Hybrid seminar: Reflections on a quarter-century of stabilisation agriculture in Casamance, Senegal with Martin Evans 📆 Thursday 20th November 2025 🕓 14:00 - 16:00 pm UK Time zone (GMT) Click here to register: bit.ly/3V6GPqp

Join DAISY and PLANET4B experts, @ilkhom-soliev.bsky.social and Alex Franklin online tomorrow for Transformative Change Seminar #4: Tools for Transformative Change for Biodiversity. 👉 Explore cutting-edge tools that empower action for people and nature. biotrailsproject.eu/join-the-tra...

In July the CAWR PGR summer school was held with the theme ‘Employment & Employability, how to move forward with your career.’ The day featured talks from speakers to provide an overview of opportunities & various routes into which a PhD can develop and a BBQ lunch for networking.

🌍 Week of Action for People & Planet – Brussels 🌍 Justice, human rights & responsible business take center stage this week. 🗓 Key events happening this week (check the flyer for more info ⤵️) 👉 Some events need registration—https://www.cidse.org/who-we-are/calendar-of-events/

Dr Bastien Dieppois co-authored a new study analysing historical trends in hydrological droughts across 1466 stations in Sub-Saharan Africa. The paper identifies a decrease in drought duration & severity from the 1980s across Sub-Saharan Africa: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

The recording of the seminar 'Managing the tree disease ash dieback using sustainable soil amendments' with Ffion Thomas is now available on our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Pyn...

criw compostio is a community-scale circular economy non-profit based in mid-Wales’ creating soil nourishing compost entirely from waste for use in local organic food growing. CAWR’s Judith Conroy is supporting in an advisory capacity. Follow progress: bit.ly/3I2mqQ6

On 9-10th of July the Anaerobic Digestion & Bioresources Association (ADBA) & the World Biogas Association (WBA) organised the World Biogas Expo. The event was attended by Adhya Tiara, a PGR working jointly between CAWR & CEMR (Centre for e-Mobility & Clean Growth).

Dr Liliane Binego and Dr Donna Oldbury-Thomas graduated together in July. They’ve shared over a decade of laughter & struggle, and completed PhDs while raising sons and working full-time. Congratulations to both.

Congratulations to all of our students that graduated on Friday 25th July with a Doctor of Philosophy: Jhonny Ismael Bautista Quispe, Ryan Jaromir Dziadowiec, Job Ekolu, Omotola Folorunsho, Peter Graham Hollings, Linda Kabaira, Diana Rodriguez Cala & Yitbarek Tibebe Weldesemaet.

The recording of Professor Tim Lang's presentation 'Developing Localised Strategies for Action' is now available on our YouTube channel: bit.ly/42iWV3V

On 2nd July Julia Wright joined a panel of experts at Groundswell to discuss 'Working with Subtle Energies of the Land'. Julia shared the results of a systematic review by Dr Bojesen Jensen which assessed the scientific evidence for impact of particular innovations on-farm.

The SCALE-it website is now live. Keep up with the progress of this exciting project, including CAWRs work to ensure that the uptake of new products, tools and methods is feasible and empowers farmers to improve organic systems: scale-it-organic.eu

CAWR hosted an event at Ryton Organic Gardens in collaboration with CU’s Centre for Global Learning (GLEA) for pupils from the local Sidney Stringer Academy as part of the Collaborative Online International Learning Virtual Exchange project.

📣OneSTOP's first newsletter it out! 🐿️Meet the project and its Living Labs, and explore key topics on #IAS management. 🔗Read it here: preview.mailerlite.io/preview/1281...

Publication Spotlight: Dr Bastien Dieppois co-authored a study comparing future changes in flood return periods across 58 West African catchments under two shared socio-economical pathways & two large-scale hydrological models: doi.org/10.5194/egus...

👀 Stay informed about all the ways we support #IAS management in Europe. 📬 Subscribe to OneSTOP's newsletter: dashboard.mailerlite.com/forms/128157...

In July CU staff & students gathered at the city centre campus to explore butterflies, bees & wildlife. Guided by CAWR's Judith Conroy who discussed the wide range of insects that are able to make their home in the flower-rich habitat that has been nurtured by the university's grounds team.

Organised by CAWR & Garden Organic, in July over 130 people converged at Ryton Gardens to hear Tim Lang, Professor Emeritus of Food Policy at City St George’s, University of London, present & discuss his new report for the National Preparedness Commission: bit.ly/4oXNPDD

Our packed August newsletter is here! A hard rain's gonna fall... #Organicfarming mailchi.mp/3550e94e2bf1...

🎉A new video of our #IntroducingOneSTOP series is out! In this video Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz and Alex Franklin from Coventry University talk about OneSTOP’s #LivingLabs and how their activities contribute to the results of the project. 💻Watch the video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0JF...

The UNDETREES project has now been completed. This H2020 MSCA-RISE project was led by Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna (Italy) with 15 partners in 7 countries. CAWR led two work packages & held a final project conference. See the UNDERTREES website: projectundertrees.wordpress.com

CAWR researchers participated in the kick-off meeting for new project - SCALE-it (upSCALing Efficient alternatives for contentious InpuTs in organic farming). This Horizon Europe Innovation Action is a €7.5 million, 4year project with €6.1 EU funding.

Charlotte Southall Cotutelle PGR & supervisor Dr Leo Faedo attended the 6th Homeopathy Research Institute Conference in Thessaloniki (19-22nd June). Her poster 'Exploring Novel Plant Defence Stimulators for Reducing Downy Mildew in Grapevines in Brazil' won the best poster prize.

By linking CMIP6-derived Fire Weather Index extremes to rising global temperatures, Zhongwei Liu (former CAWR PhD), Jonathan Eden & Bastien demonstrated how human-driven warming has amplified both the frequency & duration of conditions ripe for wildfires: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Iain MacKinnon has been invited to give a keynote presentation at a conference in August, by the Royal Society of Edinburgh. It brings together participants from Scotland’s academic, policy & community sectors to explore the dynamics, value & future of rural & island research.

Dr Lovemore Gwiriri & Dr James Bennett attended the CLIPS-Africa inception meeting from 26–28 May in Palapye, Botswana. The meeting brought together over 40 farmers, industry, researchers, IDRC representative & government departments across Botswana & South Africa.

The Big Butterfly Count 2025 is here and butterflies need our help 🦋🚨 This isn't just a survey, it's a rescue mission, and we need everyone to get involved. No lab coats. No science degrees. Just 15 minutes of your time. ⏱️ Get out for the count 👉 bigbutterflycount.org

The CAWR team developing research on the cluster of agroecological farming technologies had a field trip in the Champagne region, France. The focus was the phase out of contentious inputs in agriculture, particularly looking into alternatives to copper to control phytopathogens.

Job Ekolu (former CAWR PhD), Bastien Dieppois, Jonathan Eden & Marco van de Wiel highlighted that 21st-century warming could lead to intensifying flood peaks while altering drought severity & duration across West Africa: www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

In June Donna Oldbury-Thomas represented the Pony Power project at an inspiring All Forces event held at the Owl’s Nest. This unique project combines green skills training with therapeutic experiences involving ponies to ex-military personnel seeking new directions.

On June 11th, members of the CAWR Biodiversity, Ecology & Society Cluster joined WKWT to explore the site of the former golf course at Brandon which is proposed to be part of a rewilding project of Coventry City Council. Natalie Morley captured some drone footage of the site.

Donna Oldbury-Thomas joined the Pony Power team to begin preparations for the much-anticipated Bracken Trial. Funded by ESRC Impact Acceleration Account, the focus is to tackle invasive bracken in an innovative, sustainable way—with the help of some four-legged friends.

Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz co-authored the publication of the Global Impacts Dataset of Invasive Alien Species (GIDIAS), which includes more than 22,000 records of impacts caused by 3,353 invasive alien species from all continents, from over 6,700 sources: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Dr Bastien Dieppois, European Coordinator of the UNESCO IHP FRIEND-Water flagship initiative & member of the UK National Committee for International Hydrology, attended the 50th anniversary of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme, at UNESCO Headquarter in Paris.

In May CAWR postgraduate researchers Cris Argamino, Hasanthi Kosgahakumbura & Dimple Pathania presented their PhD research at the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry (SETAC) Europe meeting poster sessions in Vienna, Austria.

Riverford Organic Farmers have released a new film about work to eliminate the use of peat-based growing media. Their recent project with CAWR, Delfland Nurseries & Cambridge Eco has led to exciting developments where a peat phase-out is closer than ever: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7r6...

In May, Dr Leonardo Faedo visited farmers in Groningen (NL), who are using homeopathic & biodynamic preparations to regenerate the land, grow cereals & horticultural produce. The collaboration focused on learning from experiences in the field & sharing successes & challenges.

16th–19th May was the 2025 Agroforestry open weekend. CAWR researchers visited some participating farms & spoke with people at different stages of diversifying their systems with more trees. Visiting researchers from Ecuador & Tanzania also joined through the UNDERTREES project.

Iain MacKinnon has been invited to contribute to a scholarly roundtable event celebrating the 50th anniversary of Michael Hechter’s groundbreaking sociological work ‘Internal Colonialism: The Celtic Fringe in British National Development’.

Francis Rayns participated in the INRAE-CNRS collective scientific assessment conference: "Plastics used in agriculture and for food: uses, properties and impacts". The key findings were presented at a public symposium in Paris on 23rd May 2025: bit.ly/43qz9UQ

Stakeholders dealing with invasive species across Coventry & Warwickshire came together in Ryton on the 21st May for the 1st meeting of OneSTOP project’s Living Lab. Participants were introduced to an air eDNA sampler, car/boat mounted camera systems & AI connected light traps.

Funded by CU's Sustainability and Clean Growth initiative, Liliane Binego & Geraldine Brown convened a research meeting with project partners from Rwanda. An outcome was the formation of a research network and development of a concept note for future research collaboration.

The Power Ponies Project creates opportunities for people to step outside, breathe deeply & move—replacing stress with purpose & isolation with the companionship of our native Welsh Mountain Ponies. 📆 Sat 5th July 2025 🕓 10:30 - 14:30 pm (GMT) Register: bit.ly/4e7S76h

New paper explores the ways in which we are taught can affect what we are able to know. It describes Lucy's pedagogical intervention, experienced by Alison & Leo, & provokes consideration of what is credible knowledge & who is a credible knowledge bearer: bit.ly/44YzPlw

On the 13th of May, The UK Grain Lab held a national convening event at CAWR, hosted by Chris Maughan & Alison Rigg, with representatives from 7 of the UK’s Regional Grain Networks all working toward a more diverse, decentralised & democratic grain system.

CAWR’s Judith Conroy & Ulrich Schmutz have co-authored a new publication exploring how living labs can contribute to agroecological transition. The open access paper is the result of work with partners on the Horizon Europe project Agroecology For Europe: bit.ly/3HnLYGQ

The British Ecological Society have published a report assessing the ecological evidence around regenerative agriculture, aimed at policy makers. Barbara Smith co-led the Chapter defining what Regenerative Agriculture is. You can read the full report here: bit.ly/4jzQj7i

PLANET4B & DAISY projects were well represented at the 10th Alternet Conference in Aveiro, Portugal 13-16 May: 'Achieving Transformative Change for Biodiversity'. Alex Franklin delivered a keynote speech: Biodiversity and Societal Transformation: Becoming Response-able.

On 7th May, Donna Oldbury-Thomas hosted the 1st in a series of demonstrations showcasing the rare, wild-foaled Welsh Mountain Pony as a conservation grazer & low-impact hauler at her farm in Wales. Representatives from RSPB, National Trust, Wildlife Trusts & councils attended.