International Symposium, UNESCO-Paris, 9th-10th-11th of June 2009
In numerous South countries, initiatives in order to set up or to strengthen the links between biological and cultural diversity and the process designed to enhance the value of local specialities are increasing.
They derive from strategies elaborated by local actors or supported currently by national and international institutions (for instance, the Convention on Biological Diversity, FAO, WIPO). These initiatives are increasingly focused on issues related to the environment, identity and patrimonial assets, and not only on commercial and legal objectives (protection of local specialities, protection of a name, action against illicit copying, piracy and counterfeiting ). The most sophisticated forms of protection of “terroir” products or local specialities (geographical indications, collective brands) as well as the simplest instruments for creating value from local products are now used to sustainably manage resources and lands, to recognise local know-how, and to improve the local livelihood of territories that are in crisis. These steps apply to products, raw or processed, derived from agriculture, fisheries, wildlife and other resources, which have a wide variety of uses, in foods, medicines, cosmetics and crafts.
Recent scientific work conducted in diverse ecological, political, economic and social situations has underscored the uneven progress of reflexions and policy-making in different countries. It is now time to examine the initial lessons to be drawn from empirical data and to share the experience acquired. In this colloquium participants will query the logical underpinnings of these approaches and highlight the innovations that they propose, as well as their limitations and inadequacies, particularly in terms of the sustainability of ecological and social systems.
Based on concrete case studies, communications for this conference will develop issues pertaining to the underlying logic of approaches and processes designed to enhance the different values of local specialities in South countries, in relation to sustainable development of ecological and social diversity.
The communications will analyse the guiding principles of these approaches, and their effects, in particular: delimitation of a production territory, elaboration of quality standards, and implementation of traceability procedures. More specifically, the following thematic axis will be emphasised:
1. Harmonisation of traceability procedures and tools, raising questions pertaining to the elaboration of quality standards, and their articulation with local practices and representations, and the effects of systems that promote social values and social involvement but could also be source of constraints and exclusions;
2. Reconstruction of the sense of local identity and ties to place, when confronted to the multiplication of local products, of instruments, and the growing complexity of qualification procedures (geographical indications, labels, marques, certification, etc.);
3. Evaluation of consequence on biodiversity at various levels (genes, breeds and varieties, species and populations, ecosystems and landscapes) and the effects of these approaches on economic, social and spatial dynamics: social recomposition and interplay of actors, reorganisation of rules governing access and use of local resources, requalification of territories and promotion of cultural heritage, etc.
Ideally communications will underscore the contributions of various disciplines in this area of research, drawing upon the work of specialists in law and economics, anthropologists, historians, geographers and ethnobiologists.
The candidates will specifie in which thematic axis (1, 2 or 3) they wish to include their communication.
Submission of abstracts (2500 characters, in French or English), based on the frame above: before 15thJanuary 2009, addressed by e-mail to the Management Committee: [email protected]
Selection of papers: notified by 15 March 2009.
The communications selected should be sent to the Management Committee before 30th April 2009.
SUBMISSION OF ABSTRACT MODEL:
TITLE OF THE ABSTRACT Authors: LAST NAME First name
Institutional membership email Thematic axis chosen
Summary: 2500 characters, in Times New Roman, 11pts.
For further information: [email protected] Emmanuelle GERARD, Tel: +33 1 40 79 56 22 Web site: www.mnhn.fr/colloque/localiserlesproduits
