The conversations surrounding climate and food systems are some of the most polarised of our time, with the recent widespread farmer protests as a prominent example. The current near stalemate in the debate on food systems prevents the creation of effective solutions to the intricate issues we are currently dealing with.
On September 24-25, 2024, Re-Imagine Europa (RIE) attended the Healthy Food Healthy Planet (HFHP) Annual Forum, which focused on the question: “In our polarised times, how can we build powerful and inclusive movements for a just, healthy, and sustainable food system?” To explore this question, the forum organised a series of workshops, debates, and storytelling sessions. These conversations offered valuable insights from a wide range of participants, all engaged with sustainability in different capacities.
As part of the event, Re-Imagine Europa hosted a workshop titled “Depolarising Conversations Around Sustainable Food Systems.” The workshop emphasised that, to make meaningful progress, we must first recognise the limitations of our existing narratives. Our current discourse often falls into “black-box” thinking, which hampers creative solutions. This workshop aimed to equip participants with tools to rethink and reimagine narratives in ways that foster unity rather than division, using Re-Imagine Europa’s R.E.F.R.A.M.E. methodology. This method underscores the importance of managing emotions constructively to facilitate inclusive, innovative dialogue that can lead to practical solutions.
During the workshop, participants were given a chance to apply the concepts learned over the two days to a real-world example: a tweet from a prominent European policymaker, directed at farmers. Using fictional characters, the exercise illustrated two opposing views within the climate debate. Given the frequent risk of misinterpretation when public figures engage on social media, regardless of their original intent, participants were then asked to reframe and translate a polarising tweet into one that would resonate with both fictional characters. The exercise encouraged them to focus on common ground, ensuring that the voices of farmers were central to the message. Recognising that 85% of polarisation stems from misunderstandings, the goal was to identify shared values as a means of bridging divides. This approach emphasised that finding commonalities is essential to depolarising conversations around sustainable food systems.
There is a need for a thorough rethinking of the narratives that underlie conversations around our global agricultural systems and the development of resilience to climate change and geopolitical shocks. Exploring all sides of the debate through the lens of narratives is useful as they are the frameworks through which we make sense of reality. They have the power to unite people around common goals, but they can also divide and polarise.
