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CAWR Newsletter
June 2022
Our monthly newsletters are an easy way to keep up-to-date with new developments at our research centre. From successful project bids to upcoming events, our newsletter informs you on how we are 'driving innovative transdisciplinary research on equitable, sustainable and resilient food and water systems.'
The views and opinions expressed in this newsletter are those of the contributors at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Coventry University.
CAWR Open Day a Great Success!
CAWR’s Open Day on 15th June at Ryton Gardens attracted around 200 people who enjoyed an afternoon in the sun with food, fun, and a showcase of talks and other events indicating the range of research being carried out at the centre. Below are some pictures from the day. A larger reel of photos and video is currently being prepared and will be disseminated in due course.
Participation in the 2022 MonGOS Summer School in Riga, Latvia
Jhonny Bautista, a second-year PhD student was selected to participate in the 2022 MonGOS Summer School in Riga, Latvia from May 28th to June 3rd. The event focused on the challenges of water and sewage management from a circular economy perspective. Several lectures, case study visits, workshops and group presentations were organised by the University of Latvia and the Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange. The main output of this international event was to suggest a design concept for a futuristic sustainable wastewater treatment plant and solid waste management facility within the framework of the circular economy context.
RECOMS at New European Bauhaus Festival
Professor Alex Franklin explains the REadjust tool to European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel
4 days, 3 public squares, 100s of people and a multi-headed monster = RECOMS at the New European Bauhaus Festival in Brussels.
The RECOMS team shared the project and its outcomes with passers-by through collaborative games, art and storytelling, and even had a visit from Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth. She was very interested in the RE-ADJUST Tool saying ‘we definitely need more things like this promoted. We need more ways for young people to get involved in the debate.’
We couldn’t agree more, Mariya!
Girl and multi-headed monster at the Bauhaus Festival
New article exploring women’s experience of dùthchas
CAWR PhD student Ryan Dziadowiec recently had another article published in the West Highland Free Press newspaper. This article examines the complexities of women’s experience of dùthchas, the cosmological concept he is exploring in his thesis.
On one hand, dùthchas relates to land: it appears that – with a few exceptions – Gaelic society excluded women from inheriting it for the vast majority of history. On the other hand, dùthchas also relates to kinship and intangible cultural heritage, which women have been championing in the Gàidhealtachd for centuries. What can women’s experience of dùthchas tell us about the status of women in Gaelic society throughout history?
Gardening without harmful invasive plants
The Plant Alert team at CAWR have developed a list of over 160 plant species that do the same, or similar, 'jobs' as invasive ornamental plants and can be used in their place. This list is an update on a previous list developed by the RHS and Plantlife and can be viewed or downloaded here.
AGROMIX at EURAF2022
Rosemary Venn addressing the EURAF2022 conference
In mid-May Rosemary Venn travelled overland to Sardinia to participate in EURAF2022 on behalf of AGROMIX. The conference was a fantastic mix of young, enthusiastic researchers, farmers and practitioners coming together to share knowledge and experiences in agroforestry systems. Connections were built and strengthened and AGROMIX hosted two sessions, including a live streamed Q&A sessions presented by the Regenerative Agroforestry Podcast. Rosemary very much enjoyed her first academic conference!
British Council workshops in Pakistan
Attendees to the British Council training in Lahore, with Sue and Farzana in the middle at the front.
Professor Susanne Charlesworth (CAWR) and Dr Farzana Aslem (GLEA) travelled to Lahore and Multan in Pakistan (6-21 May) to deliver two one week-long workshops to engage with Pakistani PIs and exchange knowledge on the successful management of their research projects. The weeks ended with the production of a Development Plan for Pakistan in which bottlenecks to the successful application for funding, pinch points where extra assistance was needed and where flows through the management of a project could be made more efficient were identified and mapped. About 55 delegates attended each week.
CAWR researchers publish Biochar filtration review article
Outline of Biochar filtration review
The open-access review paper "Use of biochar-based column filtration systems for greywater treatment: A systematic literature review" published in the Journal of Water Process Engineering (Elsevier) is now available online (click here for access).
The review is part of the PhD study of Jhonny Ismael Bautista Quispe (2nd year PhD student) with DoS Dr Anna Bogush and Co-supervisors Dr Luiza Campos (UCL) and Dr Ondrej Masek (The University of Edinburgh).
Biochar-based column filtration systems (BCFS) for greywater treatment have gained attention in the last decade. However, a review of the state-of-the-art on this subject has not been conducted, leaving the analysis and limitations of the available research still unexplored. This paper reviews the current literature to give insights into the technology and identify new areas of investigation.
Cats, not food
CAWR doctoral researcher, Emma Burnett, recently won second place in a short story competition and had her work published in Silver Apples literary magazine. If you need a short work break, you can read her story here.
The COVID-19 Research Poster Showcase at Coventry University
CAWR PhD student Jhonny Bautista Quispe presented his research "A Sustainable Handwashing Station for Rural Schools in Peru" at the COVID-19 Research Poster Showcase at Coventry University on 20th June 2022. Jhonny’s was one of a series of outstanding research projects which were presented by PhD students at the event.
Conference presentations in Scotland
Professor Susanne Charlesworth gave two presentations at conferences in Scotland 6-8 June 2022. The first was at the Scottish Rural University College, Edinburgh University at the Sustainable Environment: Land-Food-Water-Energy Nexus Conference. The title was “The Waste FEW ULL project” which examines waste in the Food-Energy-Water nexus in 4 living labs worldwide (image 1, above).
The second was in the Cairngorms for the Scottish Universities Green Infrastructure Research Group (images 2&3, below) and was about the use of Sustainable Drainage Systems in refugee camps and informal settlements to address the lack of surface water and greywater management in such contexts.
Land Reform on the Silver Screen: CAWR researcher takes part in Folk Film Gathering
From left to right on stage, Iain MacKinnon, Mike Small and Kirsteen Shields at the 'Who Owns the Land?' film-ceilidh at the Filmhouse Cinema in Edinburgh
Iain MacKinnon was on a panel discussing 'Who Owns the Land?' as part of a Folk Film Festival held at the Filmhouse Cinema in Edinburgh in June. The session, dubbed a 'film-ceilidh', was organised by online magazine Bella Caledonia and began with with music from fiddler Adam Sutherland. Following two short films, Iain and fellow panellist Kirsteen Shields, of the Global Academy of Agriculture and Food Systems at Edinburgh University, discussed issues raised by the films, and explored the ongoing question of land rights in Scotland.
CAWR Project Holds International Course on Contentious Inputs in Organic Agriculture
Plastic has many uses in organic farming although this can be contentious
From 2nd to 30th June, the CAWR-led Organic-PLUS project ran their International Course on Contentious Inputs in Organic Agriculture. Through seven online sessions and two farms visits, attendees learned about contentious inputs currently permitted in organic agriculture and the work of Organic-PLUS to improve organic systems by finding alternatives. The course was free to attend and included presentations from researchers in several partner countries, including Spain, Poland, Norway and from the team at CAWR. The course materials will be made freely available to all by the end of July.
Events
Catch up on our events and seminars by visiting our YouTube channel
Studentships
Chemical analysis and bioaccumulation of ‘forever chemicals’ in aquatic organisms - This opportunity will remain open until a suitable candidate is identified
Publications
Kinlock, N.L., Dehnen‐Schmutz, K., Essl, F., Pergl, J., Pyšek, P., Kreft, H., Weigelt, P., Yang, Q. and van Kleunen, M., 2022. Introduction history mediates naturalization and invasiveness of cultivated plants. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 31(6), pp.1104-1119.
Quispe J.I.B., Campos L., Masek O., Bogush A. (2022). Use of biochar-based column filtration systems for greywater treatment: a systematic review. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 48, 102908.
Du T., Bogush A., Mašek O., Purton S., Campos L. (2022). Algae, biochar and bacteria for acid mine drainage (AMD) remediation: a review. Chemosphere, 304, 135284.
Valdés-Correcher, E., Popova, A., Galmán, A., … Green, S. et al. (2022). Herbivory on the pedunculate oak along an urbanization gradient in Europe: Effects of impervious surface, local tree cover, and insect feeding guild. Ecology and Evolution, 12, e8709.
Kourtchev I, Hellebust S, Heffernan E, Wenger J, Towers S, Diapouli E, Eleftheriadis K. (2022). A new on-line SPE LC-HRMS method for the analysis of Perfluoroalkyl and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS) in PM2.5 and its application for screening atmospheric particulates from Dublin and Enniscorthy, Ireland. Sci Total Environ. 2022 Apr 26; 835:155496. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.155496.
Burnett, E. (2022). Nurturing Clever Cities: The Intersection Between Urban Agriculture and Smart Technologies. In N. Minaei (Ed.), Smart Cities: Critical Debates on Big Data, Urban Development and Social Environmental Sustainability. CRC Press.
Dehnen-Schmutz, K., & Novoa, A. (2022). Advances in the management of invasive plants. In D. Clements, M. Upadhyaya, S. Joshi, & A. Shrestha (Eds.), Global Plant Invasions (pp. 317-330). Springer Nature Switzerland AG. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-89684-3
