Round-up – November 2024
This is our round-up for November 2024. 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
New Champion for Just Transition and Citizen Engagement
Following the recent announcement of our new Year 3 Champions, we are delighted to reveal the final addition to the team.
Rounaq Nayak is a Senior Lecturer in Sustainable Agri-Food Systems at Bournemouth University and an ESRC Policy Fellow at the Wales Centre for Public Policy. Their expertise centres on involving lived experience to co-create Just Transition interventions that promote social and environmental sustainability in agri-food systems.
With a foundation in human factors and systems thinking, they focus on enhancing resilience within food systems, addressing challenges like food insecurity, forced labour, and community engagement in knowledge mobilisation. Dr Nayak’s work integrates policy with community involvement to foster transparency, optimise systems, and advance sustainable development goals, making them a dedicated advocate for equitable, community-centred food systems.
Find out more about the Year 3 Champions
Webinars
‘World building’ and ‘behaviour change’ – how to make sustainable diets easy
Wednesday 20 November 2024, 11:00am–12:00pm
Don’t miss tomorrow’s webinar on how to move from placing all our bets on individual behavioural change to building a world where healthy and sustainable diets are the easy and normal choice for everyone, regardless of location, income and other cultural factors. Our two speakers, Lauren Leak-Smith and Ed Whincup, work for the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT) – originally established as a research unit within the UK government and now an independent consultancy working on behavioural change, globally. The webinar will be chaired by Jez Fredenburgh, Knowledge Exchange Fellow at the AFN Network+, with support from Prof Neil Ward, AFN co-lead.
Inheritance tax changes – what do they mean for farming & net zero?
Emily Norton, our AFN Network+ Policy Champion for Land, Agriculture and Carbon, and Jason Beedell, head of rural research at Strutt & Parker, one of the UK’s largest land agents, discussed the Chancellor’s decision to reduce Agricultural Property Relief for farming businesses in this timely webinar. They talked about the impact on farming and its ability to weather the changes ahead and lead the transition to a more sustainable food system. How might the changes affect farmers’ ability to reduce emissions or enter into natural capital markets and contracts?
Opportunities
SHAKE Climate change
SHAKE Climate change is a not-for-profit investment and entrepreneur support programme led by Rothamsted Research in a consortium with Cranfield University, University College London and the University of Hertfordshire. They have opened a call for applications to join their 5th Cohort of entrepreneurs and start-ups who are combating climate change with science or tech-based ideas in the areas of agriculture and food production. It is an opportunity to gain extensive business mentorship and £125K in funding to turn ideas into reality.
Application deadline: 6 January 2025
More information
UKRI: Pre-announcement: Future Leaders Fellowships: round 10
This opportunity is for an early career researcher or innovator who is either:
- looking to establish or transition to independence
- developing their own original and ambitious plans within a commercial setting
You must be based at, and have the support of, an eligible academic or non-academic institution eligible for UKRI funding. There is no minimum or maximum project cost. UKRI will fund 80% of the full economic cost (FEC). Your project can last for up to four years, with the option to apply to renew for a further three years.
Opening date: 3 February 2025
Closing date: 18 June 2025
More information
Wellcome: Biology of fungal adaptation
This award will support studies that explore the mechanisms and triggers for fungal adaptation, particularly in environments that are associated with disease and/or impacted by climate change. Awardees will generate important breakthroughs in the field, strengthen research networks and empower future leaders in this field. There is a webinar on 27 November to discuss the call.
Funding: Up to £3 million
Deadline: 28 January 2025
More information
Events
Webinar: Ultra Processed Food: making us sick or keeping us fed?
Thursday 21 November, 2024 – 5:30 to 6:30pm
Organised by Cambridge Global Food Security and chaired by Professor Martin White, Professor of Population Health Research at the University of Cambridge, an expert panel will give brief presentations addressing key issues around ultra-processed food, followed by a Q&A with the audience. The speakers are Dr Yanaina Chavez-Ugalde and Dr Jagjit Singh Srai (University of Cambridge), Dr. Chris van Tulleken (University College London), and Baroness Walmsley, Chair of the House of Lords Food, Diet and Obesity Committee.
6th SFN+ Annual Conference: Innovations for sustainable and resilient agri-food systems
Wednesday 27 November 2024, York and online
This year’s SFN+ (STFC Food Network+) conference will explore three themes and, across panel discussions, and feedback from delegates, share what works and, as importantly, what doesn’t, and look at potential solutions for the future, new areas of research, and how to overcome any challenges and barriers. The three themes are:
- Innovations for agriculture and food production. Sustainable agriculture: maximising efficiency and minimising environmental impact.
- Innovations for safe, sustainable and resilient food manufacturing and supply chains.
- Innovations for sustainable consumer behaviour and nutritional security.
To book your place, please complete the registration form by Thursday 21 November (for attending in person) or Tuesday 26 November (if attending online).
D4AgEcol National Policy Workshop
Friday 31 January 2025, 10:00am to 3:30pm
Harper Adams University
The Horizon/UKRI funded Digitalisation for Agri-Ecology project is hosting a D4AgEcol National Policy Workshop. It will focus on exploring the potential of digitalisation to support improved adoption of agroecology and includes a series of keynote presentations by Prof Louise Manning (University of Lincoln), Dr Nicky Randall (Harper Adams University), Dr Andreas Gabriel (LfL, Germany), Elias Maritan and Professor Karl Behrendt (Harper Adams University). The key areas that will be discussed in the workshop include:
- The potential of digitalisation for agroecology
- Future directions and critical actions for transition towards agroecology
Deadline: Register by 29th November 2024
Sign up here
Opportunities
Researcher, THRIVING Food Futures research hub
Nuffield Department of Primary Care Health Sciences, Oxford
The successful applicant will work on the co-design of a policy tool called a Nutrient and Environment Profiling Model (NEPM). This tool will support national and local policies designed to support healthy, sustainable diets. Responsibilities will include: development of algorithms to identify healthy and/or sustainable foods; testing these algorithms against the subjective judgments of a working group of policymakers; and presenting easily accessible results at project meetings and in reports.
Deadline: Monday 16 December 2024
More information
Post-doctoral Research Fellow in Food Rheology and Texture
University of Greenwich
This post-doctoral research fellow will have the responsibility to drive transformative research on food rheology and perform texture analysis to deliver relevant projects for the Bezos Centre for Sustainable Protein (BCSP). The successful candidate will lead research for BCSP on understanding the texturisation process of novel plant/algal protein and develop key scientific insights on the rheological and texture properties of plant/algae protein-based products.
Deadline: Friday 6 December 2024
More information
Publication
Ruminant livestock and climate change
Congratulations to ECR Board member Philippa Simmonds, who has the first paper published from her PhD research. Ruminant livestock and climate change: critical discourse moments in mainstream and farming sector news media investigates the portrayals of ruminant livestock and climate change in national and farming sector news media from 2016-2021. Using Critical Discourse Analysis, the authors identify four key “Critical Discourse Moments” that shaped public debate — from “We must eat far less meat” to “Fighting the anti-meat agenda”. Their findings reveal both problematic polarisation and under-engagement with food system power imbalances.