Cambridge Zero research events focus on food and decarbonisation
By Ellie Austin
Photo by jean wimmerlin on Unsplash
1 | Sustainable and Healthy Food Production
Thursday 21 March 9:30-14:00
West Hub, room East 2
Cambridge Zero Symposium in collaboration with Cambridge Global Food Security Interdisciplinary Research Centre (IRC).
On 21 March, Cambridge Zero will host its Sustainable and Healthy Food Production symposium.
The symposium, in collaboration with Cambridge Global Food Security IRC, will feature National Institute of Agricultural Botany (NIAB) CEO Prof Mario Caccamo, Rob Wise of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), and Cambridge academics Dr Jagjit Singh Srai, Prof David Edwards, Prof Jaideep Prabhu and Dr Mukesh Kumar.
The keynote speakers will discuss the context and controversies that surround food production, from managing consumer demand for meat to wildlife-friendly farming, in our transition to a net-zero world.
The discussion will include insights and case studies from food security experts, including Prof Caccamo of the NIAB, one of the UK’s leading agricultural research organisations, and Dr Srai, the Co-Chair of the Council on the Future of Advanced Manufacturing and Production at the World Economic Forum.
Additionally, the symposium will hear from a multidisciplinary cohort of early career researchers to share cutting-edge research.
The symposium will provide a foundation for a white paper on how the University of Cambridge can strengthen its research and industry partnerships on keeping food production secure in a changing climate.
At the symposium Professor David Edwards will be speaking on how to minimise the environmental consequences of farming.
Intensive farming practices can be detrimental to wildlife. For example, pesticides are toxic chemicals which stop wildlife munching away on crops by reducing the habitability of farmland to all wildlife. Additionally, farmland lacking in plant diversity, such as monoculture fields, will be less attractive to a diverse range of wildlife.
However, some wildlife play a vital role in food production, such as crop-pollinating insects like bees and butterflies. Pollination is an important step in fertilising plants to grow the seeds and fruits we eat as food. Therefore, conserving wildlife is critical for food security.
In his keynote talk, Professor Edwards will discuss the context and controversies of wildlife-friendly farming as a tool for securing resilient food production.
Sign-up for our Sustainable and Healthy Food Production symposium here.
A Cambridge Zero collaboration with the University of Cambridge Decarbonisation Network.
2 | Workshop: Decarbonisation Industry Partnerships
Monday 25 March 09:30-17:00
East 1 and East 2, West Hub, JJ Thomson Avenue, Cambridge, CB3 0US
On 25 March, Cambridge Zero will host a decarbonisation partnerships event.
The all-day event, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge Decarbonisation Network, will bring together academics and industry to discuss how organisations can utilise University of Cambridge researchers to decarbonise processes in their organisation.
In the morning, attendees will hear about examples of successful industry-academia partnerships in a series of bite-sized 15-minute talks from academics, industry partners and early career researchers.
Speakers will include Professor David Reiner on his experience utilising industry engagement with the Energy Policy Research Group, and Dr Shaun Fitzgerald on industry partnerships with the Centre for Climate Repair.
This is followed by an interactive session in the afternoon to discuss and generate ideas for research collaborations with the organisations in attendance.
Read the full programme and sign-up for our decarbonisation partnerships event here.
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Published 15 March 2024
The text in this work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License
source: cam.ac.uk