Food security within Planetary Boundaries

Achieving greater levels of sustainability is a goal facing many fields of public policy, especially in the context of an increasing climate crisis. This creates particularly acute challenges when it comes to the production and distribution of sufficient food on a global level. We are more aware than ever of how challenges and threats at a global level impact our social reality locally. The war in Ukraine has demonstrated the vulnerability of specific supply lines for staple products such as grain and sunflower oil, while environmental change increases farmer vulnerability worldwide. How can we ensure that the world's population can be properly fed with sustainable techniques? What is the effect of our food production on the environment, and how is climate change impacting the different stages of the food cycle, from cultivation to waste management? What factors lie behind the many different consumption patterns and trends? Is access to food a human right, and how does scarcity lead to conflict? By placing food at the centre of investigation and using multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary approaches, the Minor “Food security, within Planetary Boundaries” explores current-day debates on political, environmental, economic and cultural change at both the local and global levels.

Programme 2025-2026

The minor consists of 6 courses of 5 ECTS each and takes place during the first semester. The semester is divided into two blocks of eight weeks. Each block corresponds to a track (Block 1: “Production, distribution and consumption” and Block 2: “Natural Resources, Rights and Conflict”) and each track is made up of three courses. This minor is a consistent package of courses designed to help you build your knowledge in a logical and connected way. It is not possible to follow single courses and the minor needs to be completed in one academic year. It is possible to register for a 15 EC semi-minor consisting of either the full first or second track.