Why collaborative land management could be the answer to more sustainable land use
On 9th March, Simon Miller attended the launch of ‘Leading Food 4.0’, from the National Centre of Universities and Business. The report from the Food Economy Task Force explores the opportunities for growing business-university collaboration for the UK food sector, coining the phrase from ‘lab to landfill’ to cover R&D innovation to opportunities at end-of-life.
Within the Task Force, Richard Sheane sat on Work Stream 2 considering ’Science and translation and the race to the top in global innovation’, while Simon Miller supported Work Stream 3 in one of 3Keel’s core areas on ‘Use of land, resources and pull through into innovation’. Simon was tasked to interview other Stream members – including major food businesses, academics, and UK funders – to better understand their perspectives on more sustainable land use. The common theme that emerged was the need to recognise the multiple functions of land, and after further research, Simon – along with 3Keel colleagues Steve Jennings and Catherine McCosker – authored the Work Stream Report Landscape Collaboration for Sustainable Land Use.
Read more about this story in Simon’s blog on the NCUB website for Food Economy Week.
Image: Cotton fields in the Omo watershed, Ethiopia. Creative Commons Attribution 2.0
Defining ‘sustainable’ land use can be complex and requires working on multiple functions that are often highly location-dependent.
