CAWR Newsletter

January 2024

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.

Strong CAWR Presence at This Year's Oxford Real Farming Conference

There was a strong CAWR presence at the 15th annual Oxford Real Farming Conference which took place in early January.

Michel Pimbert took part in a session with CAWR honorary research fellow Colin Anderson and Jyoti Fernandes of the Landworkers’ Alliance to discuss ‘Strengthening grassroots research and learning in the global agroecological and food sovereignty movement’.

Their session examined how research, learning and education can be harnessed by movements to co-create and mobilize knowledge for just transitions in food systems. 

Liza Marley and Natalie Morley helped look after the CAWR stand at this year’s event. Natalie said: “This was the first ORFC I’ve attended and it was a wonderful experience. I enjoyed spending time on the CAWR stand and meeting interesting people. It was a pleasure to be able to take photographs of CAWR researchers during their sessions and learn more about the fundamental work they do.”

The CAWR stand featured information about the AGROMIX project which the centre is leading on. AGROMIX project coordinator Ulrich Schmutz participated in sessions on permanent cropping, agroforestry, the UK horticultural policy and research strategy of the Landworkers' Alliance.

Julia Wright chaired a packed session on Communication with Nature Spirits by Dr Patrick MacManaway. Patrick divulged the simple and effective ways by which we can deepen dialogue with nature so as to practice right-relationship in land husbandry.  Patrick will be running some farmer training courses later in the year - as advertised in the ORFC newsletters. 

Nina Isabella Moeller together with Emile Frison from IPES-Food and Carlos Barahona from Statistics for Sustainable Development presented a collaboratively developed agroecology assessment framework, which has been adopted by the international Agroecology Coalition as a tool to track finance flows in support of agroecological development. The ORFC session focused on exploring the framework's relevance to other contexts, including as a pedagogical tool to facilitate a deeper understanding of what agroecology is and can be. An audio file and slides from the session can be found here.

Jessica Milgroom was involved in two sessions. Alongside Loa Niumeitolu, a Tongan immigrant living on Lisjan Ohlone Territory, California, she presented their families’ colonised and colonising experiences with their traditional foods and the traditional foods of Indigenous people on the land they settled.

Jessica also co-facilitated with Lucy Aphramor a workshop using a liberatory pedagogy in which the group explored agroecology and feminism. Participants said how valuable it was to have a feminist space for discussion and there was a real appetite for engagement reflected in participants’ decision to stay connected with plans for a residential meet-up.

Lucy was also involved in a second session. Building on CAWR’s contribution to the One Health event in Brussels in December, they co-facilitated a workshop called ‘Queering Milk and Milking Queer’ with Becca Stevenson of Five Acre Farm. The session was chaired by the Food Ethics Council and was enthusiastically received. One group of participants emailed to share ‘how influential it was in shaping our thinking for the rest of the conference, and I loved the way Lucy flipped a lot of our preconceptions on our head”.

Iain MacKinnon was involved in a session which explored ruptures, continuity and renewal in senses of belonging to place which featured a panel of people from a mixture of backgrounds in Great Britain and Ireland.

Emma Burnett, who recently completed a PhD at CAWR was running sessions at the Story Museum, which was where the Justice Hub was situated. She said the venue held an incredible series of events, talks, and workshops. Emma also presented at the conference’s open mic night, reading one of her short stories called ‘A surely incomplete history…’ which is a food fiction piece.

Below are some photos (all taken by Natalie Morley aside from the final one which was taken by Ulrich Schmutz) showing CAWR's participation at this year's ORFC...

The CAWR stand at this year's conference

Lucy Aphramor speaking at their workshop session

Nina Moeller shares the agroecology assessment framework

Natalie Morley and Liza Marley at the CAWR stand

Michel Pimbert alongside CAWR honorary research fellow Colin Anderson and Jyoti Fernandes of the Landworkers' Alliance

Iain MacKinnon on the sense of belonging panel

The main hall during this year's ORFC

CAWR Researcher Supports Discussion in Parliament on Extreme Poverty in Britain

CAWR's Jasber Singh (sixth from left) with project participants and MPs in Parliament

Earlier this month CAWR researcher Jasber Singh helped to host a photo exhibition in the Houses of Parliament.

The exhibition was a collaboration with Kate Osamor MP and Project 17’s group ‘United Impact’ and drew attention to the extreme hardship faced by families whose migration status disqualifies them from public support.

It was entitled ‘A Voice For The Voiceless. Through the lens of lived experience:  No Recourse to Public Funds [NRPF], the violation of human rights, and resilience to it’.

The exhibition is based on participatory action research project where people took photos on living with NRPF and being subjected to the hostile environment. Many MPs attended the exhibition and viewed the photos. The MPs also had time to speak and listen to research participants and gain a better understanding of the harmful impact of this immigration policy. The accompanying book was also launched and given to MPs to further their engagement with NRPF and its devasting impacts

CAWR Welcomes Chinese Scholars for Project to Model Vegetation Movement in Wetlands

Dr Pengnan Sun (left), Dr Matteo Rubinato (middle) and Prof. Huayang Cai (right)

Dr Pengnan Sun and Prof. Huayang Cai, both from the School of Ocean Engineering and Technology at Sun Yat-sen University in China, visited CAWR in January to start a Royal Society Project (IEC\NSFC\223095) with Dr Matteo Rubinato.

The project looks at how to optimise 3D Smoothed Particle Hydrodynamics (SPH) modelling of vegetation movement under waves and currents in wetlands.

On Monday 15^th, both scholars made an oral presentation at CAWR. Dr Sun’s talk focused on the SPH method and its applications for fluid-structure interactions in ocean engineering, while Prof. Cai described his unified theory for tidally averaged coastal flooding and salt intrusion in estuaries.

Creative Methods and Improving Biodiversity Decision Making

Participants on the training programme

Alex Franklin, Geraldine Brown, and Barbara Smith, members of CAWR, participated in a three-day training program on research methods in Berlin in January. The training was part of the Planet4B project.

During the event, Geraldine Brown and filmmaker Ben Cook led a session exploring the use of film in research and participatory filmmaking The Research Film Maker: Using Film in Research (Online) (ncrm.ac.uk). As key partners in the Planet4B project, the CAWR team aims to encourage and support consortium partners to test creative methods in case studies with diverse learning communities across Europe to explore understandings of biodiversity and how the knowledge produced can improve biodiversity decision-making and facilitate social change.

CAWR Tinsel Traders Table

During December CAWR ran a ‘Tinsel Traders’ Bring and Take Table to offer some more sustainable gifting options over the festive period. It has continued over January as a ‘Green Clean’ Bring and Take Table for people to discard an unwanted items.

Garden Escapers Stakeholder Workshop

As part of the Garden Escapers project, Tomos Jones and Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz organised a stakeholder workshop in North Wales to share experiences of tackling invasive ornamental plants including participants from the Czech Republic. We had around twenty key stakeholders actively contributing to discussions on identifying priorities going forward. It even snowed which made the event even more memorable!

This project is being led by Coventry University and North Wales Wildlife Trust and funded by Natural Resources Wales.

SEE ME Exhibition

SEE ME is an exhibition launched in LGBT History Month redress the erasure of older LGBT people in Shropshire. It displays photographs taken by Ming De Nasty, including an image of Lucy Aphramor from CAWR at their allotment. Researcher Chris Day from CTPSR was also involved in the project

Applications Open for CAWR's MSc Course Beginning Autumn 2024

For further information about this unique, brilliant opportunity to deepen knowledge, understanding and practices around Agroecology, Water and Food Sovereignty please use the QR code, above, or follow this link.

Growing Connections training opportunities

Growing Connections project is providing training for people interested in growing trees for local planting projects. We have short courses in Biosecurity in February, and short Recordkeeping training in March, online and in-person. Welcome all! To book a place on a course, click on this link.

New Paper Exploring Biochar’s Efficacy in Removing Anionic Surfactant from Water

Jhonny Ismael Bautista Quispe, a doctoral student guided by Dr. Anna Bogush, is excited to share his latest achievement: the publication of his third research paper as the lead author in the Journal of Environmental Technology (Taylor & Francis).

This paper highlights his innovative research on using biochar, derived from agricultural and wood waste, for the removal of sodium dodecyl sulphate - an anionic surfactant prevalent in handwashing soaps - from water. The study reveals biochar's potential effectiveness in treating wastewater containing high levels of anionic surfactants, particularly those resulting from handwashing activities. This work forms a significant part of Jhonny's interdisciplinary PhD research in Agroecology, Water, and Resilience, which is centred on the development of a sustainable handwashing facility utilising bio-based materials for the on-site treatment of handwashing wastewater.

Events

Upcoming Events

Virtual Open Days: Agroecology, Water and Food Sovereignty MSc, March 29th, Register here. 

Catch up on our events and seminars by visiting our YouTube channel

Publications

Jones, T. S., Culham, A., Pickles, B. J., & David, J. (2024). How do gardeners define ‘invasive’? Implications for invasion science and environmental policy instruments on invasive species. Environmental Science & Policy, 151, 103614. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envsci.2023.103614

Pimbert, M.P. (2023). Defender la transformación radical de la agricultura y la alimentación. In: Una mirada critica de la transición ecológica. Revista Soberania Alimentaria Biodiversidad y Culturas. No 48.

Moeller, NI, Geck, M, Anderson, C, Barahona, C, Broudic, C, Cluset, R, Henriques, G, Leippert, F, Mills, D, Minhaj, A, Mueting-van Loon, A, de Raveschoot, SP, Frison, E. (2023). Measuring agroecology: Introducing a methodological framework and a community of practice approach. Elementa: Science of the Anthropocene 11(1). DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/elementa.2023.00042

Carmen L. Manuelian, Sophie Valleix, Héloïse Bugaut, Birgit Fuerst-Waltl, Luciana daCosta, Sara Burbi, Ulrich Schmutz, Adrian Evans, Nikolaos Katsoulas, Sofia Faliagka, Uygun Aksoy, Özge Çiçekli, Danuta Dróżdż, Krystyna Malińska, Lindsay Whistance, Marion Johnson, Lucas Knebl, Federico Righi & Massimo De Marchi (2023) 'Farmers concerns in relation to organic livestock production', Italian Journal of Animal Science, 22:1, 1268-1282, DOI: 10.1080/1828051X.2023.2252005

Bacher, S., Galil, B. S., Nuñez, M. A., Ansong, M., Cassey, P., Dehnen-Schmutz, K., Fayvush, G., Hiremath, A. J., Ikegami, M., Martinou, A. F., McDermott, S. M., Preda, C., Vilà, M., Weyl, O. L. F., Fernandez, R. D., and Ryan-Colton, E. (2023). Chapter 4: Impacts of invasive alien species on nature, nature's contributions to people, and good quality of life. In: Thematic Assessment Report on Invasive Alien Species and their Control of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services. Roy, H. E., Pauchard, A., Stoett, P., and Renard Truong, T. (eds.). IPBES secretariat, Bonn, Germany. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7430731

Lokidor, P., Taka, M., Lashford, C. and Charlesworth, S. Nature-Based Solutions for Sustainable Flood Management in East Africa. Journal of Flood Risk Management. http://doi.org/10.1111/jfr3.12954

Charlesworth, S.M., Kligerman, D., Warwick, F., Blackett, M. (2023) The suitability and acceptability of Sustainable Drainage Systems to address inadequate drainage and greywater management in favelas in Brazil. Institution of Civil Engineers, Infrastructure Asset Management [Special Issue: Sustainability of Built and Natural Environments]. https://doi.org/10.1680/jinam.23.00012

Baskoro M.L., Tjahjono B., Bogush A., Beltran M., Syaifullah D., Tjahjono M. (2024). The Influence of Ecolabel: Insights from the Indonesian Bioplastics Packaging Industry Stakeholders. In: Silva, F.J.G., Ferreira, L.P., Sá, J.C., Pereira, M.T., Pinto, C.M.A. (eds) Flexible Automation and Intelligent Manufacturing: Establishing Bridges for More Sustainable Manufacturing Systems. FAIM 2023. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-38165-2_112

Baskoro M., Beltran M., Bogush A.A., Tjahjono B. (2023) The imperative of communication signals in boosting business strategies of the bioplastics packaging industry. Business Strategy and the Environment, https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3490 

Bautista Quispe, JI. Campos, LC. Masek, O. and Bogush, A. (2023) Optimisation of biochar filter for handwashing wastewater treatment and potential treated water reuse for handwashing. Journal of Water Process Engineering, Vol. 54, 104001 

Burnett, E. (2023). Coopetition outside the market economy: Oxfordshire’s community food initiatives as a case study. Local Economy, 0(0). https://doi.org/10.1177/02690942231189821

Parsa A, Van De Wiel MJ, Schmutz U, Fried J, Black D, Roderick I (2023). Challenging the food waste hierarchy. Journal of Environmental Management 344, 118554.

Tornaghi C., McAllister G., Moeller N., Pedersen M. (2023), “Building Medicinal Agroecology: Conceptual grounding for healing of rifts”, Chapter 1, in Fiebrig I. N. (ed.), Medicinal Agroecology, CRC Press; pp3-16

McAllister, G., Bhatasara, S., Claeys, P., Howard, J., Lemke, S., MacKinnon, K., Moeller, N.I. (2023). Editorial: Participatory action research in a time of COVID and beyond. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems. Volume 7.

Buratti-Donham J., Venn R., Schmutz U., & Migliorini P. (2023) Transforming food systems towards agroecology – a critical analysis of agroforestry and mixed farming policy in 19 European countries, Agroecology and Sustainable Food Systems, 47:7, 1023-1051

Manuelian, C. L., Pozza, M., Franzoi, M., Righi, F., Schmutz, U., & De Marchi, M. (2023). Comparison of organic and conventional Italian cheeses chemical composition from parallel production. Journal of Dairy Science https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2022-22730