The International Land Use Study Centre (ILUSC) at
THE JAMES HUTTON INSTITUTE, ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND
The International Land Use Study Centre (ILUSC)
at The James Hutton Institute
in collaboration with
the European Research Group SYAL and
the RedSIAL Americana
invites submissions for the
how can localised food systems be supported and future-proofed
to thrive in the face of current and future challenges?”
In its eleventh edition, the Conference aims to provide a participatory and reflexive space that brings together academics, practitioners, policymakers, social movements, local producers and youth to collectively explore where localised agri-food systems stand today; how they are shaped by and shape their territories; and how to future-proof them in full in the context of future challenges and shocks.
Special focus & themes
Societies worldwide face significant social and economic challenges in ensuring the sustainability of its environmental systems, while at the same time making healthy and nutritious food accessible to and consumed by all. Furthermore, the unprecedented threats from climate change, combined with other disruptive events, are making agrifood systems and their related food supply chains increasingly vulnerable to extreme shocks.
While current localised agri-food systems can be part of the solution, they themselves are not immune to the many developing issues (e.g. the rise of techno-authoritarianism, state rollback, disinformation, labour shortages worsened by anti-immigration policies, the societal loss of time, poor access to land and the loss of agricultural land to other uses, cost of living crises, etc) arising from very same techno-capitalist regimen to which they are trying to provide an alternative. These crises are interrelated and multidimensional — environmental, economic, social, political and cultural — and they often intersect deeply with issues of gender, generational inequality and territorial marginalisation. As a result, the ability of localised food systems to thrive and become a sustainable part of the solution may be threatened.
How could relocalised practices & infrastructure, governance arrangements, and socio-cultural meanings that support local food systems thrive in the face of multiple current and future inter-related challenges? What are the most pressing challenges, and how can LFS be future-proofed against them?
The conference is placing special attention on discussing evidence and theory that increase our understanding of where localised food systems are now, their status in different parts of the world, and how to future-proof them. By doing so, the 11th edition of this conference seeks to strengthen dialogues across academia, policy, and civil society, and youth groups with the aim of imagining and working towards plural futures in which localised food systems can thrive and support a sustainable good food system for all.
The key thematic tracks of the XI International Conference on Localised Food Systems would therefore consist of:
Theme 1 – Mapping Territorial Trajectories of Localised Food Systems
Key sub-themes may include:
Comparative territorial analyses of LFS across regions (Global North, Global South, rural, peri-urban, urban)
- Political economies of localisation: state support, state rollback, neoliberalisation, and techno-authoritarian governance
- Land access, land concentration, land grabbing, and loss of agricultural land
- Cultural meanings of “local food” and how they differ across contexts
- The role of history, colonial legacies, and path dependencies in shaping LFS trajectories
- Mapping threats: financialisation, corporate capture, digital platforms, disinformation, and supply-chain consolidation
Guiding questions:
Under what political and institutional conditions do LFS thrive?
Where and why are LFS being marginalised or co-opted?
How do territorial inequalities shape the possibilities of relocalisation?
Theme 2 – Territorial Responses to Intersecting Crises
How are LFS responding to climate, economic, social, and governance crises—and with what outcomes? This theme track seeks to examine real-world responses, innovations, and struggles of LFS in the face of multiple, overlapping crises.
Key sub-themes may include:
- Climate adaptation and mitigation strategies in localised food systems
- Responses to labour shortages, migration restrictions, and demographic change
- Community-based responses to cost-of-living crises and food insecurity
- Governance experiments: food policy councils, municipal food strategies, commons-based governance
- Digitalisation and automation: risks and opportunities
- Crisis responses during shocks (pandemics, wars, climate extremes)
Guiding questions:
Which responses strengthen resilience, and which reproduce inequalities?
Who benefits and who is excluded from current LFS responses?
What lessons can be drawn from failures as well as successes?
Theme 3 – Valuing Localised Food Systems and Local Territories
What is the evidence of LFS contributions to sustainability, justice, and food security? This theme track centres on valuation, recognition, and evidence-building, moving beyond narrow economic metrics.
Key sub-themes may include:
- LFS contributions to resilience, agroecology, biodiversity, and ecosystem services
- LFS and the Right to Food, food sovereignty, and food democracy
- Social and cultural values: care, trust, identity, and knowledge transmission
- Gendered, generational, and Indigenous perspectives on value and contribution
- Measuring and communicating impacts: methodologies, indicators, and narratives
- Tensions between scaling up, scaling out, and staying local
Guiding questions:
How can the multiple values of LFS be made visible and politically legible?
What kinds of evidence matter to policymakers, communities, and social movements?
How do valuation frameworks risk excluding informal or marginalised food practices?
Theme 4 – Facing the Storm Ahead: Future-Proofing Localised Food Systems
How can LFS anticipate and withstand future technological, socio-political, and ecological shocks while remaining just and inclusive? This forward-looking theme track addresses anticipation, preparedness, and transformation.
Key sub-themes may include:
- Anticipating climate extremes, geopolitical instability, and supply-chain disruptions
- Technological futures: AI, automation, digital surveillance, and data governance
- Preventing corporate capture and techno-authoritarian co-optation of LFS
- Intergenerational renewal: youth participation, training, and succession
- Social justice and inclusion in future LFS transitions
- Building solidarity networks across territories and movements
Guiding questions:
What does “future-proofing” mean without sacrificing justice and sovereignty?
How can LFS remain adaptive without becoming exclusionary or elitist?
What institutional and cultural infrastructures are needed for long-term resilience?
How can technology be harnessed in ways that are supportive of sustainable, community-driven food systems rather than reinforcing centralised power structures?
What are the opportunities and challenges for integrating local knowledge with new technologies in food production, distribution, and consumption?
Deadlines & key dates
| Call launched |
| 20th January 2026 |
| Abstract submission deadline |
| 27th March 2026 |
| Notification of acceptance |
| 30th April 2026 |
| Early bird registration |
| 1st May 2026 |
| Regular registration |
| 1st June – 20th July 2026 |
| Final date for registration |
| 20th July 2026 |
| Conference dates |
| 1–4 September 2026 |
| Call launched | 20th January 2026 |
| Abstract submission deadline | 27th March 2026 |
| Notification of acceptance | 30th April 2026 |
| Early bird registration | 1st May 2026 |
| Regular registration | 1st June – 20th July 2026 |
| Final date for registration | 20th July 2026 |
| Conference dates | 1–4 September 2026 |
Registration fees
|
Student (members & non-members) |
|
| Early Bird Rate: Between 1st – 31th May 2026 |
£120 |
| Standard rate: 1st June – 20th July 2026 |
£150 |
|
Academic & practitioners from Latin America, Africa, Asia. (Members) |
|
| Early Bird Rate: Between 1st – 31th May 2026 |
£220 |
| Standard rate: 1st June – 20th July 2026 |
£240 |
|
Academic & practitioners from Latin America, Africa, Asia. (Non-members) |
|
| Early Bird Rate: Between 1st – 31th May 2026 |
£240 |
| Standard rate: 1st June – 20th July 2026 |
£260 |
|
Academic & practitioners (elsewhere) (Members) |
|
| Early Bird Rate: Between 1st – 31th May 2026 |
£420 |
| Standard rate: 1st June – 20th July 2026 |
£450 |
|
Academic & practitioners (elsewhere) (Non-members) |
|
| Early Bird Rate: Between 1st – 31th May 2026 |
£440 |
| Standard rate: 1st June – 20th July 2026 |
£470 |
| Early Bird Rate: Between 1st – 31th May 2026 |
Standard rate: 1st June – 20th July 2026 |
|
| Student (members & non-members) |
£120 | £150 |
| Academic & practitioners from Latin America, Africa, Asia. (Members) |
£220 | £240 |
| Academic & practitioners from Latin America, Africa, Asia. (Non-members) |
£240 | £260 |
| Academic & practitioners (elsewhere) (Members) |
£420 | £450 |
| Academic & practitioners (elsewhere) (Non-members) |
£440 | £470 |
Venue
THE JAMES HUTTON INSTITUTE, ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND
The James Hutton Institute is a interdisciplinary scientific research organisation based in Scotland but working in collaboration across the globe. The institute, named after Scottish geologist James Hutton, one of the leading figures of the Scottish Enlightenment, combines existing Scottish expertise in agricultural research, soils and land use, and works in fields including food and energy security, biodiversity, and climate change. With more than 600 employees, the institute is among the largest research centres in the UK.
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