South West Agroecology Network
Purpose
This is a network that brings together farmers, researchers and those working in the third sector (charities & think tanks) on agroecology. The aim of this network is to co-create collaborative research that has a direct impact for farmers and works to influence the adoption of agroecology in the South West.
We began in 2020 with an open enquiry:
'what do you understand by agroecology?'
Condensing these into a sentence, the network understood agroecology as science, practice, movement and knowledge all about healthy agriculture and food systems
That winter, we met online to reach consensus on research gaps in the region:
Collaborative processes
What is the role of collaborative processes in supporting and promoting agroecological systems?
Beliefs & behaviours
What are the deep set beliefs and behaviours of farmers and academics preventing our food system from making an agroecological transition?
Ecological literacy
How does ecological literacy affect the ability of humans to comprehend and interact with current crises?
Access to land
How does access to land affect the uptake of agroecology in the south west?
What is preventing this access and how could this be overcome?
In summer 2021, we decided research priorities and network groups in person:
Research priorities:
Now
Soon
Later
Network groups:
Funding
Membership
Knowledge exchange
Transdisciplinary Research
