Informational governance for food and agriculture

Informational governance for food and agriculture ECPR panel: New models of governance for food and agriculture The rapid developments in information technologies, information networks, and social media affect how societies address food challenges. On the one hand these developments open up enormous opportunities such as certification schemes for sustainable agro-food chains; apps for food policy deliberation or environmental virtual observatories for decentral pest management. On the other hand, societal processes and the role of established institutions, such as states, private companies and science, are fundamentally transformed, as illustrated by examples such as online networks of activists, WikiLeaks or Twitter hypes. Understanding the underlying mechanisms is crucial for enabling more sustainable food outcomes. The new concept of informational governance involves two interrelated dimensions: 1) governing or influencing behaviour of firms, citizen or consumers through information, and 2) specific form of political organisation in which information generation, processing, and transmission fundamentally restructures governance processes and power relations. This paper will address three topics: - The introduction of the theoretical concept of informational governance as a new model of governance for food and agriculture - A brief presentation of several case studies of informational governance in the fields of food and agricultural policies - An analysis of the main opportunities and challenges of informational governance The paper will be based on the results of a strategic interdisciplinary research program, consisting of 13 projects.