Round-up – October 2025
This is our round-up for October 2025. Please note that this page is not updated, so deadlines may have passed and links may no longer work. To receive future newsletters, please join our network.
News
Roadmap for Resilience – a UK Food Plan for 2050
Thank you to everyone who came to the launch event last Wednesday. There was a fantastic reaction in the room, and we are delighted to hear so many thoughtful responses to the report in person and online. If you want to catch up…
The Roadmap page on our website includes links to all the key documents you need:
- The Roadmap report
- A summary version of the report
- Briefings on healthier diets, resilient agricultural production, and smarter land use.
- Jez’s digests of the key points and priority actions, farming transformation, and land transition.
There is also more on how the report was put together, and if you want to see what others are saying, take a look at our LinkedIn, where we are trying to keep track of all the reaction.
Events
WEBINAR: Roadmap for Resilience – a UK Food Plan for 2050
Wednesday 22nd October, 3:00–4:00pm
Our webinar tomorrow features the co-authors of the report, Prof Tim Benton, and Prof Neil Ward. They will introduce the Roadmap for Resilience – a UK Food Plan for 2050, its key findings and recommendations, responses to date, and the implications for policy and practice. Have your say with an audience Q&A and discussion. There’s been incredible interest in this webinar and we have very few spaces left. If you’ve had a change of circumstances and can’t make it, please cancel your ticket to make room for someone else on the waiting list.
AFN Network+ Project Showcases
Over two separate sessions, the AFN Network+ Project Showcases will highlight key learnings from our funded projects. The AFN Network+ has funded more than 30 scoping study projects and 24 Stakeholder FlexFund projects over the last 3 years. Join us online to hear about the key learnings from a selection of these projects, and the potential for action for the transformation of the agri-food system. There will be the opportunity for Q&A and discussion in small groups with the presenters. Each session will feature around 10 projects, with different projects on each day.
- Wednesday 5th November 2025, 2:00–3:00pm, More information and booking
- Thursday 6th November 2025, 2:00–3:00pm, More information and booking
Careers Fair
Wednesday 12th November 2:00–3.50pm
We are organising our first careers fair! The aim is to connect early career researchers and students in the agri-food sector with potential employers. The event includes:
- very short presentations by employers (one slide each)
- breakout sessions with one room per employer
If you would like to take part:
- Early career researchers and students – please complete this application form to secure your place.
- Employers – if you would like to have a virtual stall at the event, please complete this application form. There is no charge for participation.
News from the wider agri-food sector
Bridging Fields programme
The Royal Agricultural University’s Bridging Fields training programme aims to equip the UK research community with the relevant skills, knowledge and confidence to co-design and conduct collaborative research with farmers that has real-world impact. Bridging Fields have a lot of events coming up over the next few months.
A series of online workshops before Christmas:
- Thursday 23rd October 1:00–3:00pm – Doing action research with farmers.
- Thursday 20th November 1:00–3:00pm – Not another survey! From extraction to collaboration.
- Thursday 18th December 1:00–3:00pm – Indigenous Knowledge
A series of residencies next year:
- 20th–22nd Jan 2026 (food systems and story telling) Complete this form to register interest
- 24th–26th March 2026 (livestock)
- 29th June–1st July 2026 (crops)
- 8th–10th Sept 2026 (tech)
Sign-up here to join their mailing list, or see their LinkedIn group for more information.
DEFRA Food Strategy Engagement Webinar Q&A
Roberto Rivera Fernandez from UWE Bristol offered some interesting thoughts on LinkedIn on the recent DEFRA Food Strategy Engagement Webinar Q&A.
Agricology launches new Agroforestry Hub
Agricology has launched a new agroforestry hub, which showcases a diverse range of material from Agricology’s archive and trusted partners. The Agroforestry Hub is designed to support farmers, advisors and land managers at every stage, from species selection to first harvest and beyond. The new hub features farmer profiles, research summaries, podcasts, videos, and toolkits, highlighting both the opportunities and challenges of farming with trees.
Free course on reducing antibiotic use
The Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU) have just made their course “Effective Livestock Production with Low Use of Antibiotics” available free of charge. The aim is to allow more learners to join and expand their knowledge of this important topic, engage with other learners and get a digital certificate.
Funding
Coast-R Network+ Small Grants Fund
Round 1 of the Coast-R Network+ Small Grants Fund will support small-scale, place-based projects involving early career researchers in two-way (or multi-way) research and knowledge exchange. Grants are between £5,000 and £25,000 for projects contributing to coastal community resilience.
Deadline: 31 October 2025
UKRI: Access to high performance computing facilities: autumn 2025
This opportunity provides an open and flexible route to computational support for high quality projects across the entire UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) remit.
Applications are encouraged that:
- involve early career researchers
- onboard and train new users
- significantly push the boundaries in computational research using high performance computing in your field
Deadline: 6 November 2025
Innovation UK: Farming Innovation Programme: feasibility round 4
UK-registered businesses can apply for a share of up to £4.8 million for feasibility projects. This funding is from the industry-led R&D Partnerships Fund, part of the Farming Innovation Programme. This competition is open to collaborations only.
To lead a project your organisation must:
- be a UK-registered business of any size, including sole traders and partnerships
- collaborate with other UK organisations
Deadline: 3 December 2025
NERC: Artificial intelligence (AI) for environmental science phase one
Apply for funding to use artificial intelligence (AI) and data science in new ways to address complex environmental challenges. They are seeking bold, innovative ideas with the potential to shape the future of environmental science.
You must be:
- based at a UK research organisation eligible for Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) funding
- in a role that meets the individual eligibility requirements
The full economic cost (FEC) of your project can be between £200,000 and £400,000. They will fund 80% of the FEC.
Deadline: 11 December 2025
Events
Where Is Food on the COP Menu? Rethinking Food Systems and Climate Action
Tuesday 21 October 2025, 4:15–5:45pm, London and online
If you’re looking for something to do this afternoon, at this TABLE event, panelists will envision a gathering of world leaders and decision-makers in the near future that adequately weighs the role of food systems in climate change and understands the measures needed to shift diets in a sustainable way and scale back food systems’ impact on the environment.
Webinar: Building capacity for net zero literacy in farming and rural communities
Tuesday 4th November 2025, 2:00–3:30pm
In this webinar, organised by the Land Use for Net Zero (LUNZ) Hub, three expert speakers will reflect on their own experiences in capacity building for net zero literacy, followed by a panel discussion and Q&A. This webinar is for all land-use stakeholders interested in the topic of enabling transition to net zero in land use.
