Future of Food: Journal on Food

Reinventing the academic conference

Rob Roggema
VHL University of Applied Sciences, PO Box 9001, 6880 GB Velp, the Netherlands

During the 6th International Sustainable Food Planning Conference, the so-called Design LABs partly replaced the regular parallel sessions. The reason for this change was twofold. On the one hand it aims to break through an endless series of parallel presentations, and on the other hand the LAB’s aim was to produce innovative design solutions for increasing the amount of food production in the city. This article describes this experiment to enhance the delivery of urban design concepts, which could substantially produce more food than current models. During the conference each of the parallel sessions half of the time consisted of a design-LAB, in which participants were brought together around a map with the task to design a substantial amount of food productive spaces in the case study site. The results of this experiment were dual: 1. a very committed attitude of delegates to this part of the conference and 2. the design tasks resulted in innovative design results. These results not only emphasise the potential design measures onsite but also pledged for a strong and more intensive connectivity with the city and the landscape around it. This makes it possible to link the supply and use of resources with the typology of the region, hence determining an effective and productive urban agriculture system.

Keywords : Urban Agriculture ,Design LAB ,Food Planning ,Conference ,AESOP .

Myanmar High School Students’ Perceptions of College and International Readiness in Western Society

Mark Speckien
Louisiana Tech University
Mark Speckien
Louisiana Tech University
International students are more likely to experience mental health issues and increased stress. Mental health is often surrounded by negative societal stigmas that act as barriers to seeking support and tend to lead to greater mental health concerns. International students tend to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers rather than seeking out counseling services. However, this study shows that LGBTQIA+ international students were less likely to seek socioemotional support from other international student peers due to fear of their sexual orientation being discovered and their families finding out about their identity. This study examines how LGBTQIA+ international students talk about their experiences on and off campus in relations to their socioemotional well-being. Specifically, this study sought to better understand the complexities of LGBTQIA+ students’ identities, and the challenges they faced in terms of their socioemotional well-being. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.
Keywords : international students, socioemotional well-being, mental health, identity development, intersectionality, LGBTQIA