FLOW Partnership

The latest issue of the FLOW Newsletter is out!
read and subscribe at: https://flowpartnership.org/news/newsletter/

Featuring a report on the FLOW Agroecology meeting at Rongo University in Migori County, Kenya, as well as news from Southern Brazil, Montreal (QC) Canada, Sri Lanka, and Veracruz State, Mexico.

PLUS recent research publications and a student-written poem (in Spanish and English) about using traditional, non-chemical farming methods to combat "The Yellow Dragon."

UNESCO Youth for Peace Programme – Applications Open!
https://www.unesco.org/en/call-applications-2026?hub=181405
Applications for the second edition of the Youth for Peace: UNESCO Intercultural Leadership Programme are open until 19 July 2026 at 23:59 CEST (Paris time).
https://www.unesco.org/en/interculturaldialogue/youthforpeace
The Youth for Peace Programme supports emerging leaders who use intercultural dialogue to foster peace, social cohesion, and inclusive community action. The second edition focuses on the theme "Human Connection and Dialogue in the Age of AI."
Full details and the application form are available on the UNESCO site at https://www.unesco.org/en/call-applications-2026?hub=181405. Please note that English is the official working language of the programme, and applications must therefore be submitted in English.
Over the course of the programme, 50 selected participants will:
• strengthen their capacity as intercultural leaders through a series of high-level online master classes and peer-to-peer exchanges (Oct to Dec 2026)
• design and lead a dialogue-based community initiative aligned with the programme’s annual theme, supported by seed funding of US$10,000 (Jan to Jul 2027)
• receive ongoing mentorship and leadership development opportunities from an international network of experts and practitioners
• contribute to international conversations on peace, inclusion, and intercultural dialogue through participation in the UNESCO Global Youth Dialogue for Peace in China (Q3 to Q4 2027)
• join a global community of emerging intercultural leaders and become part of UNESCO’s Global Youth Alumni Network

🌱Want to learn more about the realities faced by women farmers within traditional agricultural systems, including daily challenges, struggles for recognition and space within rural communities, and the importance of collective organization and solidarity?

Check out the sixth episode of the Vozes do Mate podcast: “Women of Erva-Mate – Work, Struggle, and Resistance”, launched by the Brazil FLOW team, highlighting the critical role of women’s leadership in preserving traditional systems, strengthening local culture, and building more sustainable and resilient futures.

🎧 Listen to the podcast here:

Podcast: Voicing Change—Erva-Mate The Brazil FLOW team has launched their final Voicing Change podcast episode about women erva-mate producers, including their challenges and resilient responses. Listen to "Voices of Erva-Mate: Episode 6 — Women of Erva-Mate: Work, Struggle, and Resistance." (English translation is available on Yo...

Recently, Rachel Carey, lead of the FLOW Partnership Melbourne team, spoke about the impacts of the Iran conflict on Australians, specifically on how global conflicts directly impact local food security and farmer livelihoods.

In her words, "As more Australians struggle to afford enough food and farmers struggle to make a living with rising fuel and fertiliser costs, initiatives to strengthen the resilience of food systems need to deliver equitable outcomes for the people who depend on them for food and livelihoods. That means building more diverse and decentralised food systems with stronger regional food supply chains."

➡️Read the full article here: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-05-05/farmers-want-supermarkets-to-absorb-more-price-rises-conflict/106593372?utm_campaign=abc_news_web&utm_content=link&utm_medium=content_shared&utm_source=abc_news_web

Who pays to put food on the table during a global crisis? As the price of food and agricultural production goes up during the Iran conflict, supermarkets are being urged to absorb more of the cost.

🌱 New Publication - Building Capacities in Regional Food Systems: Mapping Change Towards Transformation

We’re excited to share a new article published in Agriculture and Human Values. This paper, led by Dr. Alison Blay-Palmer and a global team of collaborators, explores why the regional scale is critical for transforming food systems. Drawing from the FLOW Partnership, the paper introduces a regional food systems capacities framework and a hybrid methodology to explore, monitor, and track enablers, barriers, and changes over time.

Read the publication and learn more here: https://flowpartnership.org/building-cap-article/

👏 A huge congratulations to everyone for this meaningful contribution:

Alison Blay-Palmer · Molly D. Anderson · Anna-Liisa Aunio · Patricia Ballamingie · Rachel Carey · Samuel Gudu · Kent Mullinix · Maureen Murphy · Chatura Pulasinghage · Andrew Spring · David Szanto · Elodie Valette · Johanna Wilkes · Elisabeth Miltenburg

“Building Capacities” research article Building Capacities in Regional Food Systems: Mapping change towards transformation This article, published in Agriculture and Human Values (April 2026), provides an overview of the FLOW Partnership and the concepts and methods underlying the research. See the abstract below for more details.Blay-Pa...

🌱 What does food sovereignty actually look like in practice?

Across Northwestern Ontario, communities, farmers, and organizers are coming together to explore exactly that, connecting global movements with grounded, local action.

Food Sovereignty Across Scales: Global Movements, Local Action is a collaborative series hosted by the Food Action Network of Northwestern Ontario, the Ecological Farmers Association of Ontario, the National Farmers Union of Ontario, Gaagige Zaagibigaa, and the Thunder Bay District Health Unit.

This series is part of ongoing efforts to strengthen food sovereignty, community leadership, and regional collaboration, creating space for learning, exchange, and collective action.

📅 April 9–12 across Thunder Bay
🔗 More information: https://lnkd.in/eSYZSWjZ

🌱 Introducing: Rosa Gloria García Bautista 🌱

Rosa García works directly with orange producers and related crops, providing accompaniment services, participation in tours, workshops, awareness courses, and training in theory and practice, with the overall goal of promoting agroecological practices that contribute to the substitution of pesticides. Her work includes accompanying and training producers in the implementation of agroecological practices in their orchards, from cleaning, pruning, pest control, and disease management, to nutrition-related and special projects. Rosa promotes the exchange of knowledge in the implementation and adoption of agroecological practices in various regions, with training on bio-inputs according to crop requirements (microorganismos de montaña, magro, agua de vidrio, composta, caldo de cenizas, caldo sulfocálcico and others).
Join us in welcoming Rosa to the FLOW Partnership, where her hands-on work with producers and leadership in agroecological training supports the transition away from pesticides while strengthening resilient, knowledge-sharing food systems across regions.

Learn more about the other students and technicians on the team: https://flowpartnership.org/students-technicians/ -open-oc__1482

🌿 Meet Tara Behen! 🌿

Tara is a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne, Australia, in the School of Agriculture, Food and Ecosystem Sciences. Her research aims to explore how regional food system governance in Australia can promote healthy, resilient and equitable outcomes. Tara is also a research assistant with the Melbourne FLOW project, where she supports the co-development of shared measures with place-based partners to monitor regional food system transformation. She holds a Bachelor of Nutrition and Food Science and a Master of Environment.
We’re excited to have Tara on the FLOW Partnership, where her governance-focused research strengthens efforts to advance healthy, resilient, and equitable regional food systems through place-based collaboration and shared measurement.

Learn more about the other students and technicians on the team: https://flowpartnership.org/students-technicians/ -open-oc__1482

🎬 Cubao Is Theirs — a powerful celebration of International Women’s Day and the International Year of the Woman Farmer.

This documentary follows four women farmers in Cuba as they share how sustainable agriculture has transformed their lives, farms, and families, redefining their roles as rural women and emerging as leaders in their communities and country.

🌱 Principal Investigator: Dr. Erin Nelson
🎥 Produced by: PhD Candidate Natalia Ruiz Cuartas
🎞️ Directed by: Carlos Cadavid
Trailer: https://lnkd.in/dMM5UXaq

📅 Mar 12 from 4:30 pm to 7 pm EDT

Reserve a spot for the film screening and live conversation with the featured Cuban farmers: https://lnkd.in/dvHfSEwC

Follow the film on Instagram for updates and news! https://lnkd.in/derkkS2T

Inquiries: Natalia Ruiz Cuartas – [email protected]

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🌾 Meet Julia Mitchell! 🌾

Julia is a master’s student at Carleton University (Ottawa, Ontario, Canada) in the Communication Studies Department. Their research aims to explore how French is used on anglophone menus in Ontario. Julia is also a research assistant with FLOW, where they are supporting the development of FLOW communications projects such as the FLOW podcast. They hold a Bachelor of English and French as a Second Language, and have a strong passion for food, food sustainability, and food security.

We’re delighted to welcome Julia to the FLOW Partnership, where they bring interdisciplinary insight and a passion for advancing sustainable and equitable food systems through research and communications.

Learn more about the other students and technicians on the team: https://lnkd.in/g_tEPQgS