The jury highlighted the initiative's ethical positioning, real-world relevance and ability to build partnerships based on mutual respect and shared responsibility that extend beyond project funding cycles challenge one-directional models of international cooperation.
Led by Dr Denyse Snelder (ASI Steering Committee member and cluster coordinator on food, agriculture and land use) and Dr Sabina Di Prima (Sustainable Food Systems specialist at VU Centre for International Collaboration), the community combines expertise from agriculture, climate science, nutrition, education, governance and development studies in an inter- and transdisciplinary approach to understand the complexity of food systems and climate change challenges. In addition, local and indigenous knowledge are integrated, emphasising that meaningful innovation emerges through dialogue between different forms of expertise. Rather than following traditional models of knowledge transfer, the community is centred around reciprocal learning and co-creation between partners in the Global South and Global North.
Innovation is also reflected in the educational methodologies promoted by the CoP, such as Real-Life Learning Labs (RLLLs) and Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL), through which students and researchers engage directly with real-world sustainability challenges while collaborating across borders and sectors. These methods help bridge the gap between academic learning and societal practice, fostering new competencies and generating research with tangible impact.
The origins of the SSTC-FSCC CoP lie in a partnership between the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and VU Amsterdam under the framework of South-South and Triangular Cooperation (SSTC). Since then, the network has evolved into a community that connects universities, researchers, practitioners, policymakers, NGOs and local communities representing 28 partner organisations across 17 countries and three continents, namely Africa, Europe and Latin America.
The community has just launched the webinar series ‘Towards agroecological transitions of Food Systems under climate change’ which is open to everyone interested in global collaboration. The upcoming seminar will be given by Prof Jaqueline Broerse who will talk about food system transformation and the integrated system approaches needed for it. The seminar will take place on 31 August at 12pm CEST online. You can sign up for free here.
