University of Tasmania, Australia

Regional Food Futures: New Directions for Australia’s ‘Food Bowls’

A key challenge for the 21^st century is to ensure the survival and prosperity of the world’s food producing regions.  While food production relies on soils, water, nutrients and technology, equally it relies on human organisation, skills, and ingenuity. As consumer demands and preferences shift and the physical and policy landscapes change, what are the emerging opportunities for food producing regions to move away from a traditional agricultural commodity frame and seek to create more sustainable and prosperous food industries? As part of the Institute for Regional Development’s research program on Regional Food, PhD project applications are welcome on any of the following topics:

• Sustainability Technologies
• Value Adding Through Micro and Small Enterprise Development
• Peri-Urban Land-Use Change
• Farmers Markets and Local Food Systems
• Regional Food Policy

Each project will explore the social, cultural, economic and environmental contexts of food production and marketing, and seek to inform the future development of industries and communities in food-producing regions.