The earth – a living being
Agricultural Conference 2021 – "Breathing with the Climate Crisis"
From 11 to 14 February 2021, the Section for Agriculture and the Youth Section organised this year's conference on the topic "Breathing with the climate crisis". The online conference connected over 1,200 people from 63 countries.
Indications of climate changes during the history of the earth. From the start of the ice age to 1850 the alternation of warm periods and ice ages was in harmony with the cosmic rhythms between the sun and the earth. In contrast to this, the very rapid rise in temperature over the last 150 years conflicts with the cosmic impulses. Human activity produced by intellectual thinking led to climate collapse, so that cosmic impulses were no longer able to act as in earlier times. By enlivening thinking, we can find a way to the living earth.
Adrian Müller is a research associate at the Research Institute of Organic Agriculture FiBL and at the Institute for Environmental Decisions IED at ETH Zurich. He works on modelling of the food system and its environmental impacts, climate change and organic farming, agroecology and climate policy in agriculture in general. Adrian Müller also works with different approaches to sustainability assessment of agro-ecosystems and how best to compare the sustainability performance of such. Finally, he also deals with sufficiency and how this could be implemented for more sustainable societies.
Inhale // From two sides we look at the actual state of the current climate debate, in which the focus of the farmer is broadening from the fertility of the earth and the associated productivity to the minimisation of Co2. - Without a healthy climate, there is no yield.
Clement Vincent is a Catholic priest, social worker, professor of philosophy and theology. Executive Secretary of Muhil Health Center 2000: Coordinator of Violence against Women Prevention Program in a target area of 40 villages of Thirumangalam Thaluk, in Madurai District 2003: Executive Director of INAYAM (Integrated Network of Approaches for Youth Animation and Mobilization) It is an assistance program to support a small number of commercial activities to help rural people out of their crushing poverty.
Anet Spengler born in Basel, worked on several farms in Switzerland for 2 years, focusing on animal husbandry. She studied agriculture, specialising in animal science at the ETH Zürich. During her study years she usually worked on an alp in central Switzerland, taking care of dairy cows, young stock and goats. For 20 years she has been working at the research institute of organic agriculture (FiBL) in Frick (CH), where she is responsible for animal breeding and husbandry projects as well as several lectureships. At home she keeps a flock of Engadine sheep.
Ecological healing will not come by being more clever in how we treat earth-as-thing. It will come from relating to earth, water, soil, and all the material world as a living, intelligent being, even a sacred being. This is no mere philosophy, but has broad implications for environmental policy, for understanding climate change, and for our own choice of how to participate in the great healing.
5 ways to transform our food system to benefit people and planet
Petra Hans, 05 Mar 2021
Food is essential for our survival, a fundamental requirement of life and the provider of strength, vitality and energy. It is also the keeper of our cultural traditions and indispensable to our social lives – think of any celebration and it will involve food.