No Images? Click here CAWR NewsletterOctober 2017 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.' Book Launch InvitationWe would like to invite you to our event: “Book Launch – Meet the Authors” Location: Square One Bar @ TheHub Address: The Hub (off University Square), Priory Street, Coventry, CV1 5FB You guessed it, you can meet the authors, and editors, of some exciting new publications by researchers and affiliates of the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR)! Please join us on the evening of Tuesday 14th November from 18:00pm-22:00pm. Authors will briefly present highlights from their publications and we will celebrate together over food, drink and entertainment. We will be launching 9 publications around the area of food, agriculture and food politics to include: Everyday Experts: How People’s Knowledge Can Transform the Food System (People’s Knowledge Collective) Public Policies for Food Sovereignty: Social Movements and the State(Aurelie Desmarais, A, Claeys, P., Trauger, A.) Right to Food and Nutrition Watch 2017 The World Food Crisis: The Way Out 10th Anniversary Issue Beginning to End Hunger: Food and the Environment in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, and Beyond (Chappell, J.) Food Sovereignity, Agroecology and Biocultural Diversity (Pimbert, M.) Forest Gardening in Practice (Remiarz, T.) Gender, Nutrition, and the Human Right to Adequate Food: Toward an Inclusive Framework (Bellows, A., Valente, F., Lemke, S. and Maria Daniela Nunez Burbano de Lara) Political Ecology, Food Regimes, and Food Sovereignty: Crisis, Resistance, and Resilience (Tilzey, M.) Special Issue of RUAF Magazine UAM No. 33 "Urban Agroecology”(Produced by CAWR & RUAF) The event is free (pre-registration required), but if you would like to have dinner, there will be a charge of £15pp. Farmers Fayre will be providing the catering who will use locally sourced products for our curry. If you have any dietary requirements please tick the appropriate box. 18:00 – 18:30 Arrival (with music, aperitif served) 18:30 – 19:10 Short presentations from our authors 19:10 – 19:45 Meet the authors 19:45 – 20:30 Optional dinner is served and delegates can continue to meet the authors 20:30 – 21:00 Music performance from "Three Acres and a Cow", on the politics of food and land (delegates can continue to have dinner). 22:00 End If you would like to attend please register via this link before 2nd November: https://www.eventsforce.net/cu/4195/home The Milk Crisis in India: The Story Behind The NumbersAs part of the Reclaiming Diversity and Citizenship book series, Michel Pimbert has been working as part of the Dairy Working Group of the Food Sovereignty Alliance in India to release this new publication. Building on research in the Indian States of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, the Food Sovereignty Alliance (FSA) shows how this crisis extends well beyond the small farmers of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh State in South India. It affects small farmers nationally as well as globally. This book tells the story of how global trends including the onging threats of multilateral trade agreements such as the EU-India Free Trade Agreement and the Regional Comprehensive Economic Pact (RCEP), are driving countless small dairy farmers into debt and ultimately out of farming. It calls for a solution, based on nurturing the resilience of the small, localised networks of milk producers, cooperatives and consumers. Blooms for Bees updateBlooms for Bees has had a busy summer, collecting over 4,000 bumblebee sightings from citizen scientists UK-wide and conducting several plant trials. The team are now working through the data, posting findings on their website. Judith and Steven also shared some results at the Bumblebee Conservation Trust AGM on 21st October. European Meteorological Society Annual MeetingJonathan Eden attended the European Meteorological Society Annual Meeting in Dublin, Ireland. Jonathan presented results from his recent work in attributing extreme rainfall events to global warming and, in a poster presentation, his on-going research in the use of empirical methods to predict seasonal climate (pictured). Sustainable Food EconomiesMoya Kneafsey and Paola Guzman co-presented a paper on sustainable food economies and the role of values based supply chains at a mini conference organised by the County Durham Food Partnership. The meeting was attended by a mixture of local food businesses, community food organisations, and researchers. Marco travels to AragonA group of palaeo-environmental field researchers and landscape evolution modellers, including Marco Van De Wiel, met at the Rio Bergantes (Aragon, Spain). This was part of an international collaborative research exercise which aims to explore synergies between field-based and modelling approaches to improve understanding of landscape development. The fluvial deposits of the Rio Bergantes, which is a tributary to the Ebro, contain sedimentary data which could be used to test increasingly sophisticated numerical landscape evolution models (LEMs). Conversely, LEMs offer new tools for the evaluation of field data and the critical testing of landscape evolution hypotheses. The researchers contrasted preliminary model results with field observations in the lower Rio Bergantes. The local media was quick to pick up the story of their river suddenly being in an international scientific spotlight (only available in Spanish). Should the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants include a right to food sovereignty?This issue was discussed by more than 60 participants gathered at the UN for an expert seminar organised by the Geneva Academy on 6 October 2017. Priscilla Claeys from CAWR participated as invited expert and insisted on the importance of relocalising food systems and transitioning to agroecology as two key dimensions of food sovereignty. Thank you to the Geneva Academy for this photo. Double Success for SueSue Charlesworth gave an invited keynote on “Sustainable Drainage in challenging environments” at Sustainable Drainage: Planning, Regulation, Management, which was held at the University of Lisbon, Portugal. Off the back of this presentation, Sue has been asked to write 2 articles for 2 journals: New Water Policy and Practice and also Utilities Policy – both of these are by invitation only. Mark presents at Conference in MoscowMark Tilzey attended and presented a paper at the BICAS (BRICS Initiative in Critical Agrarian Studies) Conference in Moscow. The conference was entitled: New Extractivism, Peasantries, and Social Dynamics: Critical Perspectives and Debates. My paper was entitled: Neo-extractivism, Populism, and the Agrarian Question in Bolivia and Ecuador. Permaculture Design vs. Design in Agroecology. Same, same but different?A workshop to answer this provocative question and to work out synergies between the two was held by Immo Fiebrig (CAWR) and Maria Vela (Ecoherencia) at the 1st Forum of the European Association for Agroecology held at the French graduate college ISARA specialised in agricultural, food and environmental sciences. Weeds and Invasive PlantsEarlier this month Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz and Chloe MacLaren attended the 5th International Symposium on Weeds and Invasive Plants in Greece. Chloe presented her PhD research on using invasion science theories to design weed-suppressing cover crop mixtures, and Katharina presented a citizen science project on the prevention of plant invasions. Michael attends International WorkshopMichael Warne was one of 30 invited attendees to the Health and Environmental Sciences Institutes international workshop entitled "Establishment of the Eco-TTC Approach for Environmental Risk Assessment of Chemicals”. This was held in Ottawa, Canada, in September. While there Michael was invited to visit Environment Canada and give a presentation on his research entitled "The role of ecotoxicology and water quality guidelines in improving the health and resilience of the Great Barrier Reef, Queensland, Australia". Michael was also invited to visit the University of Montreal where he gave a presentation entitled "Pollution reduction strategies as a tool to improve the health and resilience of the Great Barrier Reef, Australia". PublicationsBrodie J, Baird M, Mongin M, Skerrat J, Waterhouse J, Robillot C, Smith R, Mann R, Warne MStJ. 2017. Development of basin specific ecologically relevant targets. Report submitted to the Reef Plan Independent Science Panel. TropWater, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, Australia. 53pp. Rymszewicz, A., O'Sullivan, J. J., Bruen, M., Turner, J. N., Lawler, D. M., Conroy, E., & Kelly-Quinn, M. (2017). Measurement differences between turbidity instruments, and their implications for suspended sediment concentration and load calculations: A sensor inter-comparison study. Journal of Environmental Management, 199, 99-108. Harper, S. E., Foster, I. D., Lawler, D. M., Mathers, K. L., McKenzie, M., & Petts, G. E. (2017). The complexities of measuring fine sediment accumulation within gravel‐bed rivers. River Research and Applications.
SeminarsExpand your knowledge by attending one our fortnightly seminars with both national and international speakers. The Centre's lunchtime seminars provide a lively discussion forum that is open to anyone to attend, including Coventry University staff and students, visiting asociates and practioners. All seminars are held at CAWR Ryton Organic Gardens (CV8 3LG) between 11.30am - 12.30pm. (unless specified otherwise). A free shuttle bus service is available from Coventry University to Ryton Organic Gardens. Please contact CAWRoffice for more details. There is also free parking on site. If you would like to attend, please register your interest with CAWRoffice who will provide you with further details. To view our previous seminars, head to our Youtube channel! The views and opinions expressed in this video are those of the presenter and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR). _______ 8th November 13:45-17:00 Seno Tsuhah Reflections on participatory work with rural communities in Nagaland, India* ________ 9th November 11:30-12:30 Rob Lillywhite Discussions to consider downstream wastage at retail and consumer stages ________ 17th November 11:30-12:30 Paola Guzman Assessing box schemes and CSAs in the UK – Progress of PhD project* ________ 21st November 14:00-15:00 Margi Lennartsson & Francis Rayns Garden Organic’s Members’ Experiment Scheme: 60 years of citizen science in organic horticulture* _______ 28th November 11:30-12:30 Dr Dan Keech World Heritage and provincial identity – urban horticulture in Bath and Bamberg* ______ *available on Facebook Live via https://www.facebook.com/CovUniCAWR/ |