Advancing Agroecological Transitions through Visual Methodologies
Project Leads
Hannah Wittman – University of British Columbia
Evan Bowness and Dana James – University of British Columbia
Funding
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Partnership Engage Grant)
About the Project
This project builds on a collaboration between the Centre for Sustainable Food Systems at UBC and CEPAGRO (the Centre for Promotion and Study of Collective Agriculture) in Santa Catarina, Brazil focused on better understanding transitions to agroecology.
Research Questions
What visual narratives do agroecological movement organizers use to mobilize urban supporters, allies and activists?
Methods
The research team, including community partners, conducted a participatory visual ethnographic study, involving collaborative storytelling with rural and urban agroecology movement participants. Through community-based videography and photography, we captured experiences of agroecological transitions, photo-documented rural farm-scale transitions to agroecological production, and hosted workshops to build capacity in visual communication for social movements.
Expected Impact
The findings of this project will provide insights on which experiences are most meaningful – for both producers and consumers – at driving increased participation in the agroecological movement. The project has resulted in several community-led mobilization outputs, including three videos.