On Wednesday 12 November 2025 between 11:00 to 13:00, the ‘𝐅𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐅𝐨𝐨𝐝: 𝐋𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐠𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐞𝐨𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬’ project will host their first online/in-person public event. This interactive workshop launches the Follow the Food Signature Project, which critically examines if and how GIs can be used as tools for promoting fairness and sustainability in the global food system.

As regular readers will know, the Foundation is a project partner.

The event offers transdisciplinary dialogue and live contributions from smallholder farmers and aims to explore how GIs function across diverse contexts, including post-colonial Indonesia, post-Soviet Central Asia, and rural Italy.

Program:

• Project introduction by Dr. Martijn Huysmans
• Presentation on Strachitunt cheese by the Consorzio (producer group), reflecting on GI production in the Val Taleggio in Italy, with Q&A
• Insights from GI development cooperation by Reto Meili (Swiss Institute for Intellectual Property), focused on GI coffee in Indonesia, with Q&A
• Indonesian case study by Dr. Ari Susanti (Gadjah Mada University’s Faculty of Forestry), focusing on Kopi Arabika Gayo from Aceh, with Q&A
• Central Asian perspectives by Dr. Flora Roberts, addressing heritage, market access, and post-Soviet transitions, with Q&A
• Discussion time to foster exchange with all participants

Participation is open to everybody interested, with registration for online attendance available here.

This workshop is part of the Pathways to Sustainability initiative and welcomes all those interested in food justice and sustainable agriculture. It will also speak to those working on bottom-up governance, colonial and post-socialist transitions, climate-related agricultural challenges, and the risks of co-optation in sustainability frameworks. By including smallholder voices and facilitating direct exchange between producers across regions, the project aims to explore how GIs can be redesigned as instruments of empowerment, ecological stewardship, and economic fairness.

We hope you will be able to join us.