Breaking Down the Barriers to Deliver Real Change to our Farming and Food Systems

Caroline Drummond, Chief Executive of Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF)

Caroline Drummond, Chief Executive of Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF) will present a public lecture at Aberystwyth University on Wednesday 25th February from 6.00pm.

This inaugural event in the Sêr Cymru National Research Network for Low Carbon, Energy and Environment (NRN-LCEE) public lecture series will be hosted by the Institute of Biological and Environmental Sciences (IBERS) on the University’s Penglais Campus.

Through her presentation ‘Breaking Down the Barriers to Deliver Real Change to our Farming and Food Systems’, Caroline Drummond will explore the challenges faced by our planet, the scientific community and wider society that need to be addressed in order to bring long lasting and meaningful changes to the sustainability of farming systems, how our food is produced and what we eat.

It will set out some of the areas where real change is starting to happen and highlight areas where new thinking is needed.

Speaking in advance of the lecture, Professor David Thomas, NRN-LCEE Director, explained: “This is the first in a series of lectures to be held at our partner institutions across Wales, providing an open forum reflecting the cross disciplinary focus of the NRN-LCEE in the fields of environmental, bioscience, low-carbon and energy research. The event promises to provide a platform for discussion and debate around two main areas of our thematic research priorities, namely: Sustainable Intensification, and Impacts and Mitigation of Climate Change and Human Activity”.

“As a partner in the NRN-LCEE, we are delighted to host the first lecture in the series here at IBERS, and to welcome our prestigious speaker whom I know well. We look forward to welcoming members of the public and colleagues from the research community to join us at this event”, added Professor Mike Gooding, Director of IBERS.

This event is open to all to attend, with no prior booking required. A complimentary drinks reception will be held in IBERbach from 6.00pm, with the lecture following at 6.30pm in the adjacent Edward Llwyd Building on the Penglais Campus at Aberystwyth University.

For further information regarding this event, please see: www.aber.ac.uk/en/events/lectures.

National Research Network for Low Carbon, Energy and the Environment
The National Research Network for Low Carbon, Energy and the Environment (NRN-LCEE) is a major, pan-Wales initiative for research into the interactions between land, water, the provision of food and energy production funded by Welsh Government and the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales. The Network specifically aims to integrate research at different spatial scales and across air-land-water domains, and to improve the Welsh capacity for research into natural resource management.

Caroline Drummond
Caroline Drummond is the Chief Executive for Linking Environment and Farming (LEAF). Her work focuses on encouraging more sustainable farming practices and building a better public understanding of farming and the environment.

She is actively involved in many industry partnerships and initiatives and has wide experience in developing, designing and promoting Integrated Farming Management (IFM) – a sustainable farming model – in the UK and wider European Union.

Caroline Drummond has been actively involved in developing innovative approaches to communicating to the general public how food is produced and where it comes from, through initiatives such as ‘Open Farm Sunday’ and ‘Open Farm School Days’ as well as through the ‘Let Nature Feed Your Senses’ project which brings disengaged communities closer to farming, nature and the countryside through farm visits.

In the Queen’s Birthday Honours (2009) she was awarded the MBE for services to the agricultural industry and also holds a Doctor of Science honoris causa (Hon DSc) from Harper Adams University, a Nuffield Scholarship and an Honorary Fellowship for the Society of the Environment.

IBERS
The Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS) is an internationally recognised research and teaching centre providing a unique base for research in response to global challenges such as food security, bioenergy and sustainability, and the impacts of climate change. IBERS scientists conduct basic, strategic and applied research from genes and molecules to organisms and the environment.

IBERS receives strategic research funding from the BBSRC to support long term mission driven research, and is a member of the National Institutes of Bioscience. IBERS also benefits from financial support from the Welsh Government, DEFRA and the European Union.

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