Transition Research
Research is required into a 'fair and just' transition from conventional agriculture to cellular agriculture technologies.
Background
Cellular agriculture and other future food technologies are set to disrupt the current model of conventional agriculture; one that is deeply entrenched in Canada’s economy and culture. Researching 'fair and just' transition initiatives and opportunities between the conventional agriculture industry and the growing cellular agriculture ecosystem will be essential to an equitable and sustainable food industry. Consideration and planning of future skills and employment is a key component of transition research. More specifically, predicting demand for future skills and forward planning to ensure a supply of skilled talent exists to fulfil this demand. This will enable the growth of the cellular agriculture industry whilst ensuring those displaced through the disruption of conventional agriculture are able to transition into alternative employment. Other topics encompassed by transition research include: potential changes to land use, supply and demand of crop varieties to accommodate a diversified agriculture model, and understanding current infrastructure and supply chains that could be expanded or deployed to facilitate the expansion of cellular agriculture.
Research Focus Areas
'Fair and just' transition research - Research needs to be undertaken to identify policies, initiatives, and potential options for the current stakeholders to take, ensuring the transition to cellular agriculture production is fair and inclusive, with any harms and benefits equitably addressed. Some research questions could include:
Which industries and communities stand to be disrupted by the emergence of cellular agriculture?
Which narratives (factual or misinformed), questions or concerns are forming within these industries and communities and how might any negative ones be addressed?
What can be learned about historical transitions from existing technologies to newer, disruptive technologies (eg. motorised transport, renewable energy)?
What institutional initiatives might support a ‘just’ transition? Consider: support with licensing new technologies, biodiversity conservation and carbon credits for land sparing, sanctuary planning for current farms and livestock, and land-back incentives.
Which facets of the existing protein supply chain will remain relatively constant? Which parts will be changed?
Which regions will be most impacted by a transition to cellular agriculture? How can cellular agriculture technology and products be equitably distributed globally, ensuring developing countries in particular are not excluded? What infrastructure or institutional investments may be required to enable this?
What can be learned about the negative impacts (past and current) of global technology transitions on developing countries (eg. the human cost of precious metal mining)? What might these look like in a cellular agriculture context and how can they be mitigated?
What steps might support the most equitable outcomes in terms of harms and benefit distribution during the transition to cellular agriculture technologies?
What other outcomes of the food system might such a transition be an opportunity to address?
How can communities who are disrupted by cellular agriculture be supported socially and psychologically?
How do local cultural narratives impact transition to 'meaningful' work?
Future workforce - The education system needs to build options for establishing and growing a pipeline of skilled labour to operate within the cellular agriculture industry. This can provide opportunities for the existing agricultural workforce to retrain or redeploy, as well as fostering new talent. This could include: development of new university courses and vocational training, research partnerships, internships and job creation. Some research questions could include:
What are potential ways cellular agriculture could impact existing labour forces?
In what ways could the existing agricultural labour force be redeployed in cellular agriculture production?
What strategies are needed to develop training and study opportunities for those transitioning from existing agriculture industries?
How does the present cellular agriculture (non-executive) labour force see their role as part of an emerging field, and how do they see the future workforce developing?
What strategies are needed to develop training and study opportunities for those transitioning from other, non-agricultural, industries?
What strategies are needed to build awareness of the field and develop training and study opportunities for the emerging workforce (ie school-leavers)?
Transition research encompasses a broad range of research topics related to the diversification of our current agricultural model. The field will benefit from equally broad and multidisciplinary input from social scientists, curriculum designers, educators and career planners, policy experts, environmental scientists and sustainability practitioners and community engagement specialists amongst others.