Building a Good Food Nation: Moving from Abstraction to Application Case Study Presentation Ms. Kirsten Leask, RCE Scotland Europe Regional Meeting 2019 13-14 September, 2019, Heraklion, Greece

2. RCE Europe 2019 Conference
‘Building a Good Food Nation’
Moving from abstraction to application
Kirsten Leask, September 2019

3. RCE Scotland: A whole-country approach
• 5 million people
• Part of the United Kingdom
• Separate education, legal, religious systems.
• RCE Scotland set up in 2013
• Housed by University of Edinburgh
• 3 x core staff
• 8 x Steering Group members
• 700 x members (individuals, NGOs, other organisations)
• http://learningforsustainabilityscotland.org/

4. Overview
1. Setting the scene: Scotland and sustainability
2. Building a “Good Food Nation”: the vision
3. Building a “Good Food Nation”: the how
4. Spotlight on: education
5. Over to you…

5. Overview
1. Setting the scene: Scotland and sustainability

6. A vision for Scotland
• The SDGs are a core
element of the Scottish
Government’s National
Performance Framework
across all policy areas.

7. A vision for Scotland

8. A vision for Scotland
Scotland’s programme for government 2019 – 2020:
• 1. Ending Scotland’s contribution to climate change
• 2. A successful, fair and green economy
• 3. Improving outcomes through our public services
• 4. Communities where everyone is valued, protected and respected.

9. Joining the dots
Procurement
reform
Community
resilience
Adaptation
and
mitigation
Zero waste
Circular
economy
Health and
wellbeing
Land use and
land reform
Infrastructure,
planning &
building
Social
inclusion
UN CRC
Health &
wellbeing
Climate
change
Sustainable
transport
Biodiversity
Community
empower-
ment
Low-carbon
skills and jobs
Building a
Good Food
Nation

10. 2. Building a “Good Food Nation”: the vision

11. What do we mean by ”good food”?
• lots of fruit and vegetables; fish and wholegrains; less
but better quality meat; and a lot less processed food.
Good food is even better when it’s shared.
• it’s in season, it’s sustainably produced, has low-
climate impact and high animal welfare standards
• it’s grown by local producers, it’s prepared by skilled
and knowledgeable people, and it supports a thriving
local and national economy.
Soil Association Scotland 2014
• Food that’s good for your health:
• Food that’s good for the environment:
• Food that’s good for the economy:

12. Why build a “Good Food Nation”?
In Scotland…
• 1 in 4 children live in poverty
• One of the lowest life expectancies in Europe
• 65% of adults & 28% of children are overweight
• 1 in 3 Scots has experienced mental ill-health
• Connecting urban and rural Scotland: heritage/culture and common understanding
• Embedding awareness of sustainability issues and opportunities for personal agency
• Key industry employing 1 in 5 Scots.
• Food security concerns
• Sustaining our fragile rural communities
• Litter and marine plastic waste
• Best use of our challenging landscape
• Protecting biodiversity
• Climate change affects us all: agriculture, general transportation, food waste.

13. A Good Food Nation by 2025…
• Good food is the norm for the people of Scotland: people know what it is and
actively seek it out
• Everyone has access to the healthy, nutritious food they need
• Dietary-related diseases and the environmental impact of our food
consumption are in decline
• Scottish producers ensure that their produce is healthy and environmentally-
sound
• Food providers are committed to serving and selling good food
• Food companies are a thriving feature of our economy and places where
people want to work
• Other countries look to Scotland to learn how to become a Good Food Nation.
Production – consumption – economy - health

14. 3. Building a “Good Food Nation”: the how

15. Heads, hands and hearts: a whole-country approach
Government
Public sector
Industry
Communities
Individuals

16. Co-design, co-creation, collaboration
Scottish
Food
Commission
Scottish
Food
Coalition
• Government
• Public sector
• Industry
• Communities/NGOs
• Individuals

17. Co-design, co-creation, collaboration
• 2014 Discussion document published
• 2015 Scottish Food Commission established
• 2015 Scottish Food Coalition established
• 2017 Good Food Nation summit
• 2018 Final recommendations of Food Commission
• 2019 Proposals for legislation consultation
• 2019-2020 Commitment for a Good Food Nation Bill

18. 4. Spotlight on: education

19. Focus on: early years, primary and secondary
In Scotland, Learning for Sustainability is:
• An entitlement for all learners, and a whole-setting approach.
• Embedded in whole-school self-evaluation.
• Central to the national Professional Standards for teachers.
• Woven throughout the Scottish curriculum.
Scotland has also signed up to the PISA Global Competences
framework.
• Find out more about Learning for Sustainability on the National Improvement Hub
• View the new Scottish Government Learning for Sustainability Action Plan

20. Defining Learning for Sustainability

21. Focus on: further and higher education
• Ecophysiology
• Food security
• Ecological economies
• Organic farming
• Soils & sustainability
• Aquaculture
• Sustainable rural development
• Marine ecology
• Sustaining communities
• Rural health & well-being
• Healthy ageing in Scotland
• Centre for Marine Biology and
Biotechnology
• Centre for Carbon Innovation
• Climate change and adaptation
• Carbon capture and storage
• Gastronomy
• Sustainable engineering &
marine technology
• Global sustainable cities

22. 5. Over to you…

23. Challenges…and opportunities…
How do
we
embed a
GFN?
Practitioner
confidence
and
‘agency’
Plethora of
policies
and
strategies
Time
Conflicting
priorities
Lone
champions
‘Issue-
fatigue’
Conflicting
narratives
‘Finding the
hook’ for
learners