CAWR Newsletter

December 2023

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 Professor Speaks at EU Soil Mission Week in Madrid

In November CAWR's Professor Ulrich Schmutz was an invited speaker at the EU’s flagship Soil Mission Week in Madrid, participating in the Breakout 3 Panel on 'Farming practices for soil health’. He gave research insights from the projects Organic-PLUS, AGROMIX and AE4EU, concluding that soil health is in a perilous situation and that although 25 per cent organic/agroecological farming by 2030 is helping, 50 per cent by 2050 might be need to get to the EU’s aim of zero pollution in soils.

CAWR Delegation Raises Interest at the One Health Fair in Brussels

Lucy discussing ‘which is the healthiest milk?’ with Caroline Read, Deputy Ambassador of the UK Mission to the EU

Lucy Aphramor and Margi Lennartsson participated in the One Health Fair, a high-level exhibition/reception held at the UK Ambassador’s Residence in Brussels.

The event was organised by the UK Mission to the EU to demonstrate research and innovation excellence from the UK delivering on One Health. The UK Mission were particularly interested in the community/stakeholder engagement focus of CAWR’s research, with Lucy and Margi taking the opportunity to showcase their innovative pedagogical work spanning ‘soil to food to health’

Agroecology Europe Forum

Agroecology Europe Forum delegates visit the National Biodiversity Centre

From 16th to 18th November, the Agorecology Europe Forum took place in Gyöngyös, Hungary. CAWR researchers Ulrich Schmutz and Judith Conroy attended along with partners from across the continent, with whom they have been working on the Agroecology for Europe (AE4EU) project. Also at the event from CAWR were Lucas Sebastián Worsdell and Georges Félix; Georges presented a poster that portrayed a walking tour of food availability in the city of Coventry, and Lucas Sebastián exhibited the Raíces de Soberanía project as well as represented the Agroecology Europe Youth Network.

CAWR Contributes to Regenerative Agriculture Talks at Westminster Meeting

Prof Schmutz at the Westminster event, alongside Sir Robert Goodwill MP, Chair of the UK Parliament's DEFRA Select Committee (centre), and, on the right of the picture, James Young, VP Agriculture at McCain Foods

CAWR's Professor Ulrich Schmutz recently spoke at a Westminster parliament breakfast meeting on Regenerative Agriculture.

This top level meeting, held by the Industry and Parliamentary Trust, was well attended and had McCain as industry partner explaining regenerative potato production, with Coventry University present to offer research critique. ‘Regenerative’ was unanimously seen as beneficial and hence all five regenerative practices are already part of agroecological production law and certification since 1991. However, Ulrich observed that on their own, while a step in the right direction, these practices could be seen as green-washing if other inputs (e.g. pesticides and fertiliser run-off) are not also addressed.

Fungi Foray at Ryton Organic Gardens

Sam Towers, fungi enthusiast lab technician at CAWR and Liz Trenchard GIS mapping enthusiast research fellow, along with Sam Green, research assistant, and the CU estates team at Ryton, created a Fungi walk self-guided trail for November at Ryton Organic Gardens.

This guide highlighted and labelled several fungi to see in the gardens, to enhance enjoyment and appreciation of the gardens on-site and the kingdom of fungi about us. The recording app i-naturalist is used for the recording of species onsite at Ryton Organic Gardens.

CAWR PGR Contributes to the 20th Anniversary Commemoration of UK's Largest National Park

Cairngorm National Park in Scotland (photo: Cairngorm National Park Authority)

The Cairngorms National Park in Scotland, the UK’s largest National Park area, is celebrating its 20^th birthday this year. CAWR PGR Ryan Dziadowiec collaborated with the Cairngorms National Park Authority as a Gaelic consultant and dùthchas, Ryan’s study area, makes an appearance in the poem which was commissioned to commemorate the occasion. The poem is recited in this short film which showcases the landscape, nature, outdoor activities and dùthchas of the National Park area.

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.

Surveying Peruvian Rural School Communities on the Treatment and Reuse of Wastewater

Jhonny Bautista Quispe is currently situated in the Peruvian southern region of Apurimac, situated at an elevation of 3500 metres above sea level.

He is engaged in the surveying of rural school communities located in water-scarce regions, gathering insights into their perceptions, concerns, and willingness regarding the treatment of greywater (handwashing wastewater) and the reuse of treated water for handwashing applications.

Jhonny's fieldwork faced delays in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which compelled Peruvian schools to transition to online learning. This fieldwork is an integral component of his social study for his PhD research, focusing on the development of sustainable handwashing stations with an onsite wastewater treatment and water reuse system. The outcomes of his fieldwork aim to illuminate the opinions, apprehensions, and motivations of people regarding the reuse of treated handwashing wastewater, with the goal of integrating social knowledge into the design of water treatment technologies for a successful societal adaptation.

CAWR Researcher Discovers Some Loch Ness Monsters...

An Cruinneachadh, a community project based around three glens on the west side of Loch Ness, invited CAWR researcher Iain MacKinnon to share some of his research into connections between chattel slavery and land ownership in northern Scotland.

Iain used the talk as an opportunity to do scoping research for a future project to broaden his initial analysis. He discovered that many of the large estates to the west of Loch Ness have been owned by people that benefitted from slavery, with some of those connections enduring into the present.

He shared his research at an event in Dalchreichart Village Hall in November which also supported young local musicians to learn and then perform long-neglected songs and music composed in the area. Feedback on the event, and some further images, can be found by scrolling down this webpage.

CAWR Drone Flies for Tree Research

Liz Trenchard and Natalie Morley at their selected drone take-off spot for filming at Piles Coppice.

CAWR’s Liz Trenchard and Natalie Morley planned a drone flight over local Warwickshire Wildlife Trust’s small-leaved lime woodland at Piles Coppice. The aim is to view the trees through the seasons and learn about conditions for lime tree seed collection for community tree nursery research work. This aviation-based research is part of CAWR's Growing Connections project.

Further Success for CAWR in University's Research Excellence Development Fund

CAWR's Lucy Aphramor has won funding from Coventry University's Research Excellence Development Fund for a project called Exposing Coloniality in Nutrition Discourse to Co-create Transformative Food Narratives and Pedagogical Innovation in Dietetic Curricula and Practice.

They will focus on exploring how coloniality shows up in public health nutrition, focusing on two themes - ableism, and a liberal humanist approach to sustainability. The aim is to co-develop alternative approaches so that public health nutrition discourse supports, rather than impedes, transition to food sovereignty and health justice.

CAWR PhD Researcher Delivers Presentation to Ecological Engineering Conference

In early October third-year PhD researcher at CAWR, Jhonny Bautista Quispe, delivered an oral presentation about his research on the 'Optimisation of biochar filter for handwashing wastewater treatment and potential reuse of treated water for handwashing'.

Jhonny's presentation took place at an International Conference titled 'Closed Cycles and the Circular Society 2023: The Power of Ecological Engineering.' which was organised by the International Ecological Engineering Society (IEES) and commemorated the 30th anniversary of the foundation of the IEES. The event took place in the city of Platanias, on the beautiful island of Crete, Greece. Jhonny was delighted to have the opportunity to present his work to a diverse audience of fellow researchers dedicated to exploring sustainable wastewater treatment solutions within the framework of the circular economy.

Liz Trenchard with Ethiopian collection samples of Prosopis species

Prosopis Research Continues

Dr Liz Trenchard is re-visiting her CAWR PhD herbarium specimen collection of Prosopis tree leaf samples gathered from around the world, to send samples to former PhD colleague Mohammed Al-Oun in the UAE. This will support further research into genetic identification of Prosopis species and their hybrids. Prosopis species introduced from Latin America have become invasive in the UAE and other countries in the Middle East. Before a strategy to deal with invasions is decided it is useful to be absolutely certain which Prosopis sp. is being dealt with, meaning improving identification is key.

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

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