What would return the pen to the hands that steward the land and would we like what they write?
Rural landscapes are where biodiversity, food production and human livelihoods come together, yet the people who care for the land often have the least influence over the systems that shape it. Decisions about seeds, financing, prices, processing, retail markets and food demand are frequently made far from the communities producing the food. As a result, farmers are often pushed towards short-term production models even when they understand the long-term value of caring for the land.
This plenary asks who truly shapes the food system and what it would take to give greater voice and agency to the people and communities who steward rural landscapes. It shifts the conversation from increasing productivity alone to building economic systems that allow landscapes to retain more of the value they create. That means strengthening the connections between local enterprises, markets, and community knowledge so that stewardship becomes economically viable. Co-curated with the Villars Institute, the session examines how feeding people and restoring landscapes can become part of the same shared future.
