Talk: Qu’est-ce que des réseaux d’acteurs basés sur des valeurs communes et la territorialité peuvent apporter pour une alimentation durable?
September 2022
At the Webinaire of the Interreg project FRUGAL: La mise en réseau pour une meilleure gestion des pertes, surplus et invendus alimentaires, Dr. Rachel Reckinger presented a paper about the role of actor networks based on common values and territoriality in sustainable food transitions.
LUCA documentary screening: “Kiss the Ground”
Friday 1st April 2022 at 18:30
Dr. Rachel Reckinger was invited to speak at a film screening of ‘Kiss The Ground’ organised by the Luxembourg Centre for Architecture (LUCA). ‘Released in September of 2020 on Netflix, Kiss the Ground the movie narrated by Woody Harrelson is a full-length documentary shedding light on a “new, old approach” to farming called regenerative agriculture, a practice with the extraordinary ability to balance our climate and feed the world’ (Kiss the Ground website). After the screening, Dr Rachel Reckinger (Sustainable Food Practices at the University of Luxembourg) and Philippe Nathan (architect and founder of the company 2001) discussed themes raised in the documentary with each other and the audience. This included salient points regarding agroecology and just transitions.
Lecture: “Was haben mein Tofu-Burger und mein Rindersteak mit dem Klima zu tun?”
Wednesday 2nd February 2022 from 18:00 – 20:00
Dr. Rachel Reckinger gave a lecture titled ‘Was haben mein Tofu-Burger und mein Rindersteak mit dem Klima zu tun?’ (What do my tofu burger and beef steak have to do with the climate?) at the University of Trier’s Lectures for Future. The event was both online and in-person. To see more about the lecture and to watch the recording, click more.
Workshop: “Food Systems Visualisation”
Friday 18th June 2021 from 13:30 – 14:20
The Sustainable Food Practices Team ran a workshop and talk as part of Ernährung & Demokratie. The talk showed how visual tools like infographics are useful for depicting the complexity of food systems while taking into account involved actors’ practices and dynamics. Such infographics can contribute to increase and improve the capacity to grasp and work with diversity, inequity and multiperspectivity typical of food systems. To read more about the workshop and the full event, click more.
Roundtable: “17 Global Goals: Wou steet Lëtzebuerg?” (“17 Global Goals: Where does Luxembourg stand?”)
Wednesday 21st April 2020 from 19:30 – 21:00
Dr. Rachel Reckinger participated in this roundtable – the first event held by the newly founded Société Luxembourgeoise de Géographie (The Luxembourgish Geographical Society). The goal of the roundtable was to discuss where Luxembourg stands with reference to the United Nations’ 17 Sustainable Development Goals, to highlight how Luxembourg may be progressing to meet them, and where the country may still have work to do to meet the goals. To see more about the event and its participants click more.
Spring meetings: Approvisionnement Régional Organisé pour une Meilleure Alimentation (AROMA)
16th February 2021 – ‘Quels impacts environnementaux, sociaux et économiques des systèmes d’alimentation durable ?’
29th March 2021 – ‘Comment mieux acheter responsable en respectant les marchés publics ?’
19th April 2021 – ‘Les défis d’une alimentation durable en Grande Région : qu’appelle-t-on produits de qualité ?’
25th May 2021 – ‘Comment vendre à la restauration hors domicile en Grande Région ? Quelles sont les règles à connaître ?’
Throughout the spring of 2021, the Interreg project AROMA (Approvisionnement Régional Organisé pour une Meilleure Alimentation) organised 4 online meetings. The Sustainable Food Practices team cooperates with the AROMA project. Its goal is to improve the supply of local, quality foodstuffs in out-of-home catering in the Greater Region. To read about the events, click more.
INFINO Conference: “How to build a resilient and sustainable food system?”
Tuesday 9th March 2021 from 17:30 – 19:30
Dr. Rachel Reckinger participated in the Infino (Initiativ fir Nohaltegkeet – Initiative for sustainable development) online conference: Towards a resilient and sustainable food system. The event was in collaboration with the University of Luxembourg and the Council for Sustainable Development (Nohaltegkeetsrot) with the support of the Œuvre Nationale de Secours Grande-Duchesse Charlotte.
Dr. Reckinger presented pathways for a sustainable food system transition with particular focus on the collaborative tool of a Food Policy Council. She also presented the first empirical results of a survey regarding such a Food Policy Council for Luxembourg.
ESA conference: “Competitive claims on sustainability politics within citizen multi-stakeholderism. Negotiations among prefigurative Civic Food Networks and established Local Food Systems”
26th-29th August 2020
Dr. Rachel Reckinger participated in the European Sociological Association’s (ESA) online midterm meeting of the Research Network of Sociology of Consumption on the topic of ‘Citizenship and Consumption – All Powerful, all-powerless?’. Her presentation was titled ‘Competitive claims on sustainability politics within citizen multi-stakeholderism. Negotiations among prefigurative Civic Food Networks and established Local Food Systems’
Webinar: “Food Supply Chains and Safety: Impact of Covid-19 and Aftermath”
Wednesday 24th June 2020 from 17:00 – 18:00
In this webinar, Dr. Rachel Reckinger, Jack A. Bobo (CEO of Futurity) and Georges Eischen (CEO of La Provençale) discussed the impact of Covid-19 on food supply chains and safety. The event was organised by the Luxembourg Centre for Logistics and Supply Chain Management (LCL).
Resilience Café: “How resilient is Luxembourg’s food system?”
Thursday 16th April 2020
In this second Resilience Café session on 16 April 2020, Dr. Rachel Reckinger, researcher on sustainable food practices at the University of Luxembourg, guided us through a number of essential questions, with a specific focus on the Luxembourg food system. What is the impact of the Covid-19 induced stress test, to our society as a whole, on our understanding of our food system’s vulnerability and resourcefulness? The Café sessions are hosted by the Centre for Ecological Learning Luxembourg (CELL). Watch the recording of the presentation and read a summary of the event by clicking on more.
“Hochwertiges, nachhaltiges und regionales Essen für alle! Einen Ernährungsrat für Luxemburg gemeinsam gestalten” (“High Quality, Sustainable and Regional Food for Everyone! Shaping a Food Policy Council for Luxembourg together”)
November 2019
Dr. Rachel Reckinger presented the concept of Food Policy Councils as multi-stakeholder-platforms for a sustainable, collaborative change in agrifood systems. She showed examples of several existing, regional or local Food Policy Councils in the neighbouring countries and discussed theoretical and practical implications that some fundamental questions around these platforms’ varying structures entail. The goal is to facilitate the future orientation of such a future Food Policy Council in Luxembourg, as the first one worldwide to be situated at a national level
5th Bio-Symposium (Organic Symposium): “True Cost Accounting”
Wednesday 13th November 2019
Dr. Rachel Reckinger attended the fifth Luxembourgish Bio-Symposium on the topic of ‘True Cost Accounting’, or the true cost of food.
October Days for Sustainable Development 2019
Thursday 17th October 2019
Dr. Rachel Reckinger attended the fifth session of October Days for Sustainable Development. The 2019 conference explored initiatives contributing to achieving Sustainable Development Goals 11 and 12 (Sustainable cities and Communities; Responsible Consumption and Production).
AROMA meetings: “Structuration de l’approvisionnement de la restauration hors domicile (RHD) en produits alimentaires de qualité et de proximité”
Thursday 17th October 2019
Tuesday 22nd October 2019
Tuesday 5th November 2019
Dr. Rachel Reckinger attended the ‘Rencontres Grande Région AROMA’, one of the annual meetings organised for participants in the AROMA project.
Conference: “Ambivalences in the Governmentality of Alternative Food Networks: convenience, social selectivity and marketability”
25th – 28th June 2019
Dr. Rachel Reckinger presented her paper ‘Ambivalences in the Governmentality of Alternative Food Networks : Convenience, Social Selectivity and Marketability’ at the XXVIII European Society for Rural Sociology Conference in Trondheim, Norway. The conference theme was Rural Futures in a Complex World.
XXVIII European Society for Rural Sociology Conference in Trondheim, Norway: “Rural Futures in a Complex World” – organization of three sessions
25th – 28th June 2019
Dr. Rachel Reckinger, Dr. Gusztav Nemes and Dr. Veronika Lajos co-organised three sessions at the XXVIII European Society for Rural Sociology Conference in Trondheim, Norway: ‘Rural Futures in a Complex World on the topic of ‘Benefits, challenges, social learning and controversies around Local Food Systems’.
Conference: “Towards a Common Food Policy in Europe?”
Wednesday 8th May 2019
Dr. Rachel Reckinger attended the interactive conference ‘Towards a Common Food Policy in Europe?’ (‘Vers une politique alimentaire commune en Europe’) organised by Slow Food Luxembourg and Meng Landwirtschaft. The event follows the International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems’ (iPES) call for a EU level Common Food Policy with a focus on sustainability.
Conference: “The top-down diffusion process of agroecological practices within farmer groups in Bilanga, Burkina Faso: barriers to agroecological knowledge creation?”
27th – 30th April 2019
Dr. Diane Kapgen presented the paper ‘The top-down diffusion process of agroecological practices within farmer groups in Bilanga, Burkina Faso: barriers to agroecological knowledge creation?’ at the Royal Geographical Society and the Institute of British Geographers Annual International Conference on the topic of Geographies of Trouble/ Geographies of Hope.
Urban Farming National Strategy
December 2018
In December of 2018 Dr. Rachel Reckinger was approached by Nicolas Zita and Bruno Renders from Neobuild SA, to take part in a work group looking at a National Strategy for Urban Farming.
4th Bio-Symposium (“Organic Symposium”)
Thursday 15th November 2018
Dr. Rachel Reckinger attended the fourth annual Bio-Symposium (Organic Symposium), organised by Bio-Lëtzebuerg, at the Centre Polyvalent « A Schommesch », Oberanven. The topic was ‘Ökologische Resilienz: Wie gestalten wir die Zukunft der Landwirtschaft in Zeiten Ökologischer une Ökonomischer Zwänge’ (Ecological resilience: How do we shape the future of agriculture in times of ecological and economic constraints). Speakers at the event included Jan Plagge, Änder Schank and Johannes Gutmann, and the event moderator was Camille Ney.
Lunch Debate: Sustainable Food Practices
Wednesday 3th October 2018
The University of Luxembourg Multidisciplinary Area of Research in Sustainability (MARS) and Caritas Luxembourg organised a lunch debate on the topic of Sustainable Food Practices. Dr. Rachel Reckinger gave a lecture about ‘Alternative Food Networks in Luxembourg’s Foodscape’.
European Sociological Association Mid-term Conference: “Consumption and Consumerism: Conceptual and Empirical Sociological Challenges”
30th August – 1st September 2018
Dr. Rachel Reckinger presented the paper ‘Contested Claims for Social and Environmental Justice. Ambivalences between Mundane and Deliberate Consumption in Alternative Food Networks’ at the European Sociological Associations Mid-term Conference. The event was organised by the Research Network of Sociology of Consumption European Sociological Association and took place in Copenhagen.
‘Présentation de l’Avant-projet de Plan National pour un Développement Durable’
Thursday 27th September 2018
Team members attended the presentation of the national plan for sustainable development (Présentation du projet de Plan National pour un Développement Durable), organised by the ministre de l’Environnement, Carole Dieschbourg, the ministre des Finances, Pierre Gramegna, and the ministre de la Coopération et de l’Aide humanitaire, Romain Schneider.
Organisation of a session at the 4th International Convention of the History and Cultures of Food
7th – 8th June 2018
Dr. Rachel Reckinger and Dr. Stefan Wahlen co-organised the session ‘Foodscapes in Transition: Policies and Politics Advancing Sustainable Development and Social Justice’ at the 4th International Convention of the History and Cultures of Food. The event itself is organised by the European Institute for the History and Cultures of Food (IEHCA).
Presentation: “Alternative Actors in the Foodscape: Enabling Policies and Politics of Contested Claims for Social and Environmental Justice”
7th – 8th June 2018
Dr. Rachel Reckinger presented her paper ‘Alternative Actors in the Foodscape: Enabling Policies and Politics of Contested Claims for Social and Environmental Justice’ at the 4th International Convention of the History and Cultures of Food. The event is organised by the (European Institute for the History and Cultures of Food (IEHCA).
EU Food and Farming Forum (EU3F)
29th – 30th May 2018
Dr. Rachel Reckinger attended the EU Food and Farming Forum (EU3F) in Brussels, alongside over 250 people, to discuss the need for an EU Common Food Policy ‘a policy comprehensive enough to bring together the different sectoral policies that affect food production, processing, distribution, and consumption, refocusing all actions on the transition to sustainability’ (iPES FOOD).
Transition Days 2018: Our Food our Future
9th – 10th March 2018
Dr. Rachel Reckinger participated in the conference ‘Our Food for Future: de quelle Transition Alimentaire avons-nous besoin?’ as part of Transition Days. The Transition Days weekend functioned as a laboratory, and brought together citizen consumers, farmers, researchers, entrepreneurs, associations and media to reflect on different ways of producing and consuming.
Food Summit 2018
6th Feburary 2018
Team members attended Luxembourg’s second Food Summit, hosted by the Ministère de l’Agriculture, de la Viticulture et de la Protection des Consommateurs and Farvest Luxembourg. Speakers included: Fernand Etgen, Thomas Murer, Yann Castano, David Blondiau, Arnaud Cruypenninck, Annick Tholl (Luxlait), Marine Lefebvre (SOS Faim), Jeanne Bormann (ASTA), Jan Schneidewind, Marie Fiers (Urbanleaf), Grégory Nain (Data Things), Yves Radelet, David Koensgen (Elior Luxembourg), Fabrizio Rosellini (Leopard Natural), Benita Muller & Benito Florio (RAWDISH).
Interview in Agrikultur
1st December 2017
Following the Bio-Symposium (Organic Symposium) on the 8th of November 2017, Dr. Rachel Reckinger and the other participants of the round table were interviewed for Agrikultur: Magazin für ökologische Agrar- und Esskultur in Luxemburg. The interview was titled ‘Die Bedeutung des Tieres in Landwirtschaft und Ernährung’ (The importance of animals in agriculture and nutrition).
Presentation at 8th Annual Conference of the AESOP Sustainable Food Planning Group’
14th – 15th November 2017
Dr. Rachel Reckinger presented the paper ‘Alternative Paths Towards Sustainable Localized Food Sovereignty: Convergence between Prosumers and Ethical Entrepreneurs over Time’ at the 8th Annual Conference of the AESOP Sustainable Food Planning Group on the topic of ‘Re-imagining Sustainable Food Planning, Building Resourcefulness: Food Movements, Insurgent Planning and Heterodox Economics’. The event was organised by Association of European Schools of Planning (AESOP) and the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) and took place at CAWR at Coventry University, UK.
Bio-Symposium 2017
8th November 2017
Dr. Rachel Reckinger was a speaker at the round table discussion at the third Bio-Symposium (Organic Symposium) organised by Bio-Lëtzebuerg, on the topic of ‘Die Bedeutung des Tieres in Landwirtfschaft und Ernährung’ (The importance of the animal in agriculture and nutrition). The round table discussion was moderated by Jean Stoll, and its other speakers included Fernand Etgen, Martin von Mackensen, Camille Müller, and Sarah Wiener.
October Days for Sustainable Development: SDGs and Businesses
19th – 20th October 2017
Dr. Rachel Reckinger was a speaker in the first session of the annual event, October Days for Sustainable Development, held since 2015. The event is hosted by the Multidisciplinary Area of Research on Sustainability, University of Luxembourg (MARS), and takes place at the European Investment Bank Institute. Its objective is to offer a space for analysis and commentary on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to follow up on the process of their understandings; implementation and assessment. The 2017 edition of October Days for Sustainable Development focused on SDG 12: how to ensure sustainable consumption and production, looking closely at the SDGs and Business.
‘Diet and Public Health Campaigns: Implementation and Appropriation of Nutritional Recommendations in France and Luxembourg’
30th August – 1st September 2017
Dr. Rachel Reckinger and Dr. Faustine Régnier presented their paper ‘Diet and Public Health Campaigns: Implementation and Appropriation of Nutritional Recommendations in France and Luxembourg’ at the 13th Conference of the European Sociological Association in Athens, Greece.
‘Do Public Health Campaigns have an Impact on Diet? Institutional Set-up and Everyday Appropriation of Nutritional Recommendations in France and Luxembourg’
21st – 22nd June 2017
Dr. Rachel Reckinger and Dr. Faustine Régnier, presented their paper ‘Do Public Health Campaigns Have an Impact on Diet? Institutional Set-Up and Everyday Appropriations of Nutritional Recommendations in France and Luxembourg’ at the 4th Workshop on comparative health sociology held as part of Comparing Health Across Societies (CHASE) at Ghent University.
‘Good for Me and Good for my Region: The Ambivalences of Responsible Everyday Food Literacy Between Self-Referentiality and Locavoracity’
1st June 2017
Dr. Rachel Reckinger presented the paper ‘Good for Me and Good For My Region: The Ambivalences of Responsible Everyday Food Literacy Between Self-Referentiality and Locavoracity’ at the Third Conférence Internationale d’Histoire et des Cultures d’Alimentation, held at the Université de François Rabelais in Tours, France. To read the abstract click on more.
Teaching “Einführung in die Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie”
17th May 2017
Dr. Rachel Reckinger presented ‘Von den Food Studies zur Food Literacy: Eine engagierte Reise durch die kulturanthopologische Erforschung der gesellschaftlichen Zusammenhänge des Essens’ (From Food Studies to Food Literacy: A Journey through cultural-anthropological research into the social context of food) at the ‘Einführung in die Kultur- und Sozialanthropologie’ (Introduction to cultural and social anthropology) conference organised by Elisabeth Boesen at the University of Luxembourg.
Luxembourg’s first Food Summit
7th February 2017
Luxembourg’s first Food Summit was held in 2017. Dr. Rachel Reckinger attended the now annual event, hosted by the Ministère de l’Agriculture, de la Viticulture et de la Protection des Consommateurs and the Farvest Group. The 2017 Food Summit gathered 300 actors from the agricultural sector, including farmers, caterers, wholesalers etc. The main goal of the summit was to promote local and terroir products, as well as good practices.
Lecture ‘Chez nous, les fraises ne poussent pas en hiver: Le rôle de la locavoracité dans la (re)prise de conscience de la saisonnalité des aliments’ at the conference ‘L’alimentation au fil des saisons. La saisonnalité des pratiques alimentaires’
11th January 2017
Dr. Rachel Reckinger presented the lecture ‘‘Chez nous, les fraises ne poussent pas en hiver’: Le rôle de la locavoracité dans la (re)prise de conscience de la saisonnalité des aliments’ at ‘L’alimentation au fil des saisons. La saisonnalité des pratiques alimentaires’, a conference co-organised by INRA, the Institut d’Histoire Culturelle Européenne Bronislaw Geremek, and the Université de Lorraine, and held at the Château des Lumières in Lunéville.
‘Gender and Food: From Polarization in Dietary Consumption and Kitchen Tasks to Politically Sustainable Reinterpretations’
29th November 2016
Dr. Rachel Reckinger presented a lecture on the topic ‘Gender and Food: From Polarization in Dietary Consumption and Kitchen Tasks to Politically Sustainable Reinterpretations’ as part of an interdisciplinary lecture series organised by the Gender Expert Group at the University of Luxembourg.
Find more about the event here
‘S’organiser pour manger local en grande région’
15th November 2016
Dr. Rachel Reckinger presented at the conference ‘S’organiser pour manger local en grande region: Producteurs, consommateurs, collectivités, cuisiniers… tous réunis pour manger sain et créer de l’emploi durable en respectant la planète’ (Organising ourselves to eat local in the Greater Region). The conference was organised by the Réseau préfigurateur transfrontalier pour une agriculture résiliente et une alimentation saine (Cross-border network for resilient agriculture and healthy food), and held in Villerupt.
Attendance of ‘October Days for Sustainable Development’
27th October 2016
This annual event, held since 2015, is hosted by the Multidisciplinary Area of Research on Sustainability, University of Luxembourg (MARS), and takes place at the European Investment Bank Institute. The objective of October Days for Sustainable Development is to offer a space for analysis and commentary on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and to follow up on the process of their understandings; implementation and assessment. The second edition of October Days for Sustainable Development focused on SDG 10: Reduce inequality within and among countries.
