CAWR Newsletter

October 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.

CAWR supports the first Agroecology Research Collaboration conference, ‘Cultivating Wisdom: Agroecology Innovation from Experts in the Field’ 

Final plenary at the ARC conference

Agroecology Research Collaboration (ARC) held its first conference, ‘Cultivating Wisdom’ in Manchester on October 21-22. The conference brought together researchers and practitioners working on on-farm, research and participatory methodologies in agroecology. CAWR is a supporting member of ARC, and Chris Maughan helped to facilitate some aspects of the conference as well as delivering a paper on Plant Bioindicators.

The full list of presentations can be found here:

Project partners in the gardens of Ryton

CAWR launches new project on public procurement of food in the UK 

Procurement for Good (P4G), a four-year ESRC-funded research project, officially kicked off in October bringing together project partners at Ryton Gardens. The project is led by CAWR in collaboration with Garden Organic, Social Farms and Gardens as well as the Open Food Network and local producer hubs in England (London, Cambridge), Wales (Powys) and Scotland (Dumfries and Galloway).  

PFG will focus on the role that place-based public food procurement can play in reconfiguring food supply chains (farm-to-fork) and in leading sustainable food system transformation. 

The CAWR project team includes PI Moya Kneafsey and colleagues Lopa Saxena, Adrian Evans, Ulrich Schmutz, Amanda Amorim-Adegboye, Csilla Kiss, Julia Stew as well as a post-doctoral research fellow to be recruited in the next months.   

PFG is funded by the UKRI Economic and Social Research Council under grant number ES/Z502807/1. 

AGROMIX colleagues launch White Paper ‘Transforming European Food Systems with Agroforestry’ in Brussels

The AGROMIX team launched its White Paper ‘Transforming European Food Systems with Agroforestry’ in Brussels on Thursday 24th October 2024

The document outlined five key co-designed policy recommendations for the EU to maximise the implementation of agroforestry as part of its objective to secure a more sustainable, resilient, and equitable food system that meets the needs of present and future generations. 

The White Paper is endorsed by CIFOR-ICRAF (World Agroforestry), MIXED, EARA (European Alliance for Regenerative Agriculture), Agroecology Coalition, TP Organics & Agroecology Europe.

If you would like to add your name to the list of endorsers, get in touch!!

Full details, evidence and references are available in the text of the White Paper online. 

AGROMIX attends FAO World Food Forum in Rome 

Prof Ulrich Schmutz presenting results from the AGROMIX project to an international audience at the FAO, Rome

Prof Ulrich Schmutz and Rosemary Venn joined AGROMIX colleagues Josep Crous Duran (REVOLVE) and Valerio Bondesan (Veneto Agricoltura) in Rome for the 2024 World Food Forum.  

Results and lessons learnt from the AGROMIX project were presented to an international and diverse audience. As part of the Global Family Farming Forum, the focus was on policies for agroforestry as an agroecological approach, linking to sessions on effective policy approaches for the support of family farming, including gender sensitive and transformative approaches. 

International collaboration and exchange at FAO’s World Food Forum, Rome

Connections logos

Peat Free Fellowship Connections 

On the 25th of October PhD research student Victoria Adams and Dr Raghavendra Prasad (RHS) visited Harper Adams University. Introductions and potential collaboration were discussed with Becca Collier, a PhD research student also within the Peat Free Transition Fellowship focusing on “Evaluating the food safety of culinary herbs cultivated in peat-free growing media”.

Presentation on creative methods and unheard voices within the food system

Jasber presenting at Greenwich University. Photo taken by our former student Anouk Dijkman, who also attending the symposium

Jasber Singh was invited to present at the one-day symposium on ‘Imaging and Narrating the Food System at the UK Food Systems' Centre for Doctoral Training at Greenwich University, London. Jasber presented on using creative methods to platform and amply excluded voices within the food system. Jasber also discussed the need for and the limitations of advancing the right to food in the UK. 

Flora group members on site in Ryton and some of the species found

Warwickshire Flora Group visit to Ryton Organic Gardens

The Warwickshire group of the Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland visited Ryton on the 12th of October. The experts recorded 107 plant species, and several mosses and fungi. They were particularly impressed by the richness of waxcap fungi in the grassland around the orchard region commenting that it would certainly meet the criteria for unimproved waxcap-grassland which is a priority habitat for conservation in England. The results add to the list of more than 700 species recorded on the site through our iNaturalist citizen science recording project. 

Growing Connections and ATTER project French exchange

Photo of a visitor group by the conservation vines onsite in the Tarn county Departmental Conservatory of Fruit Species and Ancient Vines, at Puycelsi, France

As part of the ATTER project (Agroecological Transitions for Territorial Food Systems project where staff and students can do exchanges to visit partner organisations and farms) Sam Green from Growing Connections project at CAWR visited and made links with the Departmental Conservatory of Fruit Species and Ancient Vines at Puyselci, Departmental Conservatory of Fruit Species and Ancient Vines, in France. The conservation orchards are preserving about 750 taxa of heritage fruit tree from the area including apples, pears, plums, cherries and peaches and 100 grape varieties. The aim is to safeguard the genetic diversity of the plant species, evaluate and identify the collected varieties and promote the regional biological heritage. Growing Connections investigates the ways that community tree nurseries in UK provide social and environmental benefits to local areas and how they contribute to the diversity of tree stock produced at local scale in UK and there was an interesting exchange of information and ideas.  

Reviewing Creative Research Practices and encouraging an ‘Impact Mindset’

CAWR's researchers attend PLANET4B consortium meeting in Budapest 

In October, the UK PLANET4B Research team participated in their fourth project consortium meeting at the Impact Hub in Budapest. Over three productive days, the team led several sessions, which included reflecting on the diverse creative methods utilized in various case studies and showcasing a co-created activity called "Biodiversity in the Cupboard," designed to explore the relationship between participants' consumption habits and biodiversity. Additionally, the team shared insights about the benefits of fostering a research impact mindset and maximising the potential for PLANET4B to bring about change.   

A highlight of the visit was the opportunity to visit a small-scale organic farm, Szezonkert, where they tested an art-based method. 

For more information about the PLANET4B project, visit:

The poly-tunnel trials at Ryton

Peat-free winter lettuce in the Ryton polytunnel

CAWR researchers working on the UKRI funded study, ‘Design and Evaluation of Peat-free Growing Media’ have been busy establishing a winter polytunnel trial at Ryton Organic Gardens. Along with a parallel trial at Riverford’s Wash Farm in Devon, this is the latest step towards creating growing media blends which are suitable for making pressed blocks. Find out more about the project including update videos:

CAWR Researchers Contribute to Rooted Magazine Special Issue on Policies for Agroecology 

Rooted website screen snipping

The Rooted Magazine (formerly Farming Matters), a flagship global publication which aims to bring insights from grounded experiences in agroecology and food sovereignty, launched its first special issue on policies for agroecology.  

The issue features multiple articles authored by CAWR researchers, past and present. Georgina McAllister writes about Gaza’s rich food culture under threat from occupation and war. Csilla Kiss and Lindy Binder showcase the inspiring work of municipalities such as Copenhagen on transforming local food systems through public procurement of food. The issue also contains an opinion piece by Josh Bram-Wilson and Jessica Milgroom on how informal policies of care shape our food system.  

Experimental units used to cultivate rye (Secale cereale L.) as a test crop

New PhD project 

A new PhD project has been initiated at the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience. Juliano Muniz da Silva dos Santos is examining “Plant Resilience under Abiotic Stresses and Soil Health Bioindicators”. The study aims to explore the concept of ‘Plant Resilience’ and how it is influenced by the use of ecological management practices, as well as its relationship with soil health. The management practices to be tested include the use of the Bokashi biofertiliser, along with biodynamic and homeopathic preparations. Economically important cereal crops, such as rye (Secale cereale L.), will be used as test crops. This is a dual degree with Santa Catarina state University in Brazil.

CAWR visits Abbey Home Farm 

The farm manager, John Newman, explaining the role of fertility building leys in the rotation 

Students from the Agroecology Water and Food Sovereignty MSc course, together with post graduate researchers, visited Abbey Home Farm near Cirencester. This is an excellent example of a well established organic farm with a diversity of integrated enterprises including cereals, field vegetables, cattle, sheep, pigs and poultry. Much of the produce is marketed directly through their farm shop and café. 

Wash Farm; field trial to compare standard cultivation with strip tillage

Strip tillage in horticulture- an Innovative Farmers Field Lab 

Organic field vegetable production relies on mechanical cultivation rather than herbicides for weed control but this has environmental implications in terms of fuel use and damage to soil structure and biology. An alternative could be just cultivating narrow ‘strips’ into which the crops can be planted; the practicality of this approach is the subject of an ongoing Innovative Farmers Field Lab with on farm trials. CAWR is participating in the sampling of soil at sites including Wash Farm (run by Riverford Organic Farmers in Devon) and Francis Rayns gave a presentation about the work at a recent meeting at Abbey Home Farm in Gloucestershire. 

Events

27th of November (Wednesday) - Hybrid SEMINAR: Invasive species in the Czech Republic: lessons for prevention and management with Dr Jan Pergl 

Register your attendance here: 

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

Publications

Faedo, L., Matias, C., Verdi, R., Wright, J., Rayns, F., Kretzschmar, A., & Boff, P. (2024). The use of mineral dynamised high dilutions for natural plant biostimulation; effects on plant growth, crop production, fruit quality, pest and disease incidence in agroecological strawberry cultivation. Biological Agriculture & Horticulture, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1080/01448765.2024.2396894  

Novoa, A., Vimercati, G., Brundu, G., Richardson, D. M.,..Dehnen-Schmutz, K. … Weldesemaet, Y.T…. & Wilson, J. R. (2024). Stakeholders' views on the global guidelines for the sustainable use of non‐native trees. People and Nature 6: 1640-1654. https://doi.org/10.1002/pan3.10670

Monerie, P.-A., Dieppois, B., Pohl, B., & Crétat, J. (2024). Internally driven variability of the Angola low is the main source of uncertainty for the future changes in southern African precipitation. Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres, 129, e2024JD041255. https://doi.org/10.1029/2024JD041255

Pandamkulangara Kizhakkethil, J., Shi, Z., Bogush, A., & Kourtchev, I. (2024). Aerosolisation of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) during aeration of contaminated aqueous solutions. Atmospheric Environment, 120716. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2024.120716

Chiara Tornaghi, Michiel Dehaene (2024), AGROECOLOGICAL URBANISM: What is it, why we need it, and the role of UN-Habitat. Policy Briefing, Coventry, pp. 1-6, Open access

Chiara Tornaghi (2024), “Raising the ambition of urban agriculture in public space: nurturing urban agroecology and more-than-human health”, Chapter 13 in Beata Sirowy, Deni Ruggeri (eds), Urban Agriculture in Public Space: Planning and Designing for Human Flourishing in Northern European Cities and Beyond, SpringerNature, ISBN: 978-3-031-41549-4. Gold open access here

Raúl Terrile* , Nahuel Martinez, Nicolás Paz, Francisco Brunotto, Mariano Costa, Natalia Budai, Cristina Ruiz,Macarena Rizzi, Marta Invernizzi, Telma Scarpeci, Rubén D Piacentini, Kevin Winter and Chiara Tornaghi (2024), “Urban food waste for soil amendment? Analysis and characterisation of compost for use as inputs in agroecological horticultural production systems in the city of Rosario, Argentina”, in Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems - Agroecology and Ecosystem Services, vol. 8, first published 5th April 2024, open access here

Aphramor, L. (2024) Queering as Process: Disrupting Scientific Imperialism for Health Justice Using Kitchen Table Pedagogy. Journal of Critical Dietetics, 7:2. https://doi.org/10.32920/jcd.v7i2.1964

Ekolu J., Dieppois B, Tramblay Y., Villarini G., Slater L.J.,  Mahé G., Paturel J-E, Eden J.M., Moulds S., Sidibe M., Camberlin P.,Pohl B., Van de Wiel M. (2024) Variability in flood frequency in sub-Saharan Africa: The role of large-scale climate modes of variability and their future impacts, Journal of Hydrology, 640, 131679. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhydrol.2024.131679

Folorunsho, O., Kizhakkethil Pandamkulangara, J., Bogush, A., and Kourtchev, I. (2024) Effect of short-term sample storage and preparatory conditions on losses of 18 per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) to container materials. Chemosphere, ScienceDirect. 363, 142814. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemosphere.2024.142814 

Namazi, Y., S. Charlesworth, A. Montazami and M. Taleghani (2024) The impact of local microclimates and Urban Greening Factor on schools’ thermal conditions during summer: a study in Coventry, UK. Building and Environment. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.buildenv.2024.111793

Kourtchev I, Sebben BG, Brill S, Barbosa CGG, Weber B, Ferreira RR, D'Oliveira FAF, Dias-Junior CQ, Popoola OAM, Williams J, Pöhlker C, Godoi RHM. Occurrence of a "forever chemical" in the atmosphere above pristine Amazon Forest. Sci Total Environ. 2024 Jun 10;944:173918. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.173918. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38866151.

Roy, H. E., Pauchard, A., Stoett, P. J., Renard Truong, T., Meyerson, L. A., Bacher, S.,... Dehnen-Schmutz, K.,... & Ziller, S. R. (2024). Curbing the major and growing threats from invasive alien species is urgent and achievable. Nature Ecology & Evolution, 1-8. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-024-02412-w

Abell, J., Oldbury-Thomas, D. & Mazhandu, C.,12 Jun 2024, In: Conservation Science and Practice. A Scoping Review of Academic Papers on Human Lion Conflict in Africa

Qadir M.I., R. Mumtaz, M. Manzoor, M. Saleem and S. Charlesworth. (2024) Development of Unmanned Surface Vehicle for Intelligent Water Quality Assessment and Comparative Analysis of Oversampling Techniques for Addressing Class Imbalance. IWA. Water Supply Special Issue on: Impact of Sustainable Development and Industrialization on Water Quality: Human Health and Disease Heterogeneity. 1-12. doi: 10.2166/ws.2024.141

Álvarez, R., M. Izquierdo, H. Serrano, E. García-Ordiales, C. García, F. Alberquilla, F. Barrio, E. De Miguel, S. Charlesworth, A. Ordóñez. (2024) Comparison of sediment bioavailable methods to assess the potential risk of metal(loid)s for river ecosystems. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety.

Tshuma, F., Swanepoel. P.A, Labuschagne, J., Bennett, J., and Rayns, F. (2024). Tillage rotation and biostimulants can compensate for reduced synthetic agrochemical application in a dryland cropping system. Cogent Food and Agriculture. https://doi.org/10.1080/23311932.2024.2352958

Mushunje, L.H., Marandure, T., Chikwhana, O.C., Bennett, J., Hawkins, H-J, Palmer, A., Wu, L., Marufu, M. and Mapiye, C. (2024). Supplementation of Acacia dealbata versus Acacia mearnsii leaf-meal has potential to maintain growth performance of lambs grazing low-quality communal rangelands in South Africa. Tropical Animal Health and Production, 56:152. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11250-024-04004-z

Aphramor, L. How Community Connections Boost Our Health. Permaculture Magazine. Issue 119 pp 13-15. Spring 2024.

Chen D.T., Roy A., Bogush A., Stegemann J.A. (2024) Speciation of toxic metals in metal finishing filter cake by X-ray absorption spectroscopy. Journal of Environmental Management, 360, 120994. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2024.120994  

Aphramor, L. (2024) Refarming nutrition beyond the healthy/unhealthy binary. Food Ethics Council blog. April 2024. https://www.foodethicscouncil.org/opinion/reframing-nutrition-beyond-the-binary/

Bogush A., Kourtchev I. (2024) Disposable surgical/medical face masks and filtering face pieces: source of microplastics and chemical additives in the environment. Environmental Pollution, 348, 123792. https://doi.org/10.016/j.envpol.2024.123792  

Quispe J.I.B., Campos L., Masek O., Bogush A. (2024) Removal of anionic urfactant from aqueous solutions by adsorption onto biochars: characterisation, kinetics, and mechanism. Environmental Technology. https://doi.org/10.1080/09593330.2024.2304677