Blog for People, Food and Nature

Editor’s note: Food security in urban settings is a critical issue at present and moving into the coming decades. And as we saw last week, there is a strong role for better ‘city-regional’ planning is building a more robust and sustainable food system. On Monday, Rafael Tuts pointed to examples of where this planning could contribute […] ...

Editor’s note: Expanding on the background provided last week on urban planning and integration of food and agriculture into cities, Rafael Tuts discusses the need for more holistic planning approaches to building resilient cities. He is responsible for the implementation of the Cities and Climate Change Initiative (CCCI), which is currently active in Africa, Asia, [&hell ...

By Laura Shillington, Affiliated Assistant Professor, Department of Geography, Planning and Environment, Concordia University, Quebec, Canada Dr. Shillington focuses her work on sustainable urban spaces, and the human-environment-policy relationships at multiple scales. Following on Wednesday’s post introducing how food is often neglected within urban planning, today the auth ...

By Mark Redwood, Program Leader Climate Change and Water, International Development Research Centre, Ottawa, Canada Mark Redwood is an urban and environmental planner who specializes in water, sanitation, and urban agriculture. He kicks off our Roundtable topic of urban food systems with a discussion of one of the major shortfalls in addressing urban food security […] ...

For the past couple of weeks, the Landscapes Blog has spent a little more time than usual ruminating on population and the ever-growing constraints of a finite planet. With the number of humans pushing past 7.2 billion this year and expected to hit 9.2 billion by 2050, the question of adequate space and resources is a legitimate one. […] ...

By Jules Pretty, Professor of Environment and Society and Pro-Vice Chancellor of Sustainability and Resources, University of Essex, UK As we saw on Wednesday with the Natural Capital Declaration, there is increasing recognition for the planet’s finite resources and the need to reform a ‘business as usual’ model. Within a landscape framework, where there are […] ...

Last week we observed World Population Day with an acknowledgement that a growing human population requires certain resources to sustain itself, and the current approach to using land and water resources will not allow us to remain within certain planetary boundaries. One of the reasons behind the current mode of growth and land management is […] ...

Nearly two years ago, the world hit a milestone of 7 billion people, and the projections for 2050 continue to suggest an addition of 2-3 billion people. Underlying the concerns over natural resource scarcity and ecosystem health often rests the interests of people. Today as World Population Day is observed around the globe, there is […] ...

As the world’s second most populous country, with nearly one and a quarter billion people and about 600 million of those involved in agriculture, India is an important country to watch with regards to agricultural land management and food security. However, the question of how to best relieve some of the food insecurity and poverty […] ...

Last week, Chris Reij, Sustainable Land Management Specialist and Senior Fellow at the World Resources Institute (WRI), discussed the contribution of Farmer Managed Natural Regeneration to both addressing concerns related to climate change and food security. Set in the context of President Obama’s trip last week to Africa and his recent announcement of a U.S. […] ...