Becoming agroecologists: A pedagogical model to support graduate student learning and practice

Abstract

IntroductionAgroecology has multiple beginnings in diverse knowledge systems, growing practices, and social movements which, as a whole, seek systemic transformation to build just food system futures. As graduate students, we have been inspired by agroecological movements and practitioners and endeavored to build our knowledge and capacities as agroecologists. Over the course of seven years, we have worked collectively with an evolving cohort to build relationships, understand critical lineages, and practice participatory processes that we found necessary for our development as agroecologists at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities. Building on this work, we sought to refine an emergent understanding of the necessary components of an agroecological pedagogy.MethodsWe thus hosted a series of workshops in summer 2019 to facilitate collective reflection and development of a pedagogy, which we further refined through collective autoethnography.ResultsThe resulting model contains five key components: a cohort at the heart of the model to facilitate collective learning; critical inquiry as the foundation of knowledge production; relational centering as the basis for building and maintaining care-based relationships with self and others; participatory practice as a space for taking action through and within relationships; and situated knowledge to recognize the unique and incomplete knowledge that each individual brings to their work.DiscussionWe imagine this model as the basis for a dedicated agroecology graduate program, and we close by sharing ongoing implementation efforts, key areas for further development, and our hopes for continued integration with broader movements. Ultimately, we have experienced this process as a transformational agroecological space and hope others are inspired to adapt, imagine, and enact the process, model, and principles in their own places and communities.

Broadscale diversification of Midwestern agriculture requires an agroecological approach

“…The first role involves the civic engagement aspect of agroecology that is expressed in the "movement" element of the tripartite notion of "science, practice, and movement." We observe that this element of agroecology is recognized by regional academic agroecologists (e.g., Nicklay et al, 2023), but not widely practiced by these actors. In our view, it is crucial for academic agroecologists to intensify their participation in civil society arenas relevant to diversification.…”

An agroecological turn in intermediating sustainability transitions with continuous living cover

“…CLC crops must scale both widely across the landscape and deeply into culture, values, and mindsets (Lam et al, 2020) in order to realize these aspirations. This gap between CLC as a suite of scientific enterprises and CLC as a driver of regional agricultural, environmental, and social transformation is perhaps best assessed through the lens of agroecology, which seeks systemic transformation to build just food system futures (Nicklay et al, 2023). Agroecology can be understood as the integration of sciences, practices, and politics (Wezel et al, 2009;Bell and Bellon, 2021) where things like plant breeding, relationship-building, and food justice activism can intermingle to seek transformation.…”