Eva Ross

Background

About Eva Ross

I'm a scholar-activist based in Cape Town, South Africa, working with the Bio-Economy Research Chair to support a just, inclusive, and sustainable biodiversity economy. My interdisciplinary research critically engages with food systems, focusing on diverse knowledge traditions, food heritage, and identity. Grounded in the Cederberg region, I collaborate with local communities to (re)imagine food systems and revive plant knowledge - deepening our understanding of sustainable practices rooted in place, memory, and culture. Driven by a commitment to decolonial and community-led approaches, my work seeks to expose structural injustices in the current food system and explore alternatives that foster equity and resilience. Through trauma-informed and participatory methods, we explore food sovereignty from a local perspective; centering collaboration, community priorities, and community ownership of knowledge. Learn more about our work at the Bio-Economy Research Chair: https://bio-economy.org.za/. Our research approach is critical of the systems that thwart social justice, and mindful of the architectures of different knowledge systems and multiple ways of knowing. Our methodologies are designed to be respectful of participants’ dignity and privacy, and supportive of mutual values such as honesty, care and fairness.