Publication Spotlight This pilot study evaluated the suitability of a citizen science approach to analyse the impacts of invasive alien plants on native vegetation and makes recommendations for the wider application of the method: https://doi.org/10.1002/2688-8319.70121

Dr Donna Oldbury-Thomas is delighted to announce that the Pony Power Project has been named Coventry University’s Most Impactful Project of 2025! This recognition celebrates our innovative work using Welsh Mountain Ponies to tackle wildfires, improve land management & support community wellbeing.

CAWR researchers Margi Lennartsson, Geraldine Brown & Judith Conroy are working with Garden Organic and their Heritage Seed Library on a new project, to raise awareness of heritage crop varieties and their significance for biodiversity and resilience: https://bit.ly/49daaHZ

A month to go for the Hybrid seminar:Agroecological Innovations in Alternative Grain Systems with Chris Maughan and Leo Faedo 📆 Thursday 11th December 2025 🕓 11:00 - 12:00 pm UK Time zone (GMT) Click here to register: http://bit.ly/4opEEuX

Hybrid seminar:Agroecological Innovations in Alternative Grain Systems with Chris Maughan and Leo Faedo 📆 Thursday 11th December 2025 🕓 11:00 - 12:00 pm UK Time zone (GMT) Click here to register: http://bit.ly/4opEEuX

As the SCALE-it project sets to work to reduce contentious inputs in organic agriculture, it will have its own dedicated newsletter. Subscribe to the newsletter here: https://bit.ly/47dWJWB

On 18 September, the EU-funded PLANET4B project, in collaboration with Dadima’s CIC, hosted a conference that brought together 30 representatives from environmental organisations & community-led initiatives to promote transformative change.

Hybrid seminar: Nature4Water on the Warwickshire Avon with Ian Jelley 📆 Thursday 27th November 2025 🕓 14:00 - 15.30:00 pm UK Time zone (GMT) Click here to register: http://bit.ly/48USBfI

CAWR PhD Victoria Adams presented preliminary work “Characterisation of peat-free propagation media for physical, chemical & biological properties”, at the II International Symposium on Growing Media, Compost Utilisation & Substrate Analysis for Soilless Cultivation in Germany.

In September CAWR colleagues began work on the Horizon Europe project WINN-ORGANIC (Widening INNovations for ORGANIC food). Partners aim to improve procurement of organic food through the creation of Organic Food Innovation Hubs, working towards the vision of ‘organic for all’.

Prismita Nursetyowati (Mita), a 2nd year PhD student in the cotutelle programme between Coventry Uni & Institut Teknologi Bandung, was selected to attend the São Paulo School of Advanced Science on Emerging Pollutants in Brazil, in September. Mita also presented her poster.

Ulrich Schmutz, Liz Trenchard, Sam Green, Judith Conroy & Rosemary Venn attended the Agroforestry Show, organised by the Soil Association & Woodland Trust at Woodoaks Farm. Liz & Sam participated in a session on scaling agroforestry through community tree nurseries.

Watersens is an EU-funded project: “The development of innovative decentralized technologies & new co-created governance models for WATER SENSitive communities”. CAWR’s team include Professors Sue Charlesworth & Marco Van De Wiel, and Drs Anna Bogush & Bastien Dieppois.

📢 #LivingData2025 starts today! 👀 Follow the sessions OneSTOP contributes to: onestop-project.eu/news/onestop...

As part of the research programme on Subtle Agroecologies, Julia Wright joined about 40 other international participants at the Pari Centre, Tuscany, Italy, for a collaborative enquiry into an expanded science that includes the inner world of subjective experience.

The first SCALE-it newsletter is out! 🌿 From vibration-based pest control and medicinal plants in animal health to agroecology in action - discover how partners are advancing sustainable solutions for organic farming. 🔍Read it here: mailchi.mp/a7d22b082b1e... #SCALE_it #OrganicFuture

Project PLANET4B has researched plural values, intersectionality, attitudes & behavioural & institutional change for addressing biodiversity loss, across a range of settings in a transdisciplinary consortium of 16 partners. The closing event in Brussels featured presentations from the CAWR team.

In August at The Organic Growers Gathering, CAWR PhD Charlotte Southall spoke about Homeopathy for Growers with Lawrence Woodward OBE of Whole Health Agriculture. She's now looking to co-design on-farm homeopathy trials with UK growers to improve yields and tackle pest & disease problems.

On Wednesday the 10th of September CAWR held a Macmillan Coffee Morning in the kitchen. Staff and students enjoyed a selection of homemade and shop bought treats and raised £124 for a great cause.

Our latest publication describes a bee species new to science: Camptopoeum paruii. The paper honours 2 very special people to the team at the Centre for Pollination Studies (CPS), University of Calcutta: Arpan Parui & Professor Parthib Basu https://doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2025.2531159

The 3rd International Biodynamic Research Conference was held at the Royal Agricultural University, Cirencester. Over 180 researchers came together to share their enquiries into holistic farming across different knowledge systems. CAWR researchers made contributions to the programme.

If you wanted to catch up on any of our previous seminars then take a look at our YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/@CAWRCoventr...

In our latest issue: A pyrolysis gas chromatography high resolution mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) method for analysis of phthalic acid esters and its application for screening e-waste materials Ivan Kourtchev et al @coventrycawr.bsky.social @deakinuniversity.bsky.social pubs.rsc.org/en/content/a...

The first edition of the SCALE-it newsletter launches this October 2025!🌱🚜🐄 You will receive: 🌿 Updates on innovative alternatives to contentious inputs 🌍 Insights from on-farm trials 💡 Project key developments 📥 Subscribe now: eepurl.com/jnCwLc #SCALE_it #NatureBasedInputs #OrganicFuture

🌍 Pastoralist Voices, Global Choices 🌍 Pastoralism sustains biodiversity, cultural heritage & climate resilience—yet it’s still undervalued. With 2026 named the International Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists, the time to act is now. 📄 Report & policy brief 👉 www.cidse.org/2025/09/26/w...

Dr Margi Lennartsson Turner & Dr Geraldine Brown were invited by Ruskin Mill Trust to share key insights from their research & discuss next steps with staff, researchers, senior leadership team & trustees. The study represents the culmination of a strong & successful partnership.

In Aug Katharina Dehnen-Schmutz, Helen Bayliss & Sian Green from CAWR were joined by Lori Lawson Handley (UKCEH) & James Lloyd (Platform Kinetic) to trial 2 Biota Trace airDNA samplers alongside an automated insect monitoring trap from Aarhus University: onestop-project.eu

With funding from CU's Sustainability theme, CAWR’s Gemma Foster & Judith Conroy have been exploring the potential of high-protein crops which are currently underutilised. Growers from Coventry's Agroecological Living Lab were interviewed & the findings explored in a workshop at The Pod Café.

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