WWF Food Forum

VIRTUAL

FOOD LAB WWF INTERNATIONAL JANUARY 24 & 25, 2017

AN EXPERIMENT IN VIRTUAL OPEN SPACE

AND INTERACTIVE FORUM FOR LEARNING AND DOING

2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab

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“REALLY APPRECIATED THAT SO MANY WERE INTERESTED AND THE DIALOGUE WAS ENERGISED.”

VIRTUAL FOOD LAB __ AMPLIFYING STORIES & BUILDING COMMUNITY TO UNLOCK SOLUTIONS

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WHAT WAS THIS ABOUT? 1 SHARING AND LEARNING IT’S ALL ABOUT FOOD AND CONSERVATION 2 MEETING OUR COMMUNITY WHO’S IN IT AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING 3 GETTING EMPOWERED AND FINDING WAYS TO ENGAGE IN THE YEAR AHEAD

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WHAT DOES SUCCESS LOOK LIKE? 1 COMMUNITY MEMBERS CONNECT WITH EACH OTHER 2 DISCUSSIONS AND DEBATES STIMULATE NEW SOLUTIONS 3 PARTICIPANTS SAY THEY LEARNED AND SHARED SOMETHING 4 MEMBERS KNOW HOW TO NAVIGATE THE FOOD PRACTICE 3

2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab

FOOD LAB PROCESS __ What was the Food Lab? A facilitated and virtual open space for people to share, listen, learn and decide what they might do next in their work within the Food Practice.

How did it work?

Over the course of two days, we hosted a series of presentations and conversations on topics that the practice members proposed, along with a few dynamic digital workshops and breakout groups to help unlock creativity, find cohesion and synergy across our work.

What else stands out?

During the Food Lab, participants freely chose what sessions to virtually “attend” and engage with. From discussions around the stewardship of soils to explorations of sustainable food systems, Food Lab sessions were as diverse as the participants who joined in.

Who brought this to life?

The Food Lab was designed and facilitated by an organising team of volunteers who came together to explore new ways of collaborating openly within and across global practices. The organizing team worked across time zones and harnessed the power of collective action to bring the Lab to life.

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FOOD LAB ORGANIZING TEAM __ Lydia Gaskell Design and Impact Specialis, WWF-UK Sheila O’Connor Former Interim Deputy, Food Practice, WWF International Jean-François Timmers Interim Food Practice Leader and Global Soy Lead, WWF-Brazil Ben Riddle Shepherd of Culture - Consultant, WWF International Dion Ward Utreras Senior Conservation Analyst, Program Design and Impact, WWF-Brasil Michael Mikov Former Strategic Planner, WWF International Michel Bachmann Shepherd of Culture - Consultant, WWF International

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FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE LAB, GET IN TOUCH __ Food Practice Jean-François Timmers jeantimmers@wwf.org.br Food Lab and running your own virtual workshops Lydia Gaskell lgaskell@wwf.org.uk Facilitation and community building Ben Riddle benjamesriddle@gmail.com

“WOULD LIKE TO WORK MORE ON THIS WITHIN THE FOOD LAB AND THE FOOD PRACTICE.”

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2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab

FOOD LAB EVALUATION __ From its inception, the Food Lab was considered a prototype that explores new ways of engaging and working together in a virtual environment.

According to participant feedback and evaluations, we are pleased to note that the Lab was a success!

In the spirit of listening to feedback and making decisions based on insights, we have identified areas of improvement that will help make any event like this an even greater success in the future.

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__ • THE FOOD LAB WAS WELL RECEIVED AND WELL ATTENDED • THE COMMUNITY WAS ACTIVE AND ENGAGED WITH THE TOPICS AND WITH EACH OTHER • ZOOM AND GOOGLE DOCS REALLY HELPED TO FACILITATE THIS PROCESS • THE PLANNING AND PREPARATION OF THE FOOD LAB WAS APPRECIATED BY THE ATTENDEES

ATTENDEES COUNTRIES PARTICIPATED IN THE FOOD LAB ACROSS MULTIPLE • FUTURE VIRTUAL SESSIONS WORKSHOPS OF THIS

NATURE SHOULD CONTINUE

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TO WHAT EXTENT DO YOU THINK THE FOOD LAB ACHIEVED ITS GOAL TO INSPIRE ATTENDEES TO CONTACT OTHER MEMBERS OF THE FOOD PRACTICE?

WOULD YOU ATTEND FUTURE SESSIONS AND/OR FUTURE FOOD LABS?

15.6% 21.9% 62.5%

Some Extent Great Extent Very Great Extent

6.3% 25% 68.8%

Some Extent Great Extent Very Great Extent 7

2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab

FOOD LAB SESSIONS __ PLENARY COMMUNITY BRAINSTORM 1.A CUMULATIVE IMPACT OF FOOD PRODUCTION ON WATER 1.B MEAT GUIDES AS A SUSTAINABILITY TOOL 2.A SUPPLY CHAIN AND JURISDICTIONAL APPROACHES TO COMMODITIES 2.B TACKLING FOOD WASTE GLOBALLY 3.A UNDERSTANDING LOCAL AND GLOBAL PRESSURES ON 8

CURRENT AND FUTURE FOOD SYSTEMS - AGMIP MODEL APPLICATIONS 3.B ENGAGING SMALLHOLDER FARMERS FOR CONSERVATION IN THE CARE -WWF ALLIANCE 4.A GROWING BEST PRACTICEHOW DO WE INCREASE OUR COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION 5.A LIVING SOIL – THE LINKAGE BETWEEN BIODIVERSITY AND HEALTHY FOOD 5.B HIGH NATURE VALUE FARMING

PLENARY This session featured a presentation

by Jean-François Timmers and Sheila O’Connor about the direction of the Food Practice - vision, key questions, narrative etc. - and invited participants to share their perspectives on frameworks that might work best to foster open collaboration across geographies and contexts. The session surfaced two main elements; The need to develop an inclusive vision which takes into account the diversity in context around the world, as well as identifying key issues that extend across the practices that must be addressed through cross-practice collaboration.

“There is a lot of overlap with different practices, or should be, but not all practices are maybe aware of the key issues within the food practice, work on aligning the goals of the different practices is important.”

“How national and global approaches will be linked in a holistic way needs to be elaborated in a future strategy.”

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COMMUNITY BRAINSTORM

The Community Brainstorm began with an open call for topics and questions to explore. Participants chose two topics for the session to focus on: 1 “Putting the Planet on the Plate - How do we do this for each person?”

2 “How might we effectively work together across practices?”

“Missing a vision! Where do we want to be 2030? What are the steps for a sustainable supply chain for food?”

The first topic group had a wide ranging discussion about values, personal choices, culture and human behavior, and determined that while many people are sympathetic to sustainability, few understand how their food consumption

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2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab impacts the planet. This group agreed that we must understand the complexity of human diets when attempting to create more sustainable systems of food production.

The second topic group had an engaging, action-oriented discussion around strategies, structures and ideas for building collaboration across practices to address global goals. It was determined that as a network, we need to focus our cross-practice efforts around issues where the interest and energy for collaboration exists and provide support there. The group strongly articulated that we need to change network incentive structures to reward collaboration, rather than siloed-thinking and behaviour, and simultaneously equip people across the network with the tools, skills and mindsets needed to facilitate, host and collaborate across practices

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SESSION 1.A

vital resources necessitates the need for joint working of several practices and other sectors - economics/social/ business.

“Implement Good Agricultural Practices and improve quality protocols, including more water criteria.”

“Ecosystem services mapping that allows one to target these activities better across the watershed, for example the Great Barrier Reef.”

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CUMULATIVE SESSION 1.B IMPACT OF FOOD MEAT PRODUCTION ON GUIDES AS A WATER SUSTAINABILITY TOOL Hosted by Richard Perkins, WWF-UK

Three examples of cumulative impacts of food/fibre production on water were presented and discussed - the discussions implied heavily that water and the cumulative impacts on

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Hosted by Anna Richert, WWF-Sweden and Stella Höynälänmaa, WWF-Finland Environmental impacts from food consumption are dominated by the

consumption of livestock products, and changes in production and consumption patterns are necessary to reduce these impacts. This session featured discussions that explored how Meat Guides can be used and adapted across the network. WIth this said, successful adaptation will require strong collaboration to succeed. Regional approaches to Meat Guides can help make implementation easier.

SESSION 2.A

SUPPLY CHAIN AND JURISDICTIONAL APPROACHES TO COMMODITIES Hosted by Emma Keller, WWF-UK

“As the world’s population continues to increase, future biocapacity will depend on, among other things, our lifestyle choices.”

This seminar session was a discussion about supply chain and jurisdictional approaches to sustainable commodity production. The discussion implied there is a lot of interest and confusion on this issue and we need to understand what the benefits of this approach would be or not.

“Bifurcated supply chains are a great way of talking about companies going safe or dirty.”

“Efficiency, Effectiveness, Equity.”

“We also want to look at feed-food competition.”

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“We need to link up several practices such as forests, water, and food as it is a cross cutting issue.”

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2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab

SESSION 2.B

TACKLING FOOD WASTE GLOBALLY

Hosted by Pete Pearson, WWF-US and Carolina Siqueira, WWF-Brazil This session explored common ways of measuring food waste globally. Based on their work in the field, participants determined that the public is open to considering discussions around food waste and sustainable consumption. Moving forward, it will be important to create a culture of openness and trust in the network where we can learn from our successes and our failures when it comes to tackling food waste.

“Country level analysis of where food waste exists and where action is required.”

“It’s time to spread the message about food waste reduction and food production’s impact on the planet. WWF should be a voice for communicating food’s impact on the planet.”

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SESSION 3.A

UNDERSTANDING LOCAL AND GLOBAL PRESSURES ON CURRENT AND FUTURE FOOD SYSTEMS AGMIP MODEL APPLICATIONS Hosted by Alex Ruane, NASA GISS, Columbia University, and Manishka De Mel, Columbia University Recent developments in the agricultural sector are driving changes in food demand and market interactions that shift land use and create vulnerabilities to the climate and the global economy.

This session focused on the Agricultural Model Intercomparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) and explored how agricultural models can help understand overlapping climate and development challenges and their repercussions on local and global systems. It was determined that integrating approaches that

“I THINK WE NEED LOTS MORE OF THIS TYPE OF ACTIVITY!” “REALLY HEARTENING TO SEE SUCH INTEREST AND UNDERSTANDING IN THIS TOPIC.”

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2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab incorporate local, regional, and global pressures can provide a useful framework for scenario assessment and hot spot analysis.

“Climate change could influence the suitability of particular crop production and so we will see substantial crop shifts.”

SESSION 3.B

ENGAGING SMALLHOLDER FARMERS FOR CONSERVATION IN THE CARE WWF ALLIANCE Hosted by Karen Luz, WWF-US and Althea Skinner, WWF-US

“Local, domestic and global interventions require engagement with financing to influence the types of agricultural products.”

“In 20 years we will see an increase in demand for meat, aquaculture and agricultural products.”

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This session explored the linkage between conservation of biodiversity and sustainable development by examining key landscapes where poor communities rely on natural resources for subsistence to address their development priorities. The CARE-WWF Alliance works through local civil society organizations and builds the capacity of community-based organizations and key government ministries to enhance the sustainability of both conservation and development. This long-term partnership is marked by a parallel implementation process and an integrated conservation and development model that accomplishes common goals.

In the spirit of collaboration, representatives of the CAREWWF Alliance invite new countrylevel alliances to join the global, institutional partnership.

SESSION 4.A

“The understanding of social context and issues is critical to conservation, especially when the development context is so severe that we will not be successful without meeting local community priorities and needs.”

GROWING BEST PRACTICE - HOW DO WE INCREASE OUR COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE OF SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION

Hosted by Ian McConnel, WWF-Australia

“Conservation work is inherently social work - what motivates people?

What is their reality? What do they care about?”

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This session explored the many initiatives in the network that exist to foster knowledge sharing around sustainable agricultural production.

There was a general recognition that variability in global agricultural practices must be addressed in order to develop a framework that leads to truly sustainable outcomes.

Ultimately, participants determined that a platform for information sharing across commodities, scales and market contexts is required in order to successfully foster collaboration in this arena.

“There are different views across the network leading to contradictory public advice.”

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2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab

“Would it be reasonable to have a regional approach to sustainable agriculture?”

“It’s time to define the role of WWF in sustainable agriculture. What should we be doing, and at what level and scale?”

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LIVING SOIL – THE LINKAGE 16

BETWEEN BIODIVERSITY AND HEALTHY FOOD

Hosted by Birgit Wilhelm, WWF-Germany This session explored the relationship between soil and plants; as agricultural crops grow and feed themselves on or from a soil which has been built up by a preceding natural ecosystem.

In order to maintain near-natural functional biodiversity within the soil, we need to enhance plant biodiversity in the agro-ecosystem.

To move this dialogue forward, session participants proposed creating a “soil contact point” in the food practice and a group of “soil stewards” to support the work of connecting and cultivating initiatives related to soil in the WWF Network, focused on nurturing strategies for communication, valuation, funding and financing and cross sector collaborations.

“We have created a biodiversity model for farmers that helps with understanding the relationship with biodiversity and rewards those who increase the biodiversity of their soils. Let’s find a way to adapt and scale it to other contexts.”

“A VERY NICE EXPERIENCE IN TERMS OF PEOPLE ATTENDING THE LAB AND THE COMMUNICATION/ SHARING PROCESS.”

“MANY KEY ISSUES WERE TOUCHED AND MENTIONED.”

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2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab

“Degraded soil is a stranded asset.”

practices are also recognised for their contribution to preserve threatened species, valuable farmland habitats and essential ecological processes.

The concept of High Nature Value (HNV) farming developed in the early 1990s from a growing recognition that the conservation of biodiversity in Europe depends, amongst others, on the continuation of traditional low-intensity farming systems. This session continued the healthy debate on farming - weighing up the needs, issues and trade-offs associated with various types of farming and debating what is appropriate, where and when.

“How might we continue to foster dialogue and knowledge sharing in regards to soil related to communication, economics and change in the marketplace, and how might we ensure that it’s a GLOBAL conversation with people from other parts of the planet?”

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HIGH NATURE VALUE FARMING

Hosted by Jabier Ruiz, WWF-EPO Farming is frequently regarded as an activity with negative impacts on the environment, but certain farming

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“The debate is in the air - Sustainable intensification to “feed the world” versus sustainable farming systems”

“This type of low intensity agriculture is certainly happening in Africa, particularly among pastoralists.

However, I’m not sure how useful the term itself would be except in the context of land use planning especially to support conflict reduction between pastoralists and farmers.”

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2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab

SUPPLY CHAIN & JURISDICTIONAL APPROACHES TO COMMODITIES

FRANCES SEYMOUR

Are traditional Supply Chain (SC) and Jurisdictional Approaches (JA): Efficient?

Effective?

Equitable

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What is our theory of change?

Do we have the expertise/capacity to engage at jurisdictional level?

Are we confident in the environmental outcomes of roundtables at landscape scale?

NEXT ACTIONS

WHAT THE FOOD PRACTICE PARTICIPANTS MIGHT WANT TO DO/CONSIDER? CREATE A ‘LET’S MAKE IT HAPPEN’ TEAM: • To inquire about best practices, inventory check

• Clarify best situations for each approach

• Create tools which simplify the process for all actors

• Identify what do we as WWF bring to the table

• To streamline and combine the best of each approach

• Collaborate with all WWF practices

• To plan according to possible future scenarios

• Establish the benefits of both SC and JA

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2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab

FOOD LAB PLENARY WORKSTREAMS & APPROACHES

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JEAN-FRANÇOIS TIMMERS, INTERIM FOOD PRACTICE LEAD

NEXT ACTIONS WHAT THE FOOD PRACTICE PARTICIPANTS MIGHT WANT TO DO/CONSIDER? • The narrative reflects what the offices are doing on Food

• Food provides a door, an opportunity, to exapnd the people and topics we engage with

HOW DO YOU SEE THIS IMPACTING THE WORK YOU DO? ANY NEXT ACTIONS? • Find the best knowledge management practices, to navigate and maximize working together i.e vision and/or roadmap • Identify the crosspractice common grounds and issues i.e. palm oil

• Build diversity into our communications for different cultural and social context • Establish partnerships with leading voices i.e. health sector, celebrity chefs • Create clear information channels between all the practice leaders

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2017 WWF Virtual Food Lab

FOOD LAB COMMUNITY BRAINSTORMING __

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JEAN-FRANÇOIS TIMMERS, INTERIM FOOD PRACTICE LEAD

NEXT ACTIONS WHAT THE FOOD PRACTICE PARTICIPANTS MIGHT WANT TO DO/CONSIDER?

• Create spaces and interfaces for cross-practice collaboration e.g. hold a LAB-SPACE for cross practice projects

• Find the best knowledge management practices, to navigate and maximize working together e.g. vision and/or roadmap • Identify the crosspractice common grounds and issues e.g. palm oil

• Build diversity into our messaging for different cultural and social context • Establish partnerships with leading voices e.g. health sector, celebrity chefs • Create clear information channels between all the practice leaders

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