CAWR Newsletter

July 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.

CSAs as spaces of care and self-exploitation: a feminist perspective from the UK

Amy Willoughby harvesting 2020 (Source: Jason Taylor)

In this AgroecologyNow blog Amy Willoughby, CSA farmer and student in CAWR’s MSc Programme of Agroecology, Water and Food Sovereignty, provides a critical, feminist perspective on her personal experience working in Community Supported Agriculture and research findings on opportunities and challenges for women in the CSA movement in the UK. Click here to read the blog.

AGROMIX hosts second policy co-design workshop at Abbey Home Farm

Participants hear from Head Grower Andy Dibben on the benefits of incorporating trees into a horticultural system at Abbey Home Farm

Representatives from civil society, land owning institutions, farmers and academia met at Abbey Home Farm, England, to continue discussion on the future of agroforestry in England.  Participants heard from two Devonshire farmers already practicing agroforestry, Marina O’Connell of Huxhams Cross Farm, and Andy Gray of Elston Farm, as well as Nicholas Millard from Henley Business School on the finer details of tenancy in England. The day rounded off with a tour of tree planting within a vegetable-based horticulture system at Abbey Home Farm by head grower, Andy Dibben.   

Report ‘Ways of Knowing for Agroecological Transitions’ 

Autumn School participants playing ‘the web of life’ energiser game during a farm visit to Five Penny Farm, Dorset

We are happy to share with you the report from a 7-day Autumn school that researchers at CAWR co-convened at Monkton Wyld Court in Dorset, UK in October 2022. 

The school was an attempt to highlight the importance of the diversity of knowledges that exists in territorial food systems.  

The Autumn school was organised as part of the EU-funded ATTER-project on agroecological transitions for territorial food systems. 

Publication - Coopetition outside the market economy: Oxfordshire’s community food initiatives as a case study

Doctoral researcher, Emma Burnett, has had her second paper published. It focuses on the intersection between competition and cooperation in community food initiatives, and how this impacts resilience. 

You can read the open access paper here.

CAWR’s PGR Jhonny Bautista Quispe win's the 2023 ‘PGR of the Year Competition’ 

Professor Nigel Berkeley (Chair, University Group Research Ethics Committee) presenting the award to Jhonny Bautista

In a remarkable achievement, Jhonny, a third-year PhD student working under the guidance of Anna Bogush, emerged as the winner of the esteemed 2023 ‘PGR of the Year Competition.' Jhonny's research is centred on the development of an innovative handwashing station that utilises bio-based materials, with the ultimate goal of developing a sustainable handwashing facility with on-site wastewater treatment for water reusing in handwashing purposes. On June 28th, Jhonny had the honour of presenting his research's significant achievements and impact during Coventry University’s Doctoral Capability and Development Conference. As a well-deserved recognition of his outstanding work and dedication, Jhonny was honoured with a monetary award of £500. 

CAWR’s Summer School was a success! 

Participants, organisers and collaborators of the Summer School

The 2023 CAWR Summer School was held at the Centre for Agroecology,  Water & Resilience on July 5-8th in Ryton, United Kingdom. With the theme of 'PGR development and the look into their future.' This year's summer school provided a platform for several presentations that offered valuable insights and support to our fellow PhD candidates throughout their research journey and beyond. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the speakers whose knowledge-sharing enriched the event. Moreover, we would like to express our appreciation for the enthusiastic participation of all the attending PGRs as their active engagement contributed to the success of the summer school. A special note of appreciation goes to this year's organising team, comprising Jhonny Bautista Quispe, Yasaman Namazi, Diana Rodríguez Cala, Nbuwak Peace Yashim, Jolaade Olatunbosun, and Anna Bogush.  

New research article on biochar filtration for handwashing wastewater treatment and reuse 

Jhonny Bautista Quispe published his second research article as the main author in the Journal of Water Process Engineering (IF: 7, Q1) early this month. The article titled “Optimisation of biochar filter for handwashing wastewater treatment and potential treated water reuse for handwashing” focuses on identifying optimal biochar filtration parameters for removing water pollutants from hand washing wastewater, facilitating its reuse for hand washing. This research is crucial for integrating biochar filtration systems into portable hand washing facilities, benefiting communities in water-scarce regions with limited hand washing infrastructure and access to water. 

Ash dieback project open day 

Ffion Thomas explaining the soil treatments used in the field trial in East Sussex

An open day was held to as part of the CAWR project Managing Ash Dieback Disease. This has investigated the use of soil amendments to control ash dieback - a disease caused by an invasive fungus that is severley affecting this important tree species throughout Europe. Ffion Thomas led the day with a tour of the experimental site at Sacred Earth in East Sussex. It was also an opportunity to showcase more of the other tree-related projects that are currently being carried out at CAWR.

Liz Trenchard describing ‘Growing Connections’ research on Community Tree Nurseries

Call for papers in the Special Collection “Advances in Biochar Production and Applications” in the Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio)

Entries 2 (Call for papers in the Special Collection “Advances in Biochar Production and Applications” in the Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio))

Biochar is regarded by many as a promising negative emissions technology and an important tool in the fight against climate change. It is formed by the pyrolysis of biomass under low-oxygen conditions, which generates a highly stable form of carbon, predicted to persist in the soil for hundreds to thousands of years. Due to its porous structure, extended surface area, and retention capacity, biochar has also been proposed as an efficient water and soil remediator, with potential benefits for crop production. The impact of biochar is however still controversial. Studies have shown that its properties can be highly dependent on the type of originating biomass and production methods, suggesting it is possible to tailor biochar for different purposes.

This Collection aims to highlight the benefits and drawbacks of biochar and welcomes original research on biochar production and applications towards a sustainable environment.

Editors:

· Anna Bogush, CAWR, Coventry University, UK

· Bruno Glaser, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, Germany

· Shubiao Wu, Aarhus University, Denmark

A new paper by Barbara Smith (CAWR) investigates the effects of prescribed burning on the biodiversity of lowland heath

Dibden Bottom (Photo by co-author Dan Carpenter of https://digital-ecology.co.uk)

Although prescribed burning is a traditional management technique, it is increasingly controversial and being replaced by cutting. Our work demonstrates the importance of burning in maintaining good quality heathland habitat but shows that the best option is to maintain a mosaic that includes cutting in the management programme. Cutting results in grassy habitat that provides food for important heathland birds such as the Dartford warbler and Nightjar. See the paper here.

Diana’s journey across southern Africa: highlights from Botswana

The article 'What are plant invasions, and why is it important to know about them?' in the SC Gardens Botswana magazine

Diana Rodríguez Cala has been researching how the ornamental sector influences invasions in southern Africa. She articulated a collaboration with the Botswana University of Agriculture and Natural Resources (BUAN), setting the beginning of a fascinating work and live experience in Botswana. She had the opportunity to experience, network and interact with the stakeholders within the interphase between the plant ornamental sector and invasions in Botswana. Check out her last presentation at BUAN here (filmed by Winnie Nckoko) where she summarised part of her experience and her article published in SC Gardens Botswana magazine.

Real-world Nutrition - a workshop at the Radical Bakers summer gathering, Shrewsbury

Lucy Aphramor returned to the Radical Bakers, a small festival held at Crabapple Community, a housing co-op in Shropshire. Summer Gathering is a weekend filled with focused, useful activities and delicious food, along with professional bands on the Green Dragon Solar Stage. A wide range of courses around low impact living, earth-care, plant medicine, crafting, and more are offered by experienced and knowledgeable people.

Lucy exploring a new take on food in the Pavilion, radical Bakers 2023

Participation in an Innovative Farmers ‘Field Lab’

Sampling soil in a crop of clabrese grown in one of the Innovative Farmers trials in Devon

Daneel Du Preez and Francis Rayns visited a cluster of farms in South Devon as part of a new Innovative Farmers ‘Field Lab’ concerned with strip tillage in organic field vegetable systems. Using this technique only narrow strips of land are cultivated prior to planting the crops, rather than the entire field. The aim of the project is to see if this approach can improve soil properties without a detriment to yield

Evidencing Resilience: Innate Health Interventions with Marginalised and Criminalized groups

In June, , Dr Geraldine Brown was part of a team that included international partners from Innate Health Research, along with UK based innate health practitioners from Beyond Recovery, who attended the British Criminology Annual Conference at the University of Lancaster. The team facilitated a panel to showcase ground-breaking research examining innate health interventions with marginalized and criminalized populations and share their experiences of collaborating on a new area of research.

Transdisciplinary research team examining innate health interventions

Participation in Equity, Diversity Research Project Race Equality Exchange (REX) – Coventry University and Goldsmiths University

Coya Halley and Annette Hay, project lead

In June, Coya Halley, a PhD at CAWR was invited to participate in the Race, Equality Exchange (REX), an exchange visit between Coventry and Goldsmith University. REX was designed as an opportunity share knowledge and practice across the institutions. The initiative was led by led by Annette Hay and sessions facilitated by Dr Gurnam Singh

Inspiring the new generation of Agroecological growers

The Plot provides local, organic veg in North Lancashire and it also trains and supports new agroecological growers

Francis Rayns gave a talk to a group of FarmStart trainees at The Plot in Lancaster, UK. Dr Rayns drew on his 30 years of experience of managing soil fertility in organic systems to instill to the group the secrets and pitfalls of good soil fertility management in organic horticulture. He shared the concepts of chemical, physical and biological soil fertility and inspired these new entrants to Agroecology to keep a close eye on how much nutrients they add in the soil. He pointed out recent research findings from Organic-PLUS trials at CAWR, which found that ‘less is more’ when it comes to adding nutrients in soil. The Plot and North Lancashire’s FarmStart scheme is run by CAWR’s own Dennis Touliatos, who is the Plot’s part time Head organic grower and FarmStart trainer.

British Council and HEC workshops in Pakistan

Participants at the British Council / HEC workshop in Lahore.

In June, Dr Marco Van De Wiel (CAWR) and Dr Farzana Aslam (AHoS, CMDS) conducted workshops in Lahore and Islamabad, Pakistan, for the British Council and Pakistan’s Higher Education Commission. The workshops focussed on graduate supervision, and attracted about 75 participants

Feeding Britain Reception at Westminster, London

Lopa and Joshua at the House of Lords

On Monday, 17th of July, Dr Lopa Saxena and PhD researcher Joshua Rees travelled to London to attend a reception at the House of Lords in Westminster. Feeding Britain, a national network of 77+ local food partnerships and 600+ community organisations, invited them to the event. The aim of the event was to assemble for the first time a broad cross-sector coalition that can start working together to raise the profile and effectiveness of affordable community food provision, as an important part of a multi-layered strategy to reduce the need for food banks across the UK.

The reception featured several keynote speakers, including Chris Stephens MP, Baroness Rosie Boycott, and representatives from Good Food Scotland. They discussed the evolution of the Feeding Britain network, the importance of access to good food, and the next steps for the network.

Representatives from local food partnerships, community food organisations, academia, the food sector, and civil servants attended the reception. The informal discussion among the attendees revealed the wide range of affordable food provision initiatives across the UK, and the need for a holistic approach to food insecurity. The event also underscored the vital role that we - as researchers – have in informing policy and practice towards building a just, sustainable and equitable society.

Events

Upcoming Seminars:

21 September 2023 - Rebels without a cause? Rosewood and insurgency in Senegal with Dr Martin Evans, register here. 

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

Publications

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, Volume 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

Black, D.; Wei, T.; Eaton, E.; Hunt, A.; Carey, J.; Schmutz, U.; He, B.; Roderick, I. (2023). Testing Food Waste Reduction Targets: Integrating Transition Scenarios with Macro-Valuation in an Urban Living Lab. Sustainability, 15, 6004. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15076004

Rachel Wynberg, Michel Pimbert, Nina Moeller, Georgina McAllister, Rachel Bezner Kerr, Jasber Singh, Million Belay & Mvuselelo Ngcoya (2023) Nature-Based Solutions and Agroecology: Business as Usual or an Opportunity for Transformative Change?, Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development,65:1, 15-22.

Félix, G.F. (2023). Agroecology and food sovereignty in the Caribbean: Insights from Cuba, Puerto Rico and Sint Maarten. Book chapter in Routledge Handbook of Latin America and the Environment. Routledge 

Bennett, J.E., Marandure, T., Hawkins, H-J., Mapiye, C., Palmer, A., Lemke, S., Wu, L. and Moradzadeh, M. (2023). A conceptual framework for understanding ecosystem trade-offs and synergies in communal rangeland systems. Ecosystem Services 61 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoser.2023.101533