The OWC Conference Forums

6 Themes to Inspire Action

Plenary sessions of the OWC2021 will be complemented by six individual conference forums taking place from 8-10 September 2021, each with its own objectives and criteria:

All forums will be digitally accessible for registered participants. Some sessions will take place in Rennes, in a hybrid format, combining face-to-face and distance learning.

The application deadline for contributions was October 21, 2019. With more than 450 confirmed contributions, our programme promises to be as rich and engaging as the movement it reflects!

Following the OWC postponement announcement in May 2020, nearly all speakers have maintained their contribution for the 2021 Congress. We are thus unable to take on additional speakers and will not reopen a broad call at this time.

Participants wishing to contribute are invited to attend the forums’ interactive sessions, especially workshops within the Leadership and Stakeholder Forums. Speakers wishing to get in touch should send an email to papers2021@owc.bio.

Important Information

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Conference languages:

The conference language is English. Simultaneous translation in French will be made available for specific sessions during the congress, in particular for plenary sessions and for the Farmers' Forum.

Leadership Forum

The Leadership Forum brings together thinkers, practitioners, and policymakers to discuss new ideas and concepts that will help propel agriculture and organic to the next level of sustainability.

Forum Objectives

Under the guidance of IFOAM – Organics International board members, stakeholders from various professions and political backgrounds will openly debate the sector’s latest insights, controversies, and developments. Audience members will be invited to participate in the dialogue, allowing them to articulate new sector arguments and rationales.

Forum Set-Up

We will soon communicate on how this forum will be set up digitally for the best interaction!

IFOAM – Organics International has selected the following session themes for the leadership forum. These themes are relevant for local and global organic progress, and were carefully crafted to ensure forum participants will have a wide range of topics for discussion

Forum Session Themes

Session Theme and Description
1 Policies as levers and best practices in advocacy: Messages and targets
2 Intergenerational organics: Learning from experience and bringing in young energy
3 Raising the bar for organics: Moving towards increased sustainability impact
4 True Cost Accounting and its use in organic agriculture: Reality check on the magic bullet
5 Why aren’t more farmers converting to organic? How to (p)reach (to) the not-yet-convinced?
6 Organics for development: How to mainstream organic within the international donor discourse?
7 Strategic partnerships: Teaming up with unusual suspects
8 Reaching and empowering consumers in their role as citizens: Which intermediaries to target and with what messages?
9 Organic leadership: What does being an agent of change imply?


Important Information

Submission Guidelines
Please read the submission guidelines before proceeding to the online submission platform.

Applying automatically implies your commitment to participate in person at the OWC 2021. There is no budget for sponsorship of expenses of panelists.

Farmers’ & Advisors’ Forum

A unique opportunity for farmers from five continents to gather during three days and exchange on what it means to be an organic farmer.

Forum Objectives

The Organic World Congress offers farmers from five continents the unique opportunity to gather for three days and discuss what it means to be an organic farmer, learn how other organic farmers work (e.g., innovation used on their farms), and explore what challenges organic farmers currently face or will face in the future.

In this respect, the Farmers’ Forum aims to create a space for exchange between farmers and farming advisors to promote positive experiences, best practices, and success stories in organic farming.

Forum Set-Up

The Farmers’ and Advisors’ Forum will yield the floor to farmers from across the globe. Organic farmers are hereby invited to present their success stories, positive experiences, and best practices to an audience of their peers. This forum is also open to organic farming advisors, who are invited to share their knowledge on how advisory services can effect change in the agricultural model.

We will soon have more information on how this Forum will be set up virtually!

Forum Themes

Forum contributions should fall into one of the following categories:

  • Organic farming cultivation:
    • Soil
    • Nutrient cycles
    • Fertilization
    • Natural inputs
    • organic pest management
    • Plant health
    • Adapting to climate change
    • Agroforestry
  • The role of animals in organic farming systems
    • Organic farming systems: animal husbandry and crops go hand in hand
    • Livestock management (all topics related to animal husbandry techniques)
    • Animal welfare
  • Organic farming loves biodiversity1:
    • Cultivating biodiversity: organic seeds, organic animals, organic agroforestry, etc.
    • Wild biodiversity: organic farming practices favourable to biodiversity
  • Climate & water friendly approaches in organic farming

1(International Union for Conservation of Nature) IUCN World Congress 2020, Marseille (FR) 11-19 June 2020

  • On the farm:
    • Access to reproductive materials (seeds, animal semen, etc.)
    • Finance: access to credit, alternative economies, etc.
    • Farmers cooperation initiatives
    • And other examples of farmers' initiatives favourable to autonomy on the farm.
  • In the market:
    • Farmers access to the market
    • Farmers' shops
    • Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGS)
    • Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)
    • Other examples of alternatives of alternatives to competition at the market.
  • Gender balance: the role and place of women in organic farming (farm, farmer organisations, etc.)
  • Generation renewal: how organic farming can attract new and/or young farmers, the role and place of youth
  • Farmers & machines/new technologies relation
  • Worker’s rights: organic farming beyond the common standards
  • Other examples of farmers' best practices on a more social approach
Theme 4: Advisory services: How to Take Part in Changing the Agricultural Model
  • Working with organic farmers: the role of advisory services in organic farming
  • Farmers’ groups and collectives: the role of farmers' groups and collectives advising on the transition to organic farming
  • Farmers Empowerment: role and mission of farming advisors in enhancing farmers autonomy and empowerment across the value chain.
  • Social dimension: the role of advisors working to empower farmers on social issues

Forum Board

  • Simon Carraz (Nature et Progrès, France)
  • Famara Diedhiou (FENAB & INOFO Africa Convenor, Senegal)
  • Jean-Michel Florin (MABD, France)
  • Yves Jan (FNAB, France)
  • Isabella Lang (IFOAM EU Group)
  • Louise Luttikholt (IFOAM - Organics International)
  • Fiona Marty (FNAB, France)
  • Sebastian Mittermaier (Naturland & INOFO Europe Convenor, Germany)
  • Shamika Mone (OFAI & INOFO Asia Convenor, India)
  • Thales Bevilacqua Mendonça (INOFO Latin America Convenor, Brazil)
Important Information

Submission Guidelines
Please read the submission guidelines before proceeding to the online submission platform.


Please note that for the Farmers Forum priority will be given to farmers over farming advisors.

Language:
Contributions must be submitted in English, French or Spanish.

Application Process:
All presentations must be submitted via this online platform following the provided format.

Science Forum

From its roots, organic inspires science, and vice versa.

Forum Objectives

The scientific roots of organic systems are anchored in the four principles of IFOAM – Organics International: ecology, health, fairness, and care. Scientific skills are needed for the continuous improvement of organic food, systems, and culture.

More than 280 papers were selected from 320+ submissions. This Forum invites researchers to share their work in the following five themes, with a special focus on interdisciplinary research:

Forum Themes

The development of healthy organic systems needs to be addressed with ecologically sound approaches and at various scales (plot/herd, farm, and landscape). Health management, in a broad sense, can be designed at each of these scales with specific methods, but also by taking advantage of ecosystem services. Managing health also means growing systems autonomy and resilience to increase constraints and uncertainties (climate change, resource scarcity, emerging diseases, market volatility).

Related topics:

  • Approaches linking soil, plant, animal, human, and ecosystem health
  • Animal or plant health management: new approaches and methods, their design and assessment
  • Influence of organic food consumption on animal and human health
  • Pathogen-host interactions and pathogen diffusion, prevention and control in organic systems in soil, plant and animal science
  • Exploring genetic resources, new selection, and management strategies
  • Enhancing biodiversity in organic agriculture
  • Systems design: cropping and/or husbandry systems, farm arrangements, landscape patterns
  • Questions related to coexistence with non-organic systems

One of the key objectives of organic agriculture is to produce food with high nutritional quality in sufficient quantities without compromising biotic and abiotic resources. The expectation of higher quality is a core motive for consumers in purchasing organic products. This quality, however, is dependent on appropriate management and can be compromised if best practices are not adopted.

Related topics:

  • Food processing with care, high food quality, and consumer health.
  • Consumer perception of organic products at different levels, and types of processing.
  • Strategies to increase the level of nutrition in the organic crops
  • Methods to ensure complete traceability of organic products and high quality in food chains.
  • Approaches to reduce contaminations of organic products (e.g. pesticides, mycotoxins, pathogens, GMOs)
  • Quality of non-food organic products: cosmetics and textiles

The transition to more sustainable food and farming systems needs to be implemented by a broad and diverse range of people. It concerns stakeholders engaged in an ongoing evolutionary process of transforming land, agroecosystems, territories, and food systems based on “Sustainable Development Goals” across different scales.

Consumers also have an important role to play, as they have the power to support transitions by their food choices and diets. Citizens can be co-designers of new agroecological food and farming systems.

Related topics:

  • Prospective studies and scenarios of future sustainable food and non-food models at different scales
  • The redesign of food production systems based on ecological principles and natural processes
  • Connections for producers and consumers to support a socio-ecological transformation of food systems
  • Deeper and wider transformation of context and society through action learning approaches as well as knowledge co-creation and sharing
  • Sustainability assessments with the following indicators: productivity, environmental, economic, social dimensions of agriculture and food systems
  • Reducing the use of inputs by improving systems’ efficiencies, replacing external inputs with more sustainable ones, and/or the redesign of production systems
  • Organic from cradle to cradle: solutions for an organic circular economy
Theme 4: Innovation in Organic Farming: “Thinking Outside of the Box”

Organic farming favours and needs innovation to push forward its goals while preserving its principles and identity. Innovations are not only technical or biological but also socio-economical. This triangle of innovation allowed the organic sector to find specific, original, and, until now, successful pathways from food production to consumption. Nevertheless, the future global challenges are severe. “Thinking outside of the box” of today’s regulations, practices and markets is necessary to develop circular and stable organic food systems and to achieve the goals of organic farming: enough, high-quality and affordable food for everyone while maximizing environmental services and equitable social conditions throughout the value chains (cf. Organic 3.0). At the same time, with regard to the organic principles, the impact of new technology and innovation also needs to be assessed.

Related topics:

  • Digital and non-digital strategies
  • Robots in the fields to manage weeds and fertilizers
  • New strategies for biodiversity management, soil fertility and/or water saving
  • New production systems promoting mineral cycling and autonomy
  • Alternative food sources and production techniques
  • Innovation for reducing food and packaging waste
  • Socio-economic experiments such as “free food” systems and community-supported agriculture
  • Innovation and new technologies’ impact assessment.

The organic sector relies on values and principles to guide its evolution and growth. Therefore, relevant regulations and processes are needed as socio-economic frameworks. Public and private policies influence these two pillars, principles, and regulations. They also influence the development of the organic sector through potential support and facilitation as well as through the organization and agreements on trade. These policies, along with the economic choices made by private companies, can represent hindrances or foster opportunities for the sector’s development.

Related topics:

  • The analysis of public or private policies, economic choices, and their impact on the organic sector
  • Mechanisms of price determination and added-value distribution along the organic value-chain, in relation to transparency, fairness, and equity
  • Coexistence of the organic sector with the non-organic, whether conventional or other value-oriented, sectors like “fair-trade”
  • Understanding the role of policy and market factors in conversion and reversion of organic farmers and consumers
  • Contribution of organic farming to public goods.

Science Board

  • Prof Dr Gerold Rahmann (ISOFAR, Thünen-Institute, Germany)
  • Dr Daniel Neuhoff (ISOFAR, University of Bonn, Germany)
  • Prof Dr Reza Ardakani (ISOFAR, Azad University, Iran)
  • Dr Jessica Shade (ISOFAR,The Organic Center, USA)
  • Prof Dr Ewa Rembiałkowska (ISOFAR, WULS, Poland)
  • Dr Khalid Azim (ISOFAR, INRA-Agadir, Morocco)
  • Dr Marc Tchamitchian (INRA, France)
  • Dr Véronique Chable (INRA, France)
  • Dr Felix Heckendorn (FiBL, Switzerland / France)
  • Dr Paola Migliorini (Agroecology Europe, Italy)
  • Dr Bram Moeskops (TP Organics, Belgium)
  • Frédéric Rey (ITAB / OWC2020 Coordinator, France)
Important Information

Submission Guidelines
Please read the submission guidelines before proceeding to the online submission platform.


Deadline:
You can submit your paper until 21 October 2019, 23:59 CET. All presentations must be submitted via the online platform.

Format:
You can apply for an oral presentation or for a poster presentation.

Language:
Papers must be submitted in English.

Supply & Value Chain Forum

Forum Objectives

The global demand of organic food and non-food products has grown continuously these past years. Despite substantial variations between countries, organic agriculture has never been so important. IFOAM members can welcome this hopeful trend as long as that holds true to IFOAM principles (health, ecology, fairness and care) and respects these principles in a holistic approach. This forum will give supply and value chain actors, from producers to consumers, the opportunity to share inspiring and transformational experiences as well as innovative initiatives to further develop organic food and non-food supply chains.

The forum seeks to put forward tools, actions, interactions, innovations, models, and policies that can answer the following issues:

  • How do we make healthy quality food and non-food products?
  • How can we make supply chains (food and non-food) more sustainable?
  • How can we ensure that organic supply chains will keep delivering public goods to society (e.g. mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, increase diversity)?
  • How do we keep/improve fairness in organic value chains as organic goes from a niche market to a mainstream market?
  • How should we accompany the transition from conventional to organic? Guide the up-, deep- and out-scaling of organic agriculture and value chains.

Forum Themes

Contributions will cover, but not be limited to:

  • Smarter use of common resources and energy: water, air, soil, minerals, and other raw materials, genetic resources
  • Preserving and enhancing biodiversity
  • Reducing pollution and waste
  • Local experiences of circular economy
  • More sustainable packaging
  • Use of more natural, organic, and recycled fibers (for textile supply chains)
  • Use of appropriate technologies aligning with IFOAM principles, including elements of green chemistry for cosmetics and eco-products, robotics, internet of things, information systems, and low-tech processing

Contributions will cover, but not be limited to:

  • Processes to reach healthy composition (e.g.: food: sugar, salt, nutritional quality, vitality) and good taste.
  • Alternatives to innovations or existing processes that are detrimental to the quality of the product
  • Innovations to cope with specificities, constraints, and technical particularities of organic raw materials (different types and varieties, variable quantities, and greater diversity of sources and types of ingredients)

This forum will place particular value on contributions that highlight replicable and scalable model alternatives to a path of “conventionalisation” for the organic model and respect the principle of fairness.

Contributions will cover, but not be limited to:

  • Programs, initiatives, and actions that aim to increase value sharing along supply chains and improve working conditions
    • Fair trade or corporate social responsibility standards
    • Experience with developing new business models
    • Examples of full cost accounting in action
  • Experience that contributes to improving the balance of relations between value chain actors
    • Role of long-term partnerships and contracts
    • Role of local markets, short food channels, articulation of longer supply chains
    • Greater involvement of all value chain participants, including consumers

How do we build sustainable supply chains to meet the increasing demand for organic products? How do we develop markets and increase access for all consumers?

Contributions will cover, but not be limited to:

  • Connecting downstream actors (including restaurants, private/public catering) with upstream actors in and across countries
  • Supporting systems for producers to ensure product quality
  • Transferring technologies and innovations
  • Fostering sustainable innovations by and within cities. Beyond food: exploring educational and social dimensions of urban (agri)cultures.
  • Preserving biodiversity (rare, endangered, umbrella species) in supply chains

Contributions will cover, but not be limited to:

  • Roles, positions, and impacts of public regulation and private standards
  • Evolution of organic public standards
  • Role of standards to support the transition towards organic
  • Competition between “sustainable” and organic standards
  • Plurality of guarantee systems to ensure integrity
Theme 6: Developing pro-organic policies for value and supply chains

Contributions will cover, but not be limited to:

  • Experience in supporting policies (food policy as well as agricultural policy)
    • Examples of regulations currently enforced or being developed (advantages and disadvantages)
  • Other incentives to generate a market
    • Communication, training, and investments
    • Role of field actors: local authorities and communities

Forum Board

  • Charles Pernin (SYNABIO, France)
  • Flavio Paoletti (Council for Agricultural Research and Agricultural Economy Analysis, Italy)
  • Michel Reynaud (ECOCERT, Germany)
  • Jean-Pierre Anglade (Nature & Progrès, France)
  • David Gould (Food Chain ID, USA)
  • Fiona Marty (FNAB, France)
  • Rodolphe Vidal (ITAB, France)
  • Eduardo Cuoco (IFOAM EU, Belgium)
  • Eric Gall (IFOAM EU, Belgium)
  • Erinch SAHAN (WFTO, Netherlands)
  • Jennifer Vidal (ECOCERT, France)
Important Information

Submission Guidelines
Please read the submission guidelines before proceeding to the online submission platform.

Deadline:
All contributions must be submitted via the online platform by October 21, 2019.

Culture & Education Forum

From its roots, organic inspires all dimensions of life, beginning with the cultural, philosophical, and spiritual aspects that motivated us to respect the planet and its living beings.

Forum Objectives

The Culture, Education, Training and Philosophy Forum will use dialogue to build and convey a common understanding of the fundamentals of the organic sector. We invite all citizens of goodwill to share any contributions framing the philosophical and spiritual foundations of organic movements. These contributions and your participation in our forum will help us deliver an inspirational message of sustainable growth to organic and likeminded stakeholders at OWC2021.

Anchored in these organic roots, we also invite trainers and educators to share their experience disseminating the message of sustainable, organic farming as well as their work in empowering farmers and citizens to find organic solutions for the world’s environmental and social challenges.

Session Set-Up

  • Full-length speeches (20-30 minutes) for culture, philosophy, and/or spirituality
  • Short speeches (12-15 minutes)
  • ‘Fish Bowl’ panel discussions with four contributors. Each contributor will provide two PPT slides.
  • One poster session on education

Forum Session Themes

The forum will feature three parallel sessions covering the following themes:

Around the world, organic movements are united by their common will to respect life. When life is threatened, how do we express and transmit a message that 1) invites people to recognize the nature of life in a way that aligns with the initial and complementary messages of organic pioneers; and 2) touches all citizens immersed in materialistic cultures.

The historical evolution of life sciences has modified our cultural environment. Our farming practices and relationships with living beings have been heavily influenced by the evolution of scientific paradigms, reducing life expression to its materiality. For the future, how can organic movements help connect citizens to living beings and life? Moreover, how can organic movements harness their intuition regarding the sacredness of life to help people stay connected to it (life)?

  • Lifelong learning: teaching fundamental organic values and practices from kindergarten to university;
  • Providing adult education and training for many, including farmers, consumers, rural service providers, and community leaders
  • Exploring the spiritual dimensions of life by analysing sensorial approaches and connectedness to the earth.
  • Diversifying teaching materials and ways to use resources
  • Knowledge management: creating networks of trainers, tools and managing organisational aspects;
  • Fostering social activities to disseminate organic initiatives.

Forum Board

  • Véronique Chable (INRA, France)
  • Sophie Valleix (ABioDoc-VetAgro Sup, France)
  • Bernard Schmitt (MABD, France)
  • Patricia Flores (IFOAM - Organics International)
  • Jean-Michel Florin (Goetheanum, Swiss)
  • Gauthier Chapelle (Biomimicry, Belgium)
Important Information

Submission Guidelines
Please read the submission guidelines before proceeding to the online submission platform.

Deadline:
All contributions must be submitted via the online platform by October 21, 2019.

Stakeholder Forum

This forum aims to promote exchange between all the stakeholders dedicated to organic development and innovation.

Forum Objectives

The forum will convene with these stakeholders, taking the full diversity of actors into consideration, for exchange and to contribute to increasing the understanding of the various actors and perspectives present within organic food systems.

This forum seeks to:

  • Present past success stories or ongoing projects that highlight or promote effective collaboration between stakeholders
  • Debate controversial topics with divergent visions
  • Provide a space for exchange utilizing participatory meeting methods
  • Value multi-actor approaches (systemic, transdisciplinary)

Forum Set-Up

Forum sessions will last between 45 and 90 minutes and include 12 to 50 participants.

To facilitate stakeholder engagement, sessions will implement creative and inclusive methods for interaction and exchange. Methods will facilitate interaction as well as inclusivity by promoting access to all types of actors. Stories highlighting successes as well as challenges and difficulties will be presented.

Forum Themes

  • Inspire people to take action and move toward sustainability
  • Guide the growth of the organic sector
  • Develop sustainable and organic plant and animal production as well as food and non-food systems
  • Adapt to climate change and reduce the carbon footprint
  • Foster biodiversity at multiple scales
  • Commit to the health of soil, food, people, and the planet

Contributions will cover, but not be limited to: organic plant breeding impacts to the value chain and cultivated biodiversity, participatory approaches to define research, development and innovation challenges, amplifying organic experiences, forms of interconnections and respective responsibilities among organic value chains and food systems, contributions of organic values and dynamics to the multiple dimensions of the “health nexus”, confronting views on the position of animals in organic systems.

Forum Board

  • Vianney Le Pichon (ITAB, France)
  • Stéphane Bellon (INRA, France)
  • Philippe Baret (UCL, Belgium)
  • Pauline Verrière (IFOAM EU group, Belgium)
  • Fiona Marty (FNAB, France)
  • Paola Migliorini (Agroecology Europe, Italy)
  • Charles Pernin (SYNABIO, France)
  • Louise Luttikholt (IFOAM - Organics International, Germany)
  • Santiago Sarandon (SOCLA, South America)
  • Million Belay (AFSA, Africa)
  • Jennifer Chang (ALGOA, Asia)
  • Judith Hitchman / Jocelyn Parot (Urgenci, France)
Important Information

Submission Guidelines
Please read the submission guidelines before proceeding to the online submission platform.

Deadline:
All contributions must be submitted via the online platform by October 21, 2019.

Workshops

Workshops are:

  • A 90 min. slot during OWC main Conference (8-10 Sept 2021).
  • Proposed and organised by an Organic Stakeholder, by contracting with the OWC Organisers.
  • Within the Congress Center, Le Couvent des Jacobins, Rennes, France.
  • Included and visible on the OWC programme.
  • Dealing with a topic relevant for the Organic sector and in line with the congress’ objectives and themes.
  • Dealing with a topic and/or a public in a complementary way than the various OWC Forums.

Please note that:

  • You can submit your contribution until the 21st of October, 23:59 (CET), by email to workshop@owc.bio (after this deadline, no contribution with be accepted).
  • The OWC Organisers will select maximum 20 Workshops (in total).
  • Applicants will get a response in October 2019 and may be asked to provide additional information.

For selected Workshops:

  • Workshop organisers will be charged 400€ per workshop (all taxes included)
  • Workshop organisers will organise the Workshop and will cover the related organisation costs (e.g. working time, edition costs, travel costs, invited speakers, sponsoring).
  • The meeting room will be provided the OWC organisers.
  • Participants to Workshops will have to register to the OWC.

NB. For further questions, please contact workshop@owc.bio

Important Information

The application deadline for workshops has passed.

Pre-Conferences

Pre-conferences are:

  • A 1 or 2 days events (6-7 Sept.2021), before the OWC main Conference (23-25 Sept 2020).
  • Proposed and organised by an Organic Stakeholder, by contracting with the OWC Organisers.
  • Dealing with a topic relevant for the Organic sector and in line with the congress’ objectives and themes.
  • Dealing with a topic in a complementary way than the various OWC Forums.
  • Addressing stakeholders from all over the world and not a country or a region only.
  • Organised in Rennes, France, in a place proposed by OWC Organisers.
  • Included and visible on the OWC programme.

Please note that:

  • The deadline for pre-conference applications is now over.
  • The OWC Organisers will select maximum 10 Pre-Conferences (in total).
  • Applicants will get a response in August 2019 and may be asked to provide additional information.

For selected Pre-Conferences:

  • Pre-Conference organisers will organise the Pre-Conference and will cover the related organisation costs (e.g. working time, edition costs, flyer, proceedings, travel costs, invited speakers, sponsoring).
  • Costs for meeting room facilities and lunch for participants’ registered will be covered by the OWC Organisers.
  • Participants to Pre-Conferences will have to register to the OWC and to the Pre-Conference on the conference website: https://owc.ifoam.bio/2020
  • There will be a fee for the Pre-Conference participants to cover their lunch and the meeting room costs.
Important Information

The deadline for pre-conference applications is now over

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