Wednesday Oct 4, 2023

Welcome Reception and Light Dinner

Steven’s house, 608 East Seneca St. Ithaca

6:00 pm – 9:00 pm

Turn left out of the hotel’s front door and walk 4 blocks up the (steep) hill to #608 or we are happy to offer a ride from the hotel. Call (607) 280-2832.

Thursday Oct 5, 2023

Workshop Day 1

Nevin Welcome Center, Cornell Botanic Gardens

Vans will depart hotel at 8:00 am and 8:30am. Please come to the hotel lobby if you would like a ride.

8:15 am – Garden walk (optional) – meet at the Nevin Welcome Center

8:15 – 9:00 am – Coffee and light breakfast

9:00 – Introductions and Scene Setting

9:30 am – Taking Stock 1 (Innovation Intermediaries)

Provocation: What do we know about agtech’s ability to produce positive social impact, specifically applied to ecological and social problems? What do we need to know/do to progress?

Panelists:

Pete Nelson (AgLaunch, Memphis, TN)

Hattie Brown (Kirchner Impact Foundation, Washington, D.C.)

Manoj Kumar (Social Alpha, Bangalore, India)

Chair: Steven Wolf (Cornell University, Natural Resources and the Environment)

11:00 am – Coffee Break

11:30 am – Taking Stock 2 (Academic Researchers)

Provocation: What do we know about agtech’s ability to produce positive social impact, specifically applied to ecological and social problems? What do we need to know/do to progress?

Panelists:

Laurens Klerkx (Universidad de Talca, Chile; Wageningen University, Netherlands)

Emily Reisman (University of Buffalo, Environment and Sustainability)

Zenia Kish (Ontario Tech University, Communication and Digital Media)

Chair: Larry Taylor (Yield Lab Asia Pacific, St. Louis, MO)

12:30 pm – Lunch + Break Out Sessions

Break out session Facilitators/Rapporteurs:

Greg Ray (Cornell University, Johnson Graduate School of Management)

Phoebe Sengers (Cornell University, Information Science)

Phoebe Stephens (Dalhousie University, Business and Social Sciences)

John Tauzel (Environmental Defense)

1:45 pm – Political Economy of Agrifood Innovation

Steven Wolf (Cornell University)

Martin Kenney (UC Davis, Human Ecology)

2:45 pm – Founders, Entrepreneurship, and Sustainability

Premise: Founders are asked to discuss their entrepreneurial journey, specifically their experience in trying to build a business capable of addressing socio-ecological problems. How does their experience inform understanding of relevant resources, strategies, and pitfalls?

Panelists:

Rebekah Moses (Entrepreneur/Consultant, San Francisco, CA)

Dewayne Dill (Dairyoffice.com)

Kathleen Hefferon (Forte Protein, Ithaca, NY)

Chair: Christopher Miles (Cornell University, Natural Resources and the Environment)

4:00 pm – Coffee Break 2

4:15 pm – Synthesis

Rapporteurs will share a synthesis of the Break-out Group discussions they facilitated earlier in the day and offer their own points of emphasis. All in attendance will be asked to contribute to an effort to capture key insights, ideas, and questions.

5:15 pm – Return to Hotel

Vans (15 minutes) OR guided walk through campus and down Cascadilla Gorge Trail (40 minutes, downhill, appropriate footwear recommended)

7:00 pm – Dinner at Moosewood Restaurant, 215 N Cayuga St- Exit the hotel and turn right. The restaurant is two doors down on your right.

Friday Oct 6, 2023

Workshop Day 2

Nevin Welcome Center, Cornell Botanic Gardens

Vans will depart hotel at 8:00 am and 8:30am. Please come to the hotel lobby if you would like a ride.

8:15 am – Garden walk (optional)

8:15 – 9:00 am – Coffee and Breakfast Offerings

9:00 am – Managing Innovation for Sustainability

Measuring/Assessing Social Impact

Provocation: How is social impact defined and measured/assessed in AgTech innovation? What are the prospects and implications for greater formalization, standardization, and quantification of social impact assessment?

Presenters:

Paul Rous (Regenerate Ventures)

Schuyler Dalton (World Wildlife Fund, Regenerative Agriculture Impact Investing)

Social Inclusion in Innovation

Provocation: What are the implications of wider and deeper participation in innovation? What concepts and practices might support positive changes?

Presenters:

Maaz Gardezi (Virginia Tech)

Pete Nelson (AgLaunch)

Autonomy and Embeddedness – Organization for Innovation Intermediaries

Provocation: How does the organizational context of an innovation intermediary enable and constrain pursuit of social impact? What are the strengths and weaknesses of various configurations?

Presenters:

Alexa Cubbage (DFA CoLab)

Jenn Smith (Grow-NY)

10:45 am – Coffee Break (spilling into Breakout Groups focused around the 3 morning sessions)

Facilitators/Rapporteurs: TBA

12:00 pm – Critical Institutional Analysis

Provocation: Zooming out and taking a longer-range view, how can changes in public policy, business environments, economics of agriculture, and politics/culture expand the potential of AgTech to advance sustainability? How can we realize complementarities between public sector, academic, corporate and entrepreneurial innovation capabilities?

Panelists:

Moritz Dolinga (University of Muenster, Germany)

Larry Taylor (Yield Lab Asia Pacific, St. Louis, MO)

Chair: Steven Wolf (Cornell University, Natural Resources and the Environment)

1:15 pm – Synthesis, Lunch and Farewells

Boxed lunches will be available for those travelling immediately. Vans will return to the hotel at 2:00 and 2:30. We can assist with individual’s transportation needs bus, airport, etc. Please let us know.