This is an energizing and exciting symposium that explores the robust opportunities and accompanying challenges of plant-forward solutions. The gathering is convened to underscore the urgency of shifting to plant-based diets for healthier, more equitable, and resilient food systems and to explore how students will play a pivotal role in the transformation of the food system. Plant Futures is the first program at UC Berkeley to feature in depth multidisciplinary conversation aimed at exploring the role and importance of plant-based foods as a critical lever for change, and provides a unique opportunity for students to directly connect to prominent leaders, creators and influencers and forge pathways for future professional engagement.

The Spring 2023 Plant Futures Challenge Lab will consist of two modules: Module 1: Plant Futures Symposium (Introduction to Plant-Centric Food Systems) January 28th & 29th: 9:00am-5:00pm PST + 90 Minute Discussion Sections on Friday, February 3rd & 10th or Saturday, February 4th & 11th The Spring 2023 Plant Futures Symposium will assemble the best and brightest food systems entrepreneurs, advocates, and faculty – underscoring the urgency of shifting to plant-centric diets for healthier, more equitable, and resilient food systems and exploring how students will play a central role in this transformation. Participants will have opportunities to hear from, and network with, a multidisciplinary community of leaders, researchers and practitioners over the two day event. Students will then have the opportunity to further reflect and develop their learnings through small group discussion sections over the following weeks. Module 2: Plant Futures Challenge Lab (Applied Learning in Plant-Centric Food Systems) Meets Weekly on Thursdays: 2:00pm-4:00pm PST + Mandatory Final Showcase on May 4th: 12:00pm-4:00pm PST A select cohort of students will take the insights gained during the Symposium with them to the Spring 2023 Plant Futures Challenge Lab, a special course that blends in-class learning with applied field experience. Top undergraduate and graduate students are paired on multidisciplinary teams to work with professional clients from leading food systems organizations to develop actionable solutions to present-day challenges in the plant-based food and agricultural sector. Students will be guided throughout the learning journey by the teaching team and their challenge partner mentors through a series of team meetings, lectures, and workshops and will learn to apply tools and frameworks using ethical design strategies and entrepreneurial mindsets to develop systems solutions to real-world challenges. In order to form the class with the appropriate mix of students, all students must fill out an interest form. As we near the start of the semester, the teaching team will review applications on a rotating basis and you will be notified via email if you have been admitted or not. If admitted, you will be given a permission code to enroll. Interest Form: tinyurl.com/SP23PlantFutures Priority submissions due by October 30, 2022

The symposium will be held in Spieker Forum 209B.

Interest Form: tinyurl.com/SP23PlantFutures
Priority submissions due by October 30, 2022

Repeat Rules

Course is not repeatable for credit.