Eating Habits and Planetary Health

The global food system accounts for 21-34% of total greenhouse gas emissions and is one of the strongest drivers of biodiversity loss. Neither the SDGs, nor the Paris Climate agreement, can be met without a radical transformation within all stages of the food system. The scientific community suggests several necessary changes to promote human health and prosperity while preserving the health of Earth’s ecosystems. Planetary Health can largely be implemented with current technology. However, to overcome the challenges associated with implementing the necessary structural and individual changes, knowledge transfer is needed. Behavioural changes are crucial for the transformation towards a sustainable food system. The objective of this project is to engage an audience through a live performance, providing them with insights into the intricacies of the food system and how it affects global warming. 

Participants in the Project 

Sima Wolgast from the Department of Psychology, Lund University, brings her wealth of expertise to the team, holding licences as both a psychologist and a psychotherapist, along with a PhD in social psychology. Her extensive experience spans the realms of clinical practice and research studies in clinical psychology as well as research in social psychology. Wolgast’s research repertoire encompasses an array of quantitative and qualitative research methodologies. Leveraging her psychological knowledge she, together with the team, will meticulously structure the dinner party intervention, ensuring that it aligns seamlessly with psychological principles. Moreover, Wolgast will spearhead the task of conducting interviews with research participants. Through these interviews, the project will be able to collect data that will shed light on the intervention’s effects and outcomes. 

Henrik Haller from the Department of Natural Science, Sustainable Development & Design, Mid Sweden University, is an environmental scientist focusing on sustainable food systems. In this project he guides the development of the performance and supervises the scientific content of the knowledge that the project is designed to transfer. He has wide experience of scientific communication from radio, TV, public speeches and popular science appearances. 

Jörgen Dahlqvist is a playwright, director and artistic researcher. Since 2003, he has been the artistic director of the Swedish theatre collective Teatr Weimar, which was awarded the Carl Åkerman Award by the Swedish Academy in 2013. His works have been presented in major theatre institutions in Sweden as well as internationally. Dahlqvist’s research areas include how technology informs novel ways of representing society, how to conceptualise and develop new artistic methods and representational formats in theatre as well as how to promote creative agency in collaborative work. His PhD project explores how theatre can provide an arena for democratic dialogue and how this also provides an opportunity to rethink the role of theatre in society. He is part of the steering committee of the Crocus Research Network.

Fredrik Haller is a senior lecturer in dramaturgy and has been head of the Malmö Theatre Academy, Lund University, since 2024. In recent years, Haller has focused on developing methods in dramatic writing, which has led to a major revision of the dramatic writing programme at the institution. His interests also include methods for co-writing for stage and television/film. In addition, he has been involved in developing models for collaboration between artists and academia to be used in projects linked to contemporary social challenges. Besides his work at the Malmö Theatre Academy, he has also been active as a freelance director and playwright, producing works for Teatr Weimar, as well as Dramaten, Malmö Stadsteater and Uppsala Stadsteater and others.