©T-Koni
A community of graduate students and researchers
engaging in food systems issues
Access to leading thinkers in the field across participating
institutions
A learning resource with a workplace skills focus
Summer school
Internship opportunities across a range of employers
WHAT IS IFSTAL?
A set of interactive and interdisciplinary resources
designed to improve post-graduate level knowledge and
understanding of the food system, its problems and how
we might go about dealing with them.
A collaboration across institutions creating an interactive
community of students and researchers from a wide
range of disciplines and backgrounds.
Seeks to help address the urgent need for a workforce
more skilled in food systems thinking to help overcome
the increasing and systemic challenges in food systems.
WHAT IS THE FOOD SYSTEM?
There is no single definitive ‘food system’ but a conceptual
framework we like and use a lot is this one. It highlights the
many ‘activities’ involved in producing and consuming food,
as well as the different types of ‘outcomes’ this is linked to,
and the feedback between these.
HOW WILL IT WORK?
During the academic year IFSTAL comprises live lectures
and networking, with resources and interaction hosted
on a ‘virtual learning environment’ (VLE).
The VLE will host lots of resources: lecture clips, quizzes,
vox pops, activities, blogs, wikis, and more.
In the summer: a summer school, dissertation
placements and links with internships.
Some field trips or workshops if we can wangle it….
Each participating institution has a university-wide
education coordinator and senior academic involved to
develop IFSTAL, facilitate our growth as a community,
and respond to your ideas and needs.
CAN I JOIN?
Are you a post-graduate student at any of the involved
institutions (Oxford, Reading, Warwick, City, SOAS, RVC,
LSHTM)? Then YES!
Anyone studying a discipline
where systems thinking is
used (and we can think of a
lot), should find this really
helpful – it isn’t a discipline
itself, but a way of
approaching difficult
©Patrick Corrigan
problems – of which sustainable food systems is one.
WHAT IS REQUIRED FROM ME?
As much or as little as you would like – the more you put
in, the more you will get out of it.
The VLE is designed to be used flexibly.
This is not a course and does not carry any credits
towards your MSc/MA/PhD. It is a community to draw
from and contribute to, and we hope in the process it
helps you develop new skills and networks.
We’d love to develop IFSTAL further as a community – so
contributions, ideas and resources are welcome.
HOW TO JOIN
Go to Weblearn and search for IFSTAL or go to
http://warwick.ac.uk/foodsystems
Join us at the inaugural lecture on the 22 October 2015
in L4, Chemistry and Science Concourse. To register for
this go to http://warwick.ac.uk/foodsystems by 14
October.
Alternatively, or if you have more questions,
Your local IFSTAL Education Coordinator is Kelly Reed
and can be contacted on IFSTALWarwick@Warwick.ac.uk
For more information please check out our website
www.ifstal.ac.uk