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As we design the food systems of the future, it is critically important we consider the perspectives of the beneficiaries of those systems – namely young people.

Join us at the Agrifood Hub on 10 September for a thought-provoking discussion on how we can revolutionise the way we do research, teaching and policy development to genuinely engage marginalised communities, including young people.

We will hear from four speakers with lived experience of different approaches to community engagement and then have an opportunity for a short panel discussion on what we can learn from their approaches.

Our speakers

Dr Christina Zorbas and Khalid Muse from the Global Centre for Preventive Health and Nutrition at Deakin University work together to conduct research that moves equity from the margins to the centre of food and nutrition policy. They will discuss what inclusive food systems work looks like, drawing upon their lived experiences and examples from their research with young people, migrant communities, and policy actors at all levels.

Isabelle Zhu-Maguire is a PhD candidate at the ANU School of Regulation and Global Governance. She is researching the geopolitical causes and implications of climate security agendas in the Pacific region. Isabelle previously worked at the Monash Sustainable Development Institute and the UN's Sustainable Development Solutions Network where she worked on initiatives to engage and empower Pacific young people – particularly in the field of climate action. Isabelle has also been an advocate for the inclusion in climate negotiations having attended multiple United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change’s Conference of Parties and participating in the researcher’s contingency of the UNFCCC (RINGO).

Alison Coughlan has a research and public health background and over 30 years’ experience working at a state, national and global level with more than 80 organisations as a researcher, policy maker, advocate, leader, consultant, and board director. She is passionate about consumer and community engagement which has been a strong and enduring theme of her work for the past 27 years. Alison joined the Health Issues Centre, the peak health consumer agency in Victoria, as CEO in 2022. In April 2024, Alison stepped into the role of Manager of the Health Consumers Centre at the Institute for Health Transformation, Deakin University. The centre is carrying forward the legacy of the Health Issues Centre and works to ensure policies, services and research are co-produced by the people that they are designed to benefit - through working in partnership with other stakeholders as equal and active partners.