Urban Agriculture 2018

1st International Conference On Urban Agriculture And City Sustainability

9 - 11 October, 2018

New Forest, UK

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Introduction

The aim of the Conference is to review and discuss ways in which urban agriculture can contribute to achieving sustainable cities.

As urban populations continue to increase it is essential to consider ways of reducing their impact in terms of use of natural resources, waste production, and climate change.

The increasing number of people in cities requires new strategies to supply the necessary food with limited provision of land and decreasing resources. This will become more challenging unless innovative solutions for growing and distributing food in urban environments are considered.

The scale of modern food production has created and exacerbated many vulnerabilities and the feeding of cities is now infinitely more complex. As such the food system cannot be considered secure, ethical or sustainable.

In the last few years, there has been a rapid expansion in initiatives and projects exploring innovative methods and processes for sustainable food production. The majority of these projects are focused on providing alternative models that shift the power back from the global food system to communities and farmers improving social cohesion, health, and wellbeing. It is therefore not surprising that more people are looking towards urban farming initiatives as a potential solution.

These initiatives have demonstrated that urban agriculture has the potential to transform our living environment towards ecologically sustainable and healthy cities. Urban agriculture can also contribute to energy, natural resources, land and water savings, ecological diversity and urban management cost reductions.

The impact urban agriculture can have on the shape and form of our cities has never been fully addressed. How cities embed these new approaches and initiatives, as part of new urban developments and a city regeneration strategy is critical.

The Urban Agriculture conference will address these challenges and search for new solutions.

Conference Topics

The following list covers some of the topics to be presented at Urban Agriculture.  Papers on other subjects related to the objectives of the conference are also welcome.

Development and Planning

• Urban metabolism
• History of urban agriculture
• Integrated urbanism
• Sustainable land use
• Urban and peri-urban enterprises
• Green infrastructures and sustainable urbanism
• Continuous productive urban landscaping
• City food chains
• Food sovereignty
• Urban distribution and processing systems
• Market gardens
• Sustainable urban drainage
• Water resources and irrigation systems
• Sustainable food systems
• Organic farming
• Food security

Urban Farms

• Patchwork farms
• Pop-up farms
• Roof top farms
• Green roofs
• Vertical greening and farms
• Hydroponics, aquaponics and aeroponics
• Hydrogardens
• Composting in cities
• Allotment systems
• Permaculture and agricultural forestry
• Urban animal farms and bee-keeping
• Greenhouses
• Food networks

Socio-Economic Aspects

• Community supported agriculture
• Community cohesion and job creation
• Community gardens
• Communities as co-producers
• School and young urban farmers
• Education and training

Innovation and Benefits 

• Closed loops systems
• Transport and distribution
• Waste food recovery and recycling
• Renewable energy resources
• Healthy cities
• Care farming
• Ecological water systems
• Biofuel production in cities
• Quality of streets and urban environment
• Reduction of Urban Heat Island
• Farm to fork
• Eco-cities and eco-villaging
• Show cities
• Air pollution reductions
• Organic farming