WP3 - Alternative pathways to Sustainable Future Food systems

WP3 will use scenario planning to explore alternative pathways along which the Swedish food system plausibly could develop. We will investigate alternative pathways towards targets identified in WP2, use indicators from WP4 to identify trade-offs inherent in delivering on the targets, and assess the resilience of these pathways to various external and internal shocks and drivers. This way we can appraise strengths and weaknesses of different pathways and evaluate policy options that enhance or degrade the success and resilience of particular pathways. The pathways developed will be tested and refined iteratively, incorporating outputs from WP 5, 6 and 7 to evaluate suggested actions against alternative development pathways.

WP3 research questions:

To what extent do expected outcomes of current policies (such as the Swedish Food Strategy) achieve WP2’s agreed targets?
What are alternative ways in which future food systems can meet WP2’s identified targets and what coherent and internally consistent pathways can explain how Sweden could arrive to those futures?
How would pathways representing the competing priorities of food system actors perform in relation to each other? What compromises among competing priorities would be needed to be resolved in order to deliver on as many food system targets as possible?
Which uncertain dynamics could push the development of the Swedish food system away from desired pathways, and what actions, strategies and policies can build resilience to these dynamics?
How can change from the margins of the current food system lead to transitions that help reach the WP2 targets?

Our research