Keynote Speakers

Dr. Çokuysal is a contributor to the Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) Dictionary of Engineering Sciences Terms. His publications include the chapter ‘Three Ethical Principles in Creating the Agroecology-Human Connection: The Philosophy of Agroecology’ in the book Agroecology: Another Agriculture is Possible (Metis Publishing, 2021); the co-authored chapter ‘Ethics of Agricultural Research’ in Key Issues in Agricultural Ethics (Burleigh Dodds Publishing, 2023); and the book The Origins of the Ecological Crisis (Yeni İnsan Publishing, 2025). He also co-hosted the programme ‘I Think’ on Ege University Television with Dr. Aydın Müftüoğlu, discussing concepts such as ethics, art, sports, and justice. Dr. Çokuysal served as the coordinator for the ‘Capacity Development Project in Higher Education and Training for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Production’ under the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology's ‘Re-Inventing Japan’ programme, for which he was awarded the Turkish Higher Education Council (YÖK) International Outstanding Service Award. Dr. Burçin Çokuysal is a philosopher specializing in ethical issues in agricultural and food systems, as well as an academic researching plant stress physiology. Holding both Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Philosophy, Dr. Çokuysal is a faculty member at Ege University's Faculty of Agriculture. He teaches undergraduate courses in Agricultural and Food Ethics, Science Ethics, Professional Ethics, and Plant Stress Physiology, as well as a Master's course titled Ethical Issues in Sustainable Agriculture and Food Systems.

Hilal Elver is an international law professor and the Co-director of the Climate Change, Human Security and Democracy project at the Orfalea Center, UC Santa Barbara, where she has been Distinguished Visiting Professor between 2002-2012. She has been the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Right to Food between 2014-2020. Between March 2021- November 2025 she has been member of the High Level Panel of Experts (HLPE) to the United Nations Committee of World Food Security (CFS. She started her academic career at the University of Ankara Faculty of Law until 1994. During this period she was also appointed as a founding legal advisor of the Ministry of Environment, then the legal advisor and the General Director of the Directorate of Woman Status. Between 1994-1996 she was the UNEP Chair on Environmental Diplomacy at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies at the University of Malta. Since 1996 she has been visiting professor in various countries, and the United States. Her first book on Peaceful Uses of International Rivers: The Euphrates and Tigris Basin published in 2002 by the Transnational Publisher. Second book, Headscarf Controversy: Secularism and Freedom of Religion published by Oxford University Press in 2012. Her most recent co-edited book with Paul Wapner is Reimagining Climate Change published in 2016 by Routledge Press. She is currently working on a book titled “Upholding Right to food and Reflections of the UN Special Rapporteur.”

Mustafa Koc is an emeritus professor of Sociology at Toronto Metropolitan University and a member of the Centre for Studies in Food Security. He is a member of the editorial boards of Food Ethics and the Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition. He was among the founders of the Centre for Studies in Food Security, Food Secure Canada, and the Canadian Association for Food Studies. He received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Association for Food Studies in 2017. His recent research and writings focus on armed conflict, sanctions, displaced populations, and food insecurity. He writes on Substack under Politics of Food and Food Biographies.

Mark Ryan is a philosopher interested in the social and ethical implications of technologies (in particular, artificial intelligence, robots, and data spaces). He works as a Senior Digital Ethics Researcher at Wageningen Social and Economic Research, where he works in interdisciplinary teams to evaluate challenges and opportunities of digital technologies for sustainability, their application in the agri-food sector, and their impact on humans and animals. In particular, they focus on the ethical, legal, and social aspects (ELSA) of AI in the agri-food sector. This research brings together his interests at the intersection of environmental and digital ethics through both theoretical and empirical research. He currently leads a work package on the business, governance, and ELSA aspects in the Common European Agricultural Data Space (CEADS).