This updated version further develops the Planetary Boundaries concept, which was first published in 2009.  In their original outline of the concept the authors identified nine key global processes and systems that regulate the stability and resilience of the Earth System – the interactions of land, ocean, atmosphere and life that together provide conditions upon which our societies depend.  They argued that if these natural processes are disrupted beyond a certain ‘boundary’ point, the consequences could be irreversible and lead to abrupt environmental change, making life on earth very hard for humans.

This paper discusses paths towards a more resilient agriculture and the rationale for doing so. It emphasises the need for interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations in this field, moving towards “a diversity of solutions operating across scales.” The authors also critically discuss various production focused routes to food security.

In this book Ian Goldin brings together colleagues from the Oxford Martin School to discuss issues related to population growth. Each colleague contributes with a chapter on a range of issues such as population ethics, economics, demographic and environmental change, resource management, human health, and governance.

This report builds on the dialogue built during a workshop held by RISE in 2014 regarding the measurement of farming environmental performance so as to further refine the definitions of sustainable intensification and the subsequent implications that such definitions pose on policy making to progress it. In doing so, the report explores three different case studies: The first case study focuses on soil performance and resilience. It shows how achieving sustainable intensification is highly dependent on having sound measurement of the underlying conditions.

A special issue of the Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development (JAFSCD) on Cooperatives and Alternative Food Systems Initiatives is now out.

This presentation by Thomas Allen, Paolo Prosperi, Iuri Peri, Bruce Cogill and Martine Padilla is from the conference Resilience 2014 - Resilience and Development: Mobilizing for Transformation 4-8 May, Montpellier France.

The long awaited Working Group II report on impacts, adaptation and vulnerability for the IPCC Fifth Assessment Round  was released on March 31st 2014. This report details the impacts of climate change to date, the future risks from a changing climate, and the opportunities for effective action to reduce risks.

This books addresses the issues of a growing global population and food production and focuses on key social, economic and political drivers for creating a more sustainable food system. It argues that there is a need to construct a new agri-food sustainability paradigm and it brings together an integrated range of key social science insights, exploring the contributions and interventions necessary to build the new agri-food sustainability framework.