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CAWR Newsletter
January 2018
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.'
A hidden harvest with Liliane
You may have not of seen that we had a great presence on local news and radio this month, all in aid of a seminar on edible insects hosted by Liliane Binego.
Attendees to the seminar, including news correspondents from the BBC and ITV, were all invited to taste the delicacy of roasted grasshoppers, which went down well with the guests!
Recently Awarded Projects
Waste Food-Energy-Water Urban Living Labs - mapping and reducing waste in the food-energy-water nexus.
Funded by: the Belmont Forum and Urban Europe
Duration: 3 years
PI: Professor Sue Charlesworth
The project aims to map and substantially reduce waste in the urban food-energy-water (FEW) nexus in city-regions across three continents: Europe, Africa and South America. It will establish four Urban Living Labs (ULL) of key stakeholders who will undertake participatory research to: a) map resource flows; b) identify critical dysfunctional linear pathways; c) agree the response most appropriate to the local context (e.g. policy intervention, technology diffusion); d) model the market and non-market economic value of each intervention; and e) engage with decision makers to close each loop.
Determining the performance of large biofiltration cells in treating contaminated runoff from a slum settlement and its reuse for urban food production.
Royal Society International Collaboration Award with Dr Kevin Winter, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
PI: Professor Sue Charlesworth
This project will determine the ability of purpose-built, large-scale biofiltration cells downstream from a large informal settlement to treat contaminated runoff resulting from dysfunctional sanitation and limited urban drainage infrastructure, to ensure safe, productive water supporting sustainable livelihoods through food production. The proposal is rooted in a South African context where resources are severely constrained and there is an urgent challenge to reduce poverty and inequality, that continue to be shaped by the Apartheid era legacy. The main study site is the Water Hub, a research centre currently under development in Franschhoek, Western Cape (WC) Province supported by a field site at Ryton Organic Gardens (ROG) Coventry, UK.
New MSc course for postgraduate students
CAWR are launching a new MSc course for September 2018 intake and you could join us. Updates are coming thick and fast so keep checking back on our website for how to apply and key dates for your diary.
Michael is here there and everywhere!
Professor Michael Warne has been invited to give a keynote presentation at workshop in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia on 26 and 27 March 2018. The workshop is bringing together experts to develop integrative approaches to monitoring and modelling efforts with the aim of being better able to make predictions about the trajectory of ecosystems under stress or subject to change as a result of anthropogenic factors, including environmental contaminants.
Michael will be co-chairing a special session at the International Society of Toxicology and Environmental Chemistry European Conference 13-17 May 2018 in Rome. The session is entitled “Derivation, Validation and Implementation of Environmental Quality Benchmarks”. His co-chairs are Prof Ryan Brooks (USA), Prof. Kenny Leung (Hong Kong).
The 12.01 project
The 12.01 Project is an instigator of social change. It connects innovative solutions to a global community through a platform offering: high quality documentaries, original interviews, research, tools and guidelines to take action, contact details of experts involved, and opportunities for collaboration. The 12.01 Project makes documentaries make a difference.
Last week CAWR researchers were able to watch the film Towards Life: South African Biosphere Reserves.
Ben would love to hear any of your ideas or thoughts on the entire project.
ORFC 2018
Many CAWR researchers attended the Oxford Real farming Conference to kick off the new year with new ideas and networks being developed.
Dr. Luke Owen and the team presented the key results from their social impact toolkit pilot that took place over the summer of 2017. This prompted a lively discussion amongst the attendees at the fringe workshop, and various ideas were generated about how to continue developing this research agenda.
Theatre for Life Campaign
Sagari Ramdas of the Food Sovereignty Alliance, India who is also a visiting research fellow for CAWR stars in a new mini-film here.
During the final months of 2017 twenty farmers from Badampet village, in the Indian state of Telangana, cutting across diverse ages, genders, castes, communities and religions, inspiringly, worked together to devise a play depicting the crisis in which they have found themselves. Performing the play in the village created a space for dialogue that is already bearing fruit, with farmers envisioning collective ways to regain control of their land, food and lives. Families who have felt isolated in their struggles are recognising the power of collective action.
A group of CAWR researchers worked with them on a successful grant application to the Arts and Humanities Research Council to fund the play’s development and its initial performance. Now the farmers would like to reach many more villages in order to widen this dialogue amongst the women and men across the country, starting next month. CAWR are working with them and our collaborators at Solidarity Hull on a crowdfunding campaign to make this possible.
Poor drainage in slums and refugee camps can be lethal - we must do better
Professor Sue Charlesworth wrote an inspiring article for The Conversation which was republished on The Independent website.
Congratulations to Jamila
Belated congratulations to Dr. Jamila Haider, of the Stockholm Resilience Centre (SRC), who successfully defended her Ph.D. in September. Senior Research Fellow M. Jahi Chappell examined Dr. Haider’s defense as her “Opponent.” From the SRC’s Facebook page: “Jamila was faced with challenging and interesting questions from M. Jahi Chappell and did an amazing, eloquent job.”
New collaborations on the horizon
Julia Wright, Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz and Ulrich Schmutz traveled to Ruskin Mill College and the Field Centre in Nailsworth, Gloucestershire, to discuss funded PhD projects for Ruskin Mill staff. Further items on the agenda were deeper research and teaching collaboration on biodynamic research, organic aquaculture, Goethian science.
Postgraduate Researcher of the Year
Congratulations to Morwenna McKenzie who was awarded Postgraduate Researcher of the Year at the University's Research Hootenanny event.
RECOMS are hiring!
RECOMS - a European Commission funded (2018-2022) Marie Sklodowska Curie Innovative Training Network investigating resourceful and resilient community environmental practice are currently recruiting for a Project Manager/ Facilitator. The advertised position is for 48-months fixed term with a salary range of £31,611 - £40,002 (starting point dependent on experience). The closing date for applications is January 9th 2018.
The RECOMS network comprises a consortium of scientists, practitioners and socio- environmental champions from eleven public, private and non-profit organisations located in six European Union countries. The consortium brings together relatively diverse forms and disciplines of expertise, but also a shared passion and commitment for advancing collaborative forms of environmental practice. The project manager/ facilitator position sits at the very heart of RECOMS. It requires a highly motivated and enthusiastic individual with communicative, organisational and coordination skills, and a commitment to empowering others through the facilitation of knowledge exchange and shared learning.
Call for papers for Brexit and alternative foodscapes session
Dr. Luke Owen, Dr. Alex Franklin and Donna Udall are convening a session for the Royal Geographical Society Annual International Conference to be held in Cardiff, 28th-31st August.
The session has been sponsored by the Food Geographies Working Group and is titled 'What might an ‘alternative’, agroecological post-Brexit foodscape look like? Exploring opportunities, challenges, evidence and ambition'.
The deadline to submit abstracts is 9th February.
Find out more on the RGS website.
Publications
Charlesworth, S.M., K. Winter, A. Adam-Bradford, M. Mezue, M. McTough, F. Warwick, M. Blackett. (2018) Sustainable Drainage in Challenging Environments. New Water Policy and Practice Journal, Special Issue: Water Governance Leadership. 4, 1, 31-41.
Hulme, P., Brundu, G., Carboni, M., Dehnen-Schmutz, K., Dullinger, S., Early, R., Essl, F., Gonzalez-Moreno, P., Groom, Q., Kueffer, C., Kuehn, I., Maurel, N., Novoa, A., Pergl, J., Pysek, P., Seebens, H., Tanner, R., Touza, J., van Kleunen, M., Verbrugge, L. (2018): Integrating invasive species policies across ornamental horticulture supply-chains to prevent plant invasions.Journal of Applied Ecology 55: 92-98.
L. Finley+, M. J. Chappell, P. Thiers and J. R. Moore+. “Does organic farming present greater opportunities for employment and community development than conventional farming? A survey-based investigation in California and Washington.” Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.
M. Vaarst, A. Getz Escudero, M. J. Chappell, G. Fonseca de Almeida, L. Andreasen, N. Halberg, A. Gattinger, D. Bossio, R. Nijbroek, and C. Brinkley. “Exploring the concept of agroecological food systems in a city-region context.” Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems.
R. Huggins, R. Wallace, D. N. Orr, B. Thomson, R. A. Smith, C. Taylor , O. King, R. Gardiner, B. Ferguson, S. Preston, S. Simpson, J. Shanks, M. St. J. Warne, R. D. R. Turner, R. M. Mann. 2017. Great Barrier Reef Catchment Loads Monitoring Program: Report Summary 2015 – 2016.
Seminars
Expand 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 associates 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 using the links below.
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).
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01/02/2018 11:45-12:45
Fernando Pellegrini
Working with intercropping and arable crop farmers: A researcher's tale from Central Italy
For more information or to book a place click here
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07/02/2018 11:30-12:30
Jessica Duncan
Why conflict matters: examples from food governance
For more information or to book a place click here
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21/02/2018 10:00-12:00
Rodrigo Olave
Land use change strategies to reduce the greenhouse gas emission-intensity of farming systems
For more information or to book a place click here
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28/02/2018 10:00-12:00
Rodrigo Olave
Agroforestry – sustainable grassland management
For more information or to book a place click here
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