Tag Archives: sustainability

From #diet for a small planet, to myths about world #hunger to living democracy and hope – a conversation with Frances Moore Lappé

Posted on 16 August 2016 by

It was quite fitting that Coventry University’s Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) invited Frances Moore Lappé to give a keynote speech at its 2nd birthday party in mid-July. Frances has had a huge impact with her work spanning … Continue reading →

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Great new guide to global #soil #biodiversity from #EU on show @ESOF2016

Posted on 29 July 2016 by

My first degree was in soil science and it was great to see this beautifully illustrated Global Soil Biodiversity Atlas on display at the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF2016) in Manchester earlier this week. Despite all our lives depending upon soil, … Continue reading →

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From India’s green to greed to evergreen revolution – M S Swaminathen discusses a lifetime’s work

Posted on 22 April 2016 by

In 2009, I met M S Swaminathan during a visit to India. A plant genetistist, who was at Cambridge at the same time as Watson and Crick, he is often known as the father of India’s green revolution. A towering … Continue reading →

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Soil running out, growing faba beans in Scotland for people & fish, and Miscanthus for power stations?

Posted on 25 July 2014 by

When will our planet’s soil run out, given the way we’re (mis)using it? In about 50 years, according to Professor John Crawford, now director of the Sustainable Systems Programme at Rothamsted Research and formerly at the University of Sydney, Faculty … Continue reading →

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Quiz time. What’s the connection between a ridiculously healthy hydrangea, Gladstone pottery Museum, #food security and a blocked toilet?

Posted on 14 August 2013 by

Got it? No? OK, here’s the link for me. On one side of the old house we live in is a hydrangea growing up the wall, on the other side of the house a clematis. The hydrangea grows like mad, … Continue reading →

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Risk, small farmers and total resource management – insights from Dr Bob Orskov

Posted on 14 February 2013 by

I was up in Aberdeen in early February giving a lecture for the Centre for Sustainable International Development. While there, I met a remarkable man  – Bob Orskov – a researcher who’s worked with small farmers around the world for … Continue reading →

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