Localized Agrifood Systems: Governance, Market, and Environmental Issues

Dear Colleagues,

During the last few decades, localized agri-food systems (LAFS, or SYAL according to the French acronym) have become increasingly important as tools for farmers, rural firms, and consumers to meet market challenges and satisfy the rising demand for “food with a farmers face”. The potential contribution of localized agri-food systems to rural development, by promoting economic development, social cohesion, and counter-acting the demographic impact of agricultural modernization, has also increased their political relevance.
Research regarding localized agri-food systems (LAFS) is dedicated to the study of various aspects of territorial agro-food organization, in which participants, stakeholders, resources, products, and landscapes are associated by the sharing of common values, habits, historical experiences that give rise to a common socio-economic basis, and a shared identity within the frame of a certain territory.
The aim of this Special Issue is, therefore, to providing empirical evidence on LAFS and enriching the academic discussion about localized agri-food systems, their role in territorial rural development processes, current opportunities, and challenges.
This Special Issue is aimed at soliciting original research and review articles that address the following issues:

•    The analysis of territories and the localization, delocalization and relocalization of agri-food economic activities and the potential of the LAFS approach to provide a vision of historical trajectories at local level
•    LAFS governance: Internal organization characteristics and collective action in LAFS, networked and multi-level coordination processes and cooperative organization of local farms, firms and institutions
•    The potential contribution of, or connection between LAFS and human and food security
•    Role and definition of origin-based quality in LAFS, protected Geographical Indications (GIs) and collective trademarks
•    Mechanisms of value creation by means of product qualification, short agri-food supply chains (including public procurement) and alternative agri-food supply chains, integration with rural tourism and heritage at a territorial level
•    Territorial strategies and public policies that promote innovation and cooperation at local scale and strengthen the territorial dimension of knowledge transfer and innovation
•    Entrepreneurship and innovative global/local solutions for new ruralities
•    Role of LAFS in the integration and renegotiation of relations between urban and rural spaces through new relations between both public and private consumers and producers
•    LAFS and the environment: Environmental challenges and local strategies developed to cope with such challenges, preserving biodiversity and cultural heritage, developing agro-ecological production systems, and strengthening circular economy approaches as a complement or alternative to the bioeconomy paradigm.
This call for paper follows the 7th International Conference on Localized Agri-Food Systems which was held in Stockholm, 8–10 May, 2016, organized by the European Research Group SYAL, the REDSIAL (Latin American Network on Localised Agri-food Systems), the Nordic Association of Agricultural Scientist NJF, and Södertörn University. The call for paper is obviously open to all contributors interested in SYAL/LAFS issues.

Dr. Paulina Rytkönen
Dr. Javier Sanz Cañada
Prof. Dr. Giovanni Belletti
Guest Editors

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• Localized agri-food systems
• Governance
• Short food supply chains
• Alternative agri-food networks
• Geographical indications
• Sustainability
• Food security
• Farm diversification
• New rurality