Thurs 15 Oct, 11am-1pm (AEDT)
Launch plenary Dead Epidemiologists: On the Origins of COVID-19
Free for members and non-members – donation to PReP encouraged.
Join your fellow Convergers after the panel discussion for a quick intro to Convergence and how the coming week will work.
Thurs 15 Oct – Sat 17 Oct
Online voting for session topics available.
In keeping with the unconference format, session topics will be propopsed by participants in the lead up to Convergence.
Each participant will have the opportunity to propose a topic that you’d like to discuss with your fellow food sovereignty supporters. Proposed topics will be compiled shared with all participants and voted for online ahead of the first unconfereence session – keep an eye out for your voting form!
Monday 19 Oct – Friday 23 Oct, 12pm – 1pm AEDT:
Convergence Unconference sessions
Daily Convergence Unconference sessions will run each day at 12 pm, from Monday 19 Oct to Friday 23 Oct. Participants can join as many sessions as they are interested in.
Session topics:
| Monday 19 October
12-1pm AEDT
Farming on Indigenous Land and Decolonising Agriculture
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How do we talk about producing food on land that was never ceded? How does First Nations sovereignty dovetail with food sovereignty in Australia? What discussions are happening among Australian growers about colonialism? Do people feel like they have the tools and language to join the conversation?
A collaborative session where Convergers can share their thinking and experiences on the land and in their communities, and discuss strategies to decolonise agriculture, express solidarity with First Nations peoples, promote and support Indigenous peoples’ interests |
| Tuesday 20 October
12-1pm AEDT
Building Solidarity-Based Food Economies & Re-localising Food Systems |
What are the opportunities, existing examples, and strategies for building alternatives to exploitative food systems, at local and larger scales? What do growers and consumers need to develop food economies based in solidarity, and to re-localise food systems? Are efforts needed to push for more enabling contexts?
This session will include exploring how to build long-haul relationships to support ethical and ecologically sound farming systems, and how solidarity food economies can ensure fair prices to farmers for their food. Sector example: Re-localising grain economies Great strides are being made towards re-localising grain economies in the UK – explore how we’re progressing in Australia, why a localised grain economy is important, and what we can do to build upon and strengthen the progress we’ve already made.
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| Wednesday 21 October
12-1pm AEDT
Supporting Breed Diversity (and other ideas to support Agrobiodiversity) |
Sharing experience and ideas on breed choice – What breeds are you raising? Why? How can we support breed diversity and the perpetuation of rare and heritage breeds? What are the advantages and challenges of marketing and distributing rare breeds?
Depending on participants and interest, this session may expand to a discussion of how these ideas can apply to supporting agrobiodiversity more broadly. |
| Thursday 22 October
12-1pm AEDT
Forging Co-Operatives to Support Small-Scale Growers and Food Sovereign Systems |
Experience-sharing and strategizing on how producers and consumers can forge small-scale cooperatives – formal or informal – to improve access to infrastructure, take advantage of collective buying power, and be better positioned to interact with other aspects of a broken food system.
This session will also aim to explore how producers set and secure fair prices for their food and how co-operative approaches can support this.
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| Friday 23 October
12-1pm AEDT
Scale-appropriate regulation for farming, food production & distribution
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Exploring the current regulatory challenges for small- or medium-scale producers and local/alternative distribution systems, and strategies to address the issues.
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Saturday 24 October 10am – 12pm
Wrap-up plenary
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Come together as a group to share and reflect on ideas and strategies discussed throughout the week and bring together priorities for action. |
Saturday 24 Oct – 10 am – 12 pm AEDT:
Plenary wrap-up
Come together with all your fellow Convergers to share the ideas, reflections, and plans for action explored throughout the week.
Saturday 24 Oct – 1pm – 2:30pm AEDT
AFSA Annual General Meeting
Convergence concludes on Saturday with AFSA’s Annual General Meeting, where AFSA members raise, discuss, and vote on key issues for action and governance decisions for the coming year.