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Agroecology
Last Updated: 2026-06-03 00:07:19
Abstract
Agroecology is a discipline, an agricultural practice, and a political-social movement. Students will attend public lectures by experts from different fields and will reflect on agroecology and its principles. Moreover, students will expand their knowledge with case studies and discuss about the role of agroecology to support sustainable agriculture and food systems.
Objective
Students know the thirteen principles of the High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the Committee on World Food Security as well as the ten elements of agroecology suggested by FAO and can critically reflect on the important properties as well as benefits and trade-offs of agroecological systems and approaches. Students will be able to transfer their disciplinary and interdisciplinary knowledge about the thirteen principles as guiding principles for policymakers, practitioners, and other stakeholders across the food system in planning, managing, and evaluating agroecological transformation. Students are part of small groups focusing on selected principles of the HLPE. During the course, students discus the potential and limitations of agroecology and learn about scientific contributions to agroecology. Students form an opinion on the role of agroecology, reflect and argue on the different facets and develop recommendations for real-world applications of agroecology in supporting a transition towards sustainable food systems.
Content
The course is designed as a combination of public lectures/webinars on "Agroecology and the Transformation to Sustainable Food Systems” delivered by national and international experts and scientists as well as sessions in which students reflect on the topics addressed in the lecture series in a group work format. The public lectures bring different perspectives to the discussion and are intended as inputs for the students’ sessions. In the student sessions, the student groups deepen their knowledge of the 13 principles of agroecology proposed by the High-Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) of the Committee on World Food Security. They identify “unknows” and link to other closely related principles. The groups also work out the perspective of a chosen stakeholder. Finally, the groups will take part in a scientific discussion representing their stakeholder perspective. All groups will synthesize their discussions in a short report.
Resources
Lecture Notes
Handouts will be available on the webpage of the course.
Literature
http://www.fao.org/agroecology/en/ Report of HLPE on agroecology: http://www.fao.org/3/ca5602en/ca5602en.pdf
General Information
- Language
- English
- Levels
- BSC , MSC
- Frequency
- Yearly recurring
Examination
- Type
- ungraded semester performance
Registration & Places
- Max Places
- 45
Course Components
| Type | Title | Time & Place | Hours |
|---|---|---|---|
| lecture with exercise | Agroecology | No time listed | 2 h weekly |
Offered In
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Electives (The electives listed are recommended. However, electives can be chosen from the complete course offer of the ETH Zurich and University of Zurich.)
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Electives Courses (Elective courses can be chosen from the entire course programme of the ETH Zurich as well as from the course programme of the University of Zurich.)
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