2026-07-09 –, The Seedbed
This panel dives into the critical questions surrounding the rapid development of agricultural technology. This panel brings together civil society leaders, global network builders, and researchers to critically assess the upstream and downstream risks of AgTech - from agricultural machinery and biotechnology to corporate digital enclosures. Moving beyond abstract critique, each speaker will share concrete frameworks and field methodologies illustrating how communities can evaluate, resist, or actively co-design tools that champion true food sovereignty and regional technical autonomy.
Peasant Agriculture & Resisting Digital Enclosure (Veronica Villa): Grounded in Latin American struggles, this presentation details how indigenous communities use community-led technology assessment guidelines to defend traditional crops like maize and resist the corporate financialization of global food systems.
Grassroots Energy Transitions & Local Land Use (Wedja Clementino): Mapping the intersections of technology, energy, and localized agriculture. This block explores how small-scale producers can design and govern their own sovereign energy installations to fuel localized food networks without falling into extractive supply chains.
Moderated Dialogue & Audience Q&A: A facilitated cross-regional conversation mapping common patterns of corporate extraction and sharing tactical strategies for social movements to achieve technical autonomy.
I'm a Mexican anthropologist. I have been with my organization for more than 20 years. Most of my formation happened among colleagues defending freedom, justice, and the restoration of the relationship between peoples and nature. Sharing work with indigenous communities in my country marked all my perspectives. I wrote my thesis using a mechanical typewriter, and now I try to critically understand the digital era. At times I feel very lucky that I have lived both worlds, but many other times I'm worried about the young ones that have only knew computer and internet to solve their needs.
My family has been settled through MST (Landless Workers' Movement) land reform for 20 years. I grew up in that context, as part of an agroecological farming community. I am a social communication student and a trained social educator through the Paulo Freire Itinerant School. I participated in LabLab and am currently working on the Float-funded project "From CSAs to Bioregional Economy".