No images? Click here
CAWR Newsletter
November 2020
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 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.
News
European Journal Features BOND Project
“That’s the beauty of BOND, to go, to meet, to see, to experience. It is not ‘it can be done’, it is something happening already. I witnessed it, tasted it!” says Vojin, one of our farmer representatives from Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Encapsulating the whole length and breadth of the BOND project in a single article is virtually impossible, but the team at CAWR like a challenge. The new six-page article appears in the latest issue of The Project Repository Journal published by the European Dissemination Media Agency (EDMA) and includes all the activities of the project, stories, policy recommendations, some impressive statistics and quotes from a few of our farmers who have really experienced the benefits of the project.
“... BOND gave me the push to try something new,” says Alex from The Netherlands who launched a new agroecological farmers’ federation, “The Training of Trainers in Coventry gave me the confidence to do it.”
You can read the full article here.
BOND (Bringing Organisation & Network Development to higher levels in the farming sector in Europe) is an H2020 EU funded project, led by CAWR.
Announcing a new Column at AgroecoloyNow! - “Agroecology in Motion: Nourishing Transformation”
A new column has been launched at AgroecologyNow! The aim is to create a platform for bold ideas relayed through succinct, creative and compelling writing that stretches the boundaries of thinking and action to nourish a transformative agroecology. It will include articles that stimulate reflection and learning, inform political-practical work on agroecology and move people to action. The column will be provocative and inspiring, international in scope and connected with agroecology happenings all over the world. The first article in the column lays the groundwork for future contributions.
Ash Dieback - Virtual Open Day
As part of the CAWR Ash Dieback project, a field trial growing ash saplings has been established at the site of our project partner Sacred Earth (a community owned land project located in Sussex). To raise awareness of this project with local people, PhD researcher Ffion Thomas, and her supervisor Dr Francis Rayns had planned to hold an open day at Sacred Earth, but unfortunately due to the Covid restrictions this hasn't been possible. So instead, they decided to hold a "virtual open day" by creating a video explaining the background to the project, the field trial and the use of biochar (charcoal) and willow wood chip as sustainable soil amendments, that might help the ash saplings withstand ash dieback disease. The video is being shared to coincide with National Tree Week (28 November - 6 December), the start of the winter tree planting season.
Decolonising the Curriculum? Reflecting on Possibilities and Contradictions at CAWR
The decolonising the curriculum movement represents a profound challenge to universities and a call for introspection and action. This article shares the reflections that emerged at a CAWR workshop to discuss the contradictions and possibilities of enacting decoloniality and equity in the academy. Click here to access a related multimedia ‘resource list’ on Decolonising the Curriculum.
Join in on a Range of Online Workshops with CAWR at the Oxford Real Farming Conference
This year the ORFC is going online and global with a 7-day programme (7-13th January) of talks and workshops from across the world. The event will give food and farming activists, including producers, researchers, policy-makers and NGOs the chance to exchange ideas, learn from each other and form new alliances. It will also provide space to organise ahead of the climate ministers and heads of state gathering, COP26, which the UK is hosting in Glasgow in November 2021. CAWR will be a part of 6+ presentations, workshops and interactive sessions on:
- Agroecology Financing: From Tweaking to Transformation …!
- Exporting Technofixes, Colonialism and Resistance
- Can agriculture be decolonised? Opportunities and obstacles for agroecology
- Building farmers capacity in the context of urbanisation: political pedagogies for urban agroecology
- Subtle Agroecologies: Farming with the Hidden Half of Nature
In the Belly of the Beast; Organising for Food Sovereignty in the USA
Registration for delegates from majority world countries will be free.
View more about our sessions at and see the wider slate of offerings and get tickets here.
Connecting the dots of agroecology across the global south
This podcast discusses agroecology in different contexts - From poultry plants in the US South exploiting low-wage workers, to the slow violence of pesticides in Punjab causing premature disability to the European food sovereignty movement and digital rights activism- scholars, Carrie Freshour, Divya Sharma and CAWR’s Barbara Van Dyck join the WBI show to connect the dots of agroecology across the global south. Click here to listen.
Toward Agro-Ecological Foodscape Transformation
The international webinar "Toward Agro-Ecological Foodscape Transformation: Science, Practice, Sovereignty and Social Justice" was celebrated on 16th November 2020 at the University of Brawijaya in East Java (Indonesia). Dr. Georges Félix was invited as a speaker to the event, alongside Dr. Uma Khumairoh, Dr. Paolo Bàrberi and Dr. Miguel Altieri. More than 200 people participated in the event which was recorded and can be accessed through this YouTube link.
Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics editorial board
Ivan Kourtchev has been invited to join an editorial board of the main journal in atmospheric chemistry - Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics (ACP).
ACP is an interactive open access journal of the European Geosciences Union dedicated to the publication and public discussion of high-quality studies investigating the Earth's atmosphere and the underlying chemical and physical processes. It covers the altitude range from the land and ocean surface up to the turbopause, including the troposphere, stratosphere, and mesosphere.
Best East African Film award
This winning 2 minute video - title: “Happy City, Happy Environment” was aired at the Alliance for Food Sovereignty in Africa biennial food systems conference held virtually on 26-29th October 2020. The competition was part of the growing movement of harnessing mobile technologies to support agroecology innovations in open-source and democratic ways. Congratulations to Liliane Binego and Ben Cook, our film maker at CAWR for creating this video.
Welcome Fernanda
Fernanda Cantoni has joined CAWR for her internship and will be at CAWR for three months working on the project "Biochar and bovine manure vermicompost for remediation of land and soil effected by coal mining" with Dr Anna Bogush and Dr Julia Wright. Fernanda has BSc in Environmental and Sanitary Engineering from Federal University of Santa Maria (UFSM, Santa Maria, Brazil). Currently, she is a PhD student at Santa Catarina State University (UDESC, Lages, Brazil). Fernanda is working on soil pollution in coal mining areas at the state of Santa Catarina, evaluating the use of different biochars and vermicompost as alternative sustainable materials to mitigate the environmental impacts caused by mining in these areas.
Rethinking food and agriculture: New ways forward
Patrick Mulvany, Honorary Research Fellow at CAWR, contributed to a new Elsevier book ‘Rethinking Food and Agriculture: New Ways Forward’ edited by Amir and Laila Kassam. His chapter about ‘Sustaining Agricultural Biodiversity and Heterogeneous Seeds’ argues for a more robust and transformative understanding of agricultural biodiversity, especially the need to enhance the agricultural biodiversity embedded within all seeds, breeds and agroecosystems, making these more heterogeneous and resilient. In an AgroecologyNow blog based on the chapter, he calls for new research on how to democratise and transform the governance of agricultural biodiversity so that it is truly supportive of peasant seed systems, biodiverse agroecology and food sovereignty.
WASTE FEW ULL Webinar: 26 November 2020
Dr Iris Zohar from the Galilee Research Institute and Tel- Hai Academic College, Israel, gave a very interesting talk on: Phosphorus recycling - From waste to resource to 17 attendees from 5 continents: Europe, US, South Africa, South America and Asia.
Dr Zohar’s talk introduced phosphorus (P) as a major nutrient in agricultural production, but that artificial fertilisers are manufactured from phosphorite rocks, which are non-renewable, and forecasted to diminish within 150-200 years. With increasing populations, and increasing food demand, there is a tremendous international effort to utilise waste streams to harvest P.
Dr Zohar presented an innovative, circular economy approach using two water treatment residuals (WTRs), that otherwise would be landfilled, to remove P from dairy wastewater to produce an organic P-enriched product with the potential to be used as an agricultural fertiliser. Pot trials and field experiments of different plants were presented, showing the great potential of the P-enriched WTRs to be an efficient fertiliser and their ability to promote beneficial soil conditions in the root-zone. Her research has shown that reused waste material can become a sustainable alternative to the use of chemical fertilisers.
Resourcing and Financing Agroecology - New Page, Resources and Upcoming Webinar
How can transitions towards agroecology be ‘financed’. The growing stream of research at AgroecologyNow! on Financing and Resourcing Agroecology is critically examining the role of public and philanthropic donors in agroecology transitions. The team are looking at both the quantity (and often the lack) of funds allocated to agroecology. They also especially concerned with the quality of financing approaches and specifically how they can support a transformative agroecology. Also, this page lists the growing number of studies that explicitly study the extent to which agroecology is being financed through different agricultural development and research programs.
Studentships
Chemical analysis and bioaccumulation of ‘forever chemicals’ in aquatic organisms - This opportunity will remain open until a suitable candidate is identified
Exploring Cultural Modes of Forecasting Rainfall and Droughts in Rural Zimbabwe using Indigenous Knowledge - application deadline: 18th January 2021
Identification of sources and fate of emerging contaminants in surface and drinking water - This opportunity will remain open until a suitable candidate is identified
Investigating and designing low-cost vegetated drainage systems for storm water management in Nepal - application deadline 14th May 2021
Promoting sustainability within horticultural value-chains in Southern Africa: an investigation of a corporate-led sustainability initiative - application deadline: 26th February 2021
Revival of indigenous agroforestry systems (chakras) for crisis resilience in the Ecuadorian Amazon: opportunities and challenges of gender, ethnicity and forest livelihoods - application deadline: 31st March 2021
Understanding future impact of climate change on agricultural productivity and practices in northern Africa - application deadline: 18th June 2021
When violence and natural disasters intersect – exploring the role of gender and agro-cultural artefacts in the promotion of equitable resilience and solidarity in rural Zimbabwe - application deadline: 20th January 2021
Call for papers
Topic Editors: Dr Anna Bogush, Dr Evi Viza and Dr Mariale Moreno
Abstract submission deadline: 8th January 2021
Special Issue "Advanced Materials in Environmental Chemistry" of Molecules journal
Topic Editors: Dr Anna Bogush, Dr Elza Bontempi and Dr Margarida Quina
Manuscript submission deadline: 15th February 2021
Special Issue on Women’s Communal Land Rights in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, sub-section Social Movements, Institutions and Governance
Topic Editors: Priscilla Claeys, Stefanie Lemke and Juana Camacho
Abstract submission deadline: 11 December 2020
Topic Editors: Stefanie Lemke, Priscilla Claeys, Nina Moeller and Georgina McAllister
Seminars
Sustainability Values in Alternative Food Networks: The case of box schemes and CSAs
Join Paola Guzman on 3rd December 15:00-16:00 GMT to hear about Paola's results from her PhD research on box schemes and CSAs.
Click here to find out more and register your place.
Human-environment interactions in the Himalayan Sutlej-Beas system
Join Dr Robert Grabowski on 10th December 11:30-12:30 GMT to hear more about the environmental research quantifying geomorphological and vegetation dynamics over multiple timescales.
Click here to find out more and to register your place.
Publications
Alvarez Febles, N. and Félix, G. (2020) Hurricane María, Agroecology and Climate Change Resiliency. In B. Tokar and T. Gilbertson (Eds.), Climate Justice and Community Renewal. London: Routledge. [contact authors for pdf].
Anderson, C.R., Milgroom, J. and Pimbert. M. (2020) Pivoting from Local Food to Just Food Systems. Farming Matters. 36.1. P. 43.
Arora, S., Van Dyck, B., Sharma, D. & A. Stirling. (2020) Control, care, and conviviality in the politics of technology for sustainability, Sustainability. Science, Practice and Policy, 16:1, 247-262.
Claeys, P. and Peschard, K. (2020) Transnational Agrarian Movements, Food Sovereignty, and Legal Mobilization in the Oxford Handbook of Law and Anthropology.
Duncan, J. and Claeys, P. (2020) Gender, COVID-19 and Food Systems: impacts, community responses and feminist policy demands. CSM Women’s Working Group.
Herren, H.R., B. Haerlin and IAASTD+10 Advisory Group. Transformation of Our Food Systems. Berlin/Zurich: Zukunftsstiftung Landwirtschaft/Biovision.
Lamkaddam, H., Gratien, A., Pangui, E., David, M., Peinado, F., Polienor, J., Jerome, M., Cazaunau, M., Gaimoz, C., Picquet-Varrault, B., Kourtchev, I., Kalberer, M. and Doussin, J. (2020) Role of Relative Humidity in the Secondary Organic Aerosol Formation from High-NOx Photooxidation of Long-Chain Alkanes: n-Dodecane Case Study. ACS Earth and Space Chemistry
Mašek O., Bogush A., Jayakumar A., Peters C. (2020) Biochar characterization methods. Chapter 5. In the book: Biochar: Emerging applications (Eds: A. Tagliaferro, C. Rosso and M. Giorcelli), IOP Publishing Ltd, in press.
Paganini, N., Lemke, S. (2020) ‘There is food we deserve, and there is food we do not deserve’. Food Injustice, Place and Power in Urban Agriculture in Cape Town and Maputo. Local Environment.
von Diest, S.G., Wright, J., Samways, M.J., Kieft, H. (2020) A call to focus on farmer intuition for improved management decision-making. Outlook on Agriculture 49 (4): 278-285
