5 - Seed Ambassadors: Building an International Network to Advance Organic Seed Systems

Join farmers, breeders, seed activists, students, NGOs and community seed networks to celebrate the diversity of culture, food, seeds and methodologies!

Main Topics:

• Celebrating culinary diversity and exploring the potential to breed for taste and flavor
• Plant breeding methods, approaches, and models for supporting the transition to truly sustainable food systems
• Participatory plant breeding and seeds as commons as tools to integrate biodiversity in society
• Supporting the growth and success of the next generation of organic plant breeders and seed ambassadors
• Innovating a systems approach for organic plant breeding to reflect IFOAM principles, addressing the needs of people and planet

Objectives:

• Raise awareness on the importance of organic seed and plant breeding;
• Engage young seed ambassadors and seed pioneers, build relationships and broaden international representation within the organic seed community;
• Stimulate knowledge exchange and provide a think tank for innovating organic seed and breeding systems in line with IFOAM principles;
• Broaden international representation within the organic seed community;
• Revitalize and diversify IFOAM organic seed working groups;
• Celebrate and share diversity of culture, food, seed, and methodologies;

Expected Outcomes:

• Ensure an international network of culturally diverse organic seed actors across continents
• Achieve a paradigm shift towards holistic and systems-based breeding as an alternative to the present seed monopoly
• Recruit organic seed experts as facilitators for working groups under the umbrella of the IFOAM SEEDS Platform and for participation in ad hoc Seed working groups of the IFOAM Board
• Establish a roadmap of prioritized actions for the next 3-5 years and develop a plan for the maintenance of the IFOAM SEEDS Platform
• Develop a declaration and communication strategy for boosting organic seed and plant breeding.

Programme:

Discover the full programme here.