Carbon positive food regions: design & planning strategies to co-create regenerative food systems
Typ
Examensarbete för masterexamen
Program
Design for sustainable development, MSc
Publicerad
2022
Författare
Naraine, Jonathan
Modellbyggare
Tidskriftstitel
ISSN
Volymtitel
Utgivare
Sammanfattning
Carbon positive food regions, proposes a design framework and planning strategies
for building a resilient food system with net negative emissions on a regional scale. The
aim is to provoke regions, municipalities and nations to support the development of more
regenerative agriculture that builds topsoil & heals ecosystems.
The inspiration for this master's thesis is taken from the movement of regenerative farmers
in Sweden and the world. The thesis takes place in two contexts: Firstly at the heart of a 450
hectare regenerative farm called Bjällansås in Uddevalla municipality; and secondly on the
municipality of Orust, an island with 15 000 inhabitants. With a design "manifesto" rooted
in a process of collaborative “food system design” carried out by the daily actions of what
people eat and how it shapes the landscapes around them.
The project uses a methodology of "research by design" (refered to as "design research") -
with "design explorations" carried out on a farm and municipal scale primarily using the
methods of backcasting and scenario planning. The design explorations also combines the
methods and tools of Holistic management, Keyline design & Permaculture design into
what I call a "holistic planning framework". By exploring two future scenarios of a carbon
positive region, self reliant on food - the lessons from the design explorations on Bjällansås
farm and Orust municipality were used to formulate "regenerative planning strategies" for
physical planning.
The results are design proposals showcasing the future farm & island and the following
six physical planning strategies for regional and municipal comprehensive planning; (1)
a decision making framework that includes future generations, (2) eight holistic land use
planning principles & design layers, (3) farmland protection & food system planning, (4)
monitoring & improving ecosystem processes, (5) food nodes for sales & distribution and
(6) funding and co-learning around regeneration.
The discussion explores how bottom-up and top-down actors can meet in co-creating
these local regenerative food systems and potential conflicts around water and land use.
Conclusions are that carbon positive food regions are possible but require ambitious
targets, conscious planning and food system design with shifts to a more multifunctional
mosaik landscape characterized by agroforestry, involving a multiplicity of stakeholders
in the process. The designer and architect has a central role in bridging the gap between
different generations, interests and scales.
Beskrivning
Ämne/nyckelord
regional planning, rurbanization, regenerative agriculture, self-reliance, agroforestry, climate change, food, land-use