Integrated Food studies education and research: Challenges and potentials for integration and reflection

The research group Foodscapes Innovation and Networks has addressed integrated food studies issues in re-search and education since 2010. Based on experiences in the group, this paper aims at discussing the chal-lenges, learning outcomes and potentials for pushing an integrated thinking into research and education. It also addresses the challenges in integration when the methodological approaches and theoretical frameworks chosen are ontologically and epistemologically different. A discussion of the limitations of integration is thus also part of the paper.
The conceptual framework of ontonorms (Mol, 2013) is suggested as a common point of departure for a further development of integration. This is suggested relevant due to the fact that it forces different traditions to reflect their own value-related basis and discuss implications of this approach in a broader sense. The common values have been identified to be sustainability, healthy and better food, food systems change and enhanced food experiences.