5th ZIN-Brown Bag Lecture: “What kind of agriculture can feed the growing human population and protect common goods?”

On Thursday, May 22, at 12:15 p.m., landscape ecologist Prof. Dr. Tillmann Buttschardt will give a lecture as part of the ZIN-Brown Bag lectures on the topic “What kind of agriculture feeds the growing human population and conserves common goods?”.

The (still) steadily growing human population seems to justify the need for intensified land cultivation and growth in industrially produced (agricultural) goods. Since it has not yet been possible to decouple economic growth from environmental and resource consumption, this growth comes at the expense of common goods (such as soil, water, and biodiversity). Exactly 500 years ago, the Peasants' War broke out in Germany, triggered by the landowners’ expanding economic demands on the common forests of peasant communities. Since then, “peasant farming” has been under continous pressure as land has become a commodity. The lecture will address the question of what kind of growth is possible within which agrarian structures if we acknowledge planetary boundaries. A key factor here is the build-up of humus in the soil: industrial agriculture cannot achieve this, but agroecological land management certainly can.

The lecture will take place in JO 101 (Johannisstraße 1–4). No prior knowledge is required, and you are welcome to bring a small lunch with you!

Information about this and other events of the ZIN-Brown Bag Lectures series can also be found on the poster for the lecture series, on our Brown Bag Lectures website, and on LinkedIn (@Zentrum für Interdisziplinäre Nachhaltigkeitsforschung).