CAP 2023-2027 and sustainable agri-food systems

blended course

The interdisciplinary summer school “CAP 2023-2027 and sustainable agri-food systems” will be held from 18th to 22nd July 2022, for a total amount of 40 hours training, delivered in hybrid mode and organised by the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies.
The summer school is part of the Jean Monnet Module SUSTAIN “CAP 2023-2027 and sustainable agri-food systems” co-funded under the Erasmus+ programme and coordinated by professor Mariagrazia Alabrese.

The European farming and food systems have to deal with a complex set of global and regional challenges. The roots of our productive system, biodiversity, soils and water supply are under an unsustainable pressure. Inequalities are widespread throughout the food chain. These issues require profound transformations in the way we produce, manage, and trade agricultural products. There is the urgent need to ensure a sustainable future for European farmers, provide more targeted support to smaller farms, and allow greater flexibility for EU countries to adapt measures to local conditions. The Covid-19 Pandemic proved again that nowadays, more than ever, food sustainability requires a transition from current linear food production to integrated oriented systems enabled to deal simultaneously with the health of the environment, humans, animal and plants. These are all objectives that are central to the European Green Deal. The new Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) will be a key tool in reaching the ambitions of the Farm to Fork and Biodiversity strategies while ensuring food security for all (and copying with the possible consequences of the Ukraine war for the agri-food sector). The reform of the CAP, its role and objectives in boosting sustainable and resilient agri-food systems will be thoroughly analysed during the summer school.

The Summer School will consist of five days of lectures, seminars, discussions, role playing and simulation games. Case studies sessions and Q&A sessions will be planned in order to stimulate the exchanges between trainers and trainees, promoting the creation of a network among all the participants within an interdisciplinary environment.

Course leader

Mariagrazia Alabrese, Associate Professor in Agricultural and Food Law at the Sant’Anna School of Advanced Studies, Italy

Target group

Undergraduates, post-graduate and PhD students (in Law, Politics, International Studies, Agricultural Sciences, amongst other fields), as well as professionals (such as lawyers, international/regional organisation officers, public servants working on agricultural and rural development, agricultural engineers), will find the course most suitable.

Course aim

The participants will acquire a wide understanding of the EU legal and policy framework for building a healthier, fairer, and more sustainable and climate-resilient agri-food system. By the end of Summer School, participants will:
- understand and be oriented within the agri-food policy framework of the EU;
- understand the integrated challenges the EU is called to deal with in the current economic, social and environmental scenarios.
- be aware of the new Common Agriculture Policy objectives, strategies and means of implementation.

Credits info

2 EC
2 ECTS will be awarded upon successful completion of the Summer School, which requires the attendance of at least 80% of classes and passing the final learning test.

The Summer School provides the option to acquire 1 additional ECTS by submitting a final paper that will be evaluated by the Teaching Staff. The final paper may follow the structure of case-studies analysis, critical essay, or review article. The topic of each paper will be discussed with the Teaching Staff. Selected papers, among those successfully evaluated, will be included in the Paper Series of the Jean Monnet Module SUSTAIN.

Fee info

EUR 70: The registration fee is 70,00 EUR for undergraduate/postgraduate students. The fee includes attendance costs, teaching materials and lunch provided by the School’s canteen on all five days of the course.
EUR 300: The registration fee is 300,00 EUR for PhD students, professionals, academics. The fee includes attendance costs, teaching materials and lunch provided by the School’s canteen on all five days of the course.