‘Global Food Security: addressing the challenge’ is a free online course by Lancaster University available on FutureLearn.com. The course is aimed at anyone with a personal or professional interest in these issues, uses specially shot video inserts as well signposting students towards existing articles, videos and other materials.
This eight-week course introduces the issue of food security and explore some of the different ways in which it has been described both in research and in practice and consider key concerns for the future. The course will start on August 29, 2016.
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( votes)Course at a Glance
Length: 8 weeks
Effort: 3 hours/week
Subject: Global Food Security
Institution: Lancaster University and Future Learn
Languages: English
Price: Free
Certificate Available: Yes
Session: Course Starts on August 29, 2016
Providers’ Details
Lancaster pioneers globally significant research and uses its expertise to shape policy and encourage debate. Located on a beautiful campus in the North West of England and one of a handful of collegiate universities, Lancaster places great emphasis on a strong student experience and research-led teaching delivered by academics who are experts in their field. Ranked 9th in the THE’s global ‘100 under 50’ university league table, the University has established a global reputation as a centre for research, scholarship and teaching with an emphasis on employability.
About This Course
In this course, University introduces the issue of food security and explore some of the different ways in which it has been described both in research and in practice and consider key concerns for the future.
University’s central concern is ‘How they will feed an extra two billion people by the middle of this century?’ Focussing both on UK agriculture and on food supply chains in other parts of the world, they will examine how food has shaped our environmental and social landscapes. They will see that, while everyone would agree that food security is ‘a good thing’, ideas about what it means in practice and how it should be achieved vary tremendously.
Why Take This Course?
This is a free online course. This MOOC will be offered with Video Transcripts in English. Applicants can get a verified certificate.
Learning Outcomes
Applicant shall be exploring a number of topics that address many issues including:
- Is food security really just about food?
- Should we have concerns about health, social justice, environmental degradation and cultural diversity?
- What is the role of technology and innovation in promoting food security?
And much more.
In the final week University will explore the big picture by considering food systems and food chains as a whole. Using examples from some of the case studies that they have explored, they consider the relationships between production and consumption and question whether particular kinds of agriculture are linked to particular diets and patterns of consumption.
University will explore the role of the retailer and the consumer in more detail as we ask what it means to enjoy a safe, healthy, sustainable diet. They also consider the issue of food poverty and how this fits within the food security debate.
Requirements
There are no requirements for this course except an interest in global food security.
Instructors
Bill Davies
Developed interest in food while working on the family farm. Now work on improvement and management of crops aimed at producing more food with less water and on UK food supply chain issues.
How To Join This Course
- Go to the course website link
- Sign Up At FutureLearn
- Select a course and Join
- Once a course has started, applicant will be able to access the course material
- After the start date, students will be able to access the course by following the Go To Course link on My Courses page.
- Applicants can buy, to show that they have completed a FutureLearn course.
- On some FutureLearn courses, learners will be able to pay to take an exam to qualify for a Statement of Attainment. (These are university-branded, printed certificates that provide proof of learning on the course topic(s)).
