The fourth round of the Interdisciplinary Academy (IDA) at SLU starts on September 1, 2025. Two groups of five researchers each will spend eight months delving into and exploring interdisciplinary working methods during 20% of their working time.
Projects and participants are:
Exploring Agroecological Practices in Swedish Dairy Farming with an Interdisciplinary Approach
- Nina Lind Ranneberg, Department of Economics
- Lisa Ekman, Department of Clinical Sciences
- Johan Karlsson, Department of Energy and Technology
- Brian Kuns, Department of Urban and Rural Development
- Thomas Slijpe, Department of Economics
Climate shock impact assessment in the longue durée: agriculture, soils, and society
- Matthew J Jacobson, Department of Urban and Rural Development
- Parisa Norouzitallab, Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare
- Katharina Meurer, Department of Soil and Environment
- Erika Cristina Francisco, Department of Energy and Technology
- Bengt-Ove Rustas, Department of Applied Animal Science and Welfare
The first project (Exploring Agroecological Practices in Swedish Dairy Farming with an Interdisciplinary Approach) investigates the benefits of adopting agroecological practices for the Swedish food system using an interdisciplinary approach, with a focus on the dairy sector. The group combines expertise in agrarian history, food systems research, natural sciences, social-ecological resilience theory, veterinary sciences, economics, and social sciences. The food systems approach extends beyond food production to encompass the entire agri-food system, from production to consumption and everything in between. From the producer’s perspective, we study the ongoing trend of considerably fewer but larger and more specialised farms in relation to agroecology. From the consumer’s perspective, we acknowledge trends in declining fresh milk consumption, while cheese consumption has increased. Agroecological principles of basing production and consumption on local resources has implications for both of these trends.
The second project (Climate shock impact assessment in the longue durée: agriculture, soils, and society) aims to assess the impacts of climate shocks in Sweden by examining both historical and contemporary datasets, with Skåne as a case study. By integrating a diverse range of datasets – detailing the climate, cereal agriculture, soils, animal husbandry, natural environment, and socio-economic systems – the aim is to understand how agricultural systems respond to and are influenced by climate extremes, and how these interactions have contributed to societal impacts in the selected location. The novelty of the project comes from the long-term perspective (longue durée) that will be adopted, which enables the exploration of multiple diverse climate shocks and identify patterns in the responses to these events, and how this contributes to the multi-generational sustainability and resilience of a community. Through this approach, a better understanding of the events themselves and insights for current and future adaptation strategies in the face of increasing risk of climate shocks will be gained.