Colin Dring (he/his) works towards food system justice and sustainability in collaboration with different change makers. He is a community developer, a facilitator, a researcher, a connector, and is inquisitive by nature. He has over 15 years of experience in the field of community food security, agricultural and food system planning, community development, and agri-food policy. He holds degrees in Soil and Environmental Science (B.Sc. 2009), Rural Planning and Development (M.Sc. 2012), and a PhD in Integrated Studies in Land and Food Systems (Ph.D. 2023). Colin has worked with multiple levels of government including Metro Vancouver, City of Richmond, Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Fisheries, Environment Canada and Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada as part of the Research Affiliate Program. His work with the government has influenced his interest in the role that state planning plays in achieving justice in the food system through land-use planning, agri-food system governance, and political practices. Colin’s doctoral research examined how local levels of government, across unceded First Peoples’ territories, attempts to shape agricultural futures in contexts of difference, complexity, and unpredictability. His current work explores how communities can imagine alternative food systems (and their contexts) that are socially just and open space for new paradigms of relational ethics, accountability, and reciprocity between humans, other-than-humans, and the Land/planet. This work aims to shift local food and agricultural planning towards decolonial practices that achieve sustainable and equitable food systems.