Export Publication

The publication can be exported in the following formats: APA (American Psychological Association) reference format, IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) reference format, BibTeX and RIS.

Export Reference (APA) 
Guedes, M., Ferreiro, Maria de Fátima & Proença, Vânia (2025). The Role of Seed Banks in Resisting Agricultural and Ecological Degradation: The Case of Portugal. 5th International Conference  Social and Solidarity Economy and the Commons.
Export Reference (IEEE) 
M. R. Guedes et al.,  "The Role of Seed Banks in Resisting Agricultural and Ecological Degradation: The Case of Portugal", in 5th Int. Conf.  Social and Solidarity Economy and the Commons, Lisboa, 2025
Export BibTeX 
@misc{guedes2025_1771853743493,
	author = "Guedes, M. and Ferreiro, Maria de Fátima and Proença, Vânia",
	title = "The Role of Seed Banks in Resisting Agricultural and Ecological Degradation: The Case of Portugal",
	year = "2025",
	howpublished = "Digital",
	url = "https://ssecommons.cei.iscte-iul.pt/"
}
Export RIS 
TY  - CPAPER
TI  - The Role of Seed Banks in Resisting Agricultural and Ecological Degradation: The Case of Portugal
T2  - 5th International Conference  Social and Solidarity Economy and the Commons
AU  - Guedes, M.
AU  - Ferreiro, Maria de Fátima
AU  - Proença, Vânia
PY  - 2025
CY  - Lisboa
UR  - https://ssecommons.cei.iscte-iul.pt/
AB  - This research evaluates the role of three Portuguese seed banks—the Portuguese Plant
Germplasm Bank (BPGV), the Seed Bank of the National Museum of Natural History and
Science (MUHNAC), and the Colher para Semear network—in regenerating agrobiodiversity
and advancing food sovereignty. Framed by political-ecology and institutional-economics
theories, the study tackles three interlinked questions: (1) how community-driven seed
practices (saving, exchange, multiplication) enhance ecological resilience and empower local
food systems; (2) what legal-institutional obstacles arise from prevailing regimes such as EU
seed legislation and how they constrain bank operations; and (3) how the banks implement
commons-based governance, stewardship, and reciprocal knowledge networks to sustain
conservation and systemic resilience. Employing a transdisciplinary methodology that merges
legal-document analysis with semi-structured interviews of the banks’ coordinators, the
findings reveal a pronounced mismatch between the homogenising, variety-uniformity
emphasis of current intellectual-property frameworks and the banks’ focus on long-term
ecological and cultural regeneration. Legal ambiguities, governance asymmetries, and
institutional lock-ins emerge as major barriers to transformative food systems. The study
argues that re-politicising seed conservation and recognising seeds as material-cultural
commons are essential steps toward building resilient, sovereign, and livable futures in
Portugal.
ER  -