's preparatory committee, the effort truly implements crossing the boundaries among the humanities, social sciences, and natural sciences, bringing together the academic momentum of industry, government, academia, and research and the practical experience of environmental protection and consumption, gathering to examine and engage with the diverse dimensions and challenges of agricultural and food ethics, and planning ten sessions of call-for-papers topics, including:
1. "Climate impacts and ethics of crop production," 2. "Climate impacts and ethics of animal production," 3. "Land ethics and planning," 4. "Consumers and food safety," 5. "Food and agriculture education," 6. "Food sovereignty and justice," 7. "Gender and food," 8. "Indigenous food sovereignty," 9. "Genetically modified food and ethics," 10. "Multiethnicity and food culture." These have already received enthusiastic responses from people in the Asia-Pacific region concerned about the development of agricultural and food ethics.
As of January 1, 2018, the APSafe symposium's call for papers had received more than 60 academic papers from over 10 countries. This unprecedented response fully reflects the international community's urgent concern over the diversity and breadth of future challenges to agricultural production and food consumption triggered by climate change. In particular, how the Asia-Pacific region will respond to the severe impacts of climate and environment on agricultural production in the future, and how to mitigate the humanitarian disasters caused by the uneven distribution of the food system, will be common issues that current human society must urgently face (please click here for the symposium agenda).