Overview

Agriculture at the Metropolitan Edge will bring together academics, policymakers, farmers, developers, design professionals, planners, and activists involved in bridging sustainable agriculture and smart growth. The symposium aims to advance a systems- and place-based framework for linking sustainable metropolitan development with sustainable urban-edge agriculture and local food systems.

Symposium participants will identify needs and best practices in research, strategies, and policies in the following issue areas:

  • Urban edge land use policy and economics; challenges and opportunities for establishing permanent agricultural lands within metropolitan regions and at urban edges
     
  • Environmental services and impacts of urban edge agriculture; assessment of non-production values and environmental functions of ecological urban-edge agriculture
     
  • Vitality of rural communities in metropolitan influenced areas; social mobilization and economic issues at the urban-rural interface
     
  • Emerging urban-rural compact; the interdependence of urban and rural land, culture, and communities


    • The primary geographical focus will be California, a state with agricultural resources of international significance that is facing multiple threats to urban and rural sustainability including sprawl, impermanent urban edges, negative health impacts, and rural disinvestment. As a policy and cultural bellwether, California presents unique opportunities to develop trend-setting approaches to these challenges. A secondary, but vital, focus will be national and international case studies that highlight strategies for strengthening local agriculture in the context of metropolitan/regional planning and the global economy.

    Symposium Sponsors. UC Berkeley Sponsors: Center for Global Metropolitan Studies (lead sponsor); Dean's Office, College of Environmental Design; Farrand Fund, Landscape Architecture & Environmental Planning Department; Institute of Urban and Regional Development; Knight Program for Science and Environmental Journalism; Agriculture at the Metropolitan Edge Program. Co-sponsors include to date: American Farmland Trust, Banbury Fund, Local Government Commission, Roots of Change Fund, Whole Foods Market. Supporters: EPA Region 9, BALLE

    Reception Sponsor: Clif Bar


    Information. Click here for directions to the symposium.