CSC Archives - Nuffield Ireland

2024 Nuffield International Contemporary Scholars Conference (CSC) in Brazil

Leah Johnston — Thu, 02 May 2024 09:41:42 +0000

Image: A group of Nuffield Scholars visit SENAR during CSC 2024 in Brazil

Nuffield Ireland Scholars travel to Brazil for CSC 2024

The 2024 Nuffield International Contemporary Scholars Conference (CSC) – the annual event which sees all new Scholars from all Nuffield countries come together at the start of their programme – was hosted by Nuffield Brazil last March in Campo Grande and Bonito, in the state of Mato Grosso do Sul. This is the 2024 Scholars’ opportunity to seed their own network, with intense exchanges, workshops, cooperative conversations and conferencing, as well as field visits to local agribusinesses and farms, hackathons on business and sustainability themes and more.

It is an exceptional opportunity to learn mutual respect of one another’s cultural differences, and to develop one’s leadership skills. Scholars are being asked every day to do things that take them out of their comfort zone (otherwise known as the Dream Cemetery, as we were warned!).

Nuffield National Directors and Chairs joined their Scholars from Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the UK, France, the Netherlands, Poland, Germany, Brazil of course, Argentina, Chile, Japan, and of course our five Irish Scholars. For the Directors and Chairs, it is the yearly opportunity to meet in person, and exchange on common challenges and solutions in the running of the Nuffield programme.

Our first two days, hosted in Campo Grande’s Bioparque Pantanal – an educational ecological facility home to the world’s largest freshwater aquarium – were opened by no less than the Governor of Mato Grosso do Sul State Mr Eduardo Riedel. It was the opportunity to discover the history of Brazil and its agriculture.
After rapid expansion in the last 50 years, Brazil’s agriculture is a powerhouse of food production and exports throughout the world, but also very sensitive to the criticism of the environmental and social record of its agriculture. While its growth remains dependent on deforestation and other natural land clearance as well as significant use of pesticides, the development of double cropping and increased yields is now making a bigger contribution, and legislation is coming in to improve the sustainability of agriculture and farm practices.

Image: Mato Grosso do Sul Governor Eduardo Riedel opens the CSC 24 in Campo Grande Bioparque

Our Brazilian hosts were candid about those challenges, but also keen to show how Brazil in general, and agriculture in MS state in particular, are grasping those difficult nettles to secure market access in Europe in particular.

Our group also heard about the impact of geopolitics and climate change on food systems and on Brazil, and the difficulties inherent in securing business succession, an issue for agriculture globally.

A number of challenges such as hackathons, were interspersed with opportunities to discover agribusinesses large and small, find out about sustainability research indigenous communities, the biodiversity and environment of the region.

To find out more about the event, you might wish to read the document produced by Nuffield Brazil “Connections and Solutions: A Transformational Journey achieved through Global Collaboration“ and our Executive Director’s April 2024 Cúl Dara Consultancy Newsletter.

Our Scholars are expected to write media articles, for publication by the Irish Farmers’ Journal, and Molly Garvey and Niall Hurson have already done so, based on their CSC experience.

See here: https://www.farmersjournal.ie/news/news/opinion-the-future-of-small-scale-fruit-processing-in-brazil-816872 and here: https://www.farmersjournal.ie/news/opinion/opinion-brazil-needs-to-be-supported-in-its-sustainability-journey-816867

Image: Nuffield Ireland 2024 Scholars Niall Hurson, Nick Cotter, Molly Garvey, John Keane and Michael Martin at the Nuffield CSC 2024 in Campo Grande, Mato Grosso do Sul State, Brazil last March

Image: A selection of images from Nuffield International Scholars visit to Brazil for CSC 2024

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Nuffield Scholars travel to the Contemporary Scholars’ Conference (CSC) in Vancouver, Canada

Leah Johnston — Mon, 24 Apr 2023 19:40:45 +0000

Nuffield Ireland Scholars travel to the Contemporary Scholars’ Conference (CSC), this year held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from 10th to 18th March 2023.

Nuffield Canada hosted this year’s CSC in Richmond, a suburb of beautiful Vancouver, in British Columbia. Set in the midst of mountains, river and ocean, this is a vibrant, multicultural city. Its commercial port is the largest in Canada, handling one third of all Canada’s trade in goods outside of North America, including significant agricultural commodity trade.

Image: The Irish contingent at the Nuffield CSC2023 in Richmond, BC, Canada. L to r: Tommy Murray; Gillian Willis; Mike Brady; Margaret Edgill; Liagh Whelehan; Bryan Daniels; Catherine Lascurettes and David Fennelly

Image: A mix of 2023 and a few 2022 Scholars from all over the Nuffield world attended the 2023 CSC in Richmond, BC. Also in the picture are the Nuffield International Board Members, Executives and Delegates from the Nuffield countries.

Image: Picture of G3 Terminal courtesy of G3

Our field visits took in the huge G3 Terminal, through which 150-waggon trains carrying up to 15,000t of wheat and rapeseed from Alberta and Saskatchewan are offloaded to 48 silos which can stock up to 180,000t. Panamax type bulk ships carrying up to 60,000t each can be loaded in 36 hours, in strict quality and traceability conditions to ensure the quality of the product. From Vancouver, G3 ships grain and oilseed rape to markets around the Pacific rim.

Find out more about the G3 Vancouver Terminal – click here

Also in the port of Vancouver, our next stop was at the OceanWise Plastics Lab, which analyse ocean water for microplastics and find innovative ways to support businesses such as washing machine manufacturers, government and individuals in stopping them at source.

There, we learned about the life story of a textile microfibre, and that the weight equivalent of 10 blue whales enters Canada’s rivers, lakes and oceans each year. Washing clothes less often and at cooler temperatures was recommended. But better retention of fibres through water treatment plants, and more efficient industrial and washing processes to eliminate fibre shedding were the real targets for the lab.

Finally, on the same site, was Vital Kelp, who run a kelp nursery, whose aim is to recolonise and rewild some existing, depleted kelp beds in the local area. They have the capacity to produce millions of baby kelp plants. Their technique involves “green gravel” and “toddler kelp” where baby kelp plants are tethered to pebbles which they eventually colonise and attach themselves to, and then transplanting those when robust enough to restore kelp forests on the ocean floor.

This is done in collaboration and with the local knowledge of First Nation peoples whose ancestral land the port of Vancouver is located on: the Coastal Salish peoples. Kelp captures carbon and uses it to grow at the fastest rate of any other plant on the planet. Replenishing the kelp beds is referred to as afforestation.

Image: Vital Kelp founder Lee Ann Ennis shows qn example of a “toddler kelp” attached to a “green pebble”.

Image: The attaching end of a kelp plant.

Image: “Kelp toddler” growing beds at the Vital Kelp lab.

Most of the week was spent engaging with experts in a variety of agribusiness or adjacent enterprises and organisations in a conference format. Each morning a lottery system ensured Scholars sat at different tables. They were then encouraged to use “co-operative conversation” to first consider and debate the presentation they had just heard, and then agree on one question per table prior to asking it from each speaker. This technique takes Scholars out of their comfort zone and allows them to develop their interpersonal, analytical skills and confidence.

During those conferencing days, we learned about Antarctic food growing experiments aimed at facilitating food independence for future missions to space; about insect breeding to supply sustainable fertiliser but also protein for human consumption; about preparedness for emergency situations such as floods or wildfires; about the Canadian rapeseed (Canola) production chain, among many other topics.

Scholars were given tips and encouragement to be proactive on social media, with a daily challenge with a prize to be won for most engaging post – one of which was won by our very own 2023 Scholar and super Instagrammer Margaret Edgill of Mount Briscoe Farm! You can follow Margaret – click here.

You can also read our Executive Catherine Lascurettes’ take-aways on the combined CSC and Triennial experiences, in the April 2023 Cúl Dara Consultancy Newsletter, at this link – click here

You can find out more about the Nuffield programme, and the adventures of our travelling Scholars in real time, by following us on our social media channels.

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Food, Climate and Health – and Food Security – on the Agenda of Nuffield CSC 2022

Leah Johnston — Mon, 28 Mar 2022 16:18:10 +0000

Food, Climate and Health – and Food Security – on the Agenda of Nuffield CSC 2022

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This year’s Nuffield Contemporary Scholars Conference (CSC), the first in-person Nuffield event in two years, hosted by Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust saw all 2021 and 2022 international Scholars gather in Norwich and London from 7th to 14th March 2022

We enjoyed and learned from a comprehensive programme of interventions and presentations from experts on sustainable food systems, consumer expectations, farm safety and mental health. We heard from Scholars from all over the Nuffield World about their countries’ agriculture, we challenged our comfort zone and braincells through a Design Sprint at Norwich Research Park, and Business Hacks at local Norfolk agrifood businesses.

We were also hosted by UK Nuffield Scholar Robby Moore, MP at Westminster to engage with Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs RH George Eustice MP and Lord Curry of Kirkharle, CBE, Crossbench Member of the House of Lords, who was responsible for for overseeing the Governement’s Strategy for Sustainable Farming and Food until March 2009.

We learned that British agricultural policy will focus on supporting farmers and landowners to deliver for the environment and climate. Regenerative agriculture and responsible stewardship of the environment, striving towards net zero carbon are all among the aims pursued. Post Brexit, the UK government appears to already consider divergence with EU regulatory approaches on certain new technologies like gene editing where it delivers benefits for sustainability in food production.

We also discussed the humanitarian crisis in Ukraine, and the impacts of the Russian invasion on global food security was discussed with our British parliamentary hosts. With Russia and Ukraine major exporters of wheat and sunflower oil, action is urgently needed to support Ukrainian farmers and fend off the food insecurity impact in Africa, the Middle East, India and Pakistan – the main clients for Ukrainian grain. Nuffield was keen to ask the politicians for guidance on how it can help.

This has been a hectic week packed with thought provoking visits to food/agri businesses and farms/estates hosted by passionate business owners and managers. We have heard from experts on how consumer behaviour is influenced by health, dietary and environmental considerations and the responses this requires from the agri-food community. We have also heard about policy development changes in times when food security has returned centre-stage.

But perhaps most of all, we have got to know and enjoy the company of the Scholars from all over the Nuffield world. They have helped us challenge our thought processes and look at problems from different angles.
We have made friends for life, and now that we can travel again, as our Scholars start on their Global Focus Programme travels from June to September next, the contacts and friends made this week will deepen and grow.

Thank you so much to Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust and Nuffield International for organising this slickly run and packed agenda. We’ve had a terrific week!

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2021 and 2022 Nuffield Ireland Scholars travel to CSC 2022 in Norwich, UK

Leah Johnston — Fri, 04 Mar 2022 21:32:51 +0000

Nuffield Scholars on the road again!

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For what will be their first in person travel in two years, the 2021 and 2022 Irish Nuffield Scholars will be attending the 2022 Nuffield International Contemporary Scholars’ Conference (CSC) from 7th to 15th March in Norwich, UK.

A packed one-week programme of learning, personal development and networking awaits them. They will be meeting with the over 100 Scholars selected in 2021 and 2022, their contemporaries from all over the Nuffield International world.

“In the last two years, our Scholars have had a very challenging time, with limits to their ability to travel and carry out their research. We see this year as hopefully a return to more normalised opportunities to learn from and exchange with agri-stakeholders and fellow Scholars worldwide,” Chairperson Karen Brosnan said.

Joe Leonard, Nuffield Ireland Vice-Chairman and Nuffield International Board Member will be travelling with the Irish Scholars to the CSC. He added: “The Nuffield Scholarship programme is an exacting two-year journey of learning and leadership development which is heavily dependent on international travel and in person connection. The CSC, after our February briefing day, is the first real step in this programme for our new Scholars. They will start to broaden their horizon by networking with global leaders in agribusiness and fellow Scholars, to gain an appreciation of the perspective of others, from different cultural and professional backgrounds.”

The CSC gathers all the Scholars from Ireland, the UK, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Japan, Canada, the US, Brazil and many more associated countries. The week-long packed programme includes presentations on global agriculture, workshops on new technology and science in the agri-food sector, visits to local food businesses and agricultural research facilities in Norfolk. Scholars will be challenged to participate actively daily, introducing their own country’s agriculture and taking responsibility to lead debates and round tables. They will participate in a Design Sprint at the Norwich Research Park to develop and articulate proposals on agricultural policy in times of climate change and geopolitical strife in advance of engagements with farming and food leaders, policy decision makers and legislators on the last day in Westminster.

Nuffield Ireland Executive Catherine Lascurettes, who will also travel with the Scholars, concluded: “This will be an exceptional opportunity for our Scholars, and we all look forward to meeting the Nuffield International community, challenging ourselves intellectually and pushing ourselves out of our comfort zone! Do keep an eye on our social media channels, especially Twitter and LinkedIn, for updates during the programme!”

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Nuffield Ireland announces 6 new scholars for 2019

Amii . — Sun, 23 Sep 2018 21:07:51 +0000

Nuffield Farming Scholarships Trust Ireland has selected 6 new scholars for the 2019 Nuffield Scholarships. The objective of the Irish Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust is to identify future leaders of Irish Agriculture and facilitate their ambition to bring about meaningful change for the benefit of their community.

“We received 30 applications of a very high standard for these scholarships. Following a 2 stage interview process, the selection panel chose these 6 candidates to receive this award. I look forward working with our new scholars as they engage in the Nuffield Leadership development programme, work on their study topic and produce their report” said Geoff Dooley, Chairman of Nuffield Ireland.

The new scholars for 2019 are:
Alison Holmes, Camross, Co Laois. Alison is farming in partnership on the family dairy farm, and is also part time physiotherapy programme clinical tutor at University of Limerick. She is actively involved in her local IFA and Macra na Feirme branches and in the local Ladies rugby and hockey teams.

Ailish Moriarty, Annascaul, Co Kerry. Ailish is Milk Quality Manager with Kerry Agribusiness. She has a background in food production in Kerry Ingredients and other businesses, and was also self-employed as a food business adviser. She and her husband run a dairy farm and she has completed her MBA.

Pat O’Meara, Nenagh Co Tipperary. Pat is a dairy farmer and Agricultural Adviser with AIB Bank. He took over the family beef/sheep, tillage farm a number of years ago, and converted to dairying, expanding it with long term leases. He is also Agri team leader for AIB covering the middle third of the country.

Karina Pierce, Roundwood, Co Wicklow. Karina is Associate Professor of Dairy Production at UCD. She is degree programme co-ordinator of two collaborative programmes, and she also leads a progressive research programme and team at UCD Lyons farm. She has held a number of leadership roles including President of the ASA and membership of the Teagasc Authority.

Ciara O’Halloran, Burrin, Co Clare. Ciara is Managing Director of the Redbank Food Co and has re-established it from 100% exporting live oysters to branding oysters on the domestic and export markets, and more recently introduced the area of food tourism. Ciara is actively involved in local organisations dealing with environmental education, food trails, and improving the economy, environment and heritage around Galway Bay.

Robbie Byrne, Ardee, Co Louth. Robbie’s farm business has tillage, sheep, and free-range rare breed pigs. He also has an agricultural consultancy business providing specialised soils and nutrition advice to farmers, aimed at improving the yield and nutritional quality of their produce.

The new scholars will be introduced, and will give an outline of their study topic, at the Nuffield Ireland Annual Conference in the Castleknock Hotel on Friday 16th November 2018 which can be booked at this link.

Nuffield Ireland awards scholarships with the support of its sponsors, namely, FBD Trust, IFA, the Irish Farmers’ Journal, the Golden Jubilee Trust, Meat Industry Ireland, Aurivo Co-op Glanbia, Bord Iascaigh Mhara, Dairymaster, LIC, MSD Animal Health and Dairygold.

Mr Dooley congratulated the new scholars on their awards. He said “the scholars will receive a travel bursary of €14,000. They will initially receive briefings and skills development over the coming months, before further training with fellow-Nuffield Scholars from around the world at a week-long Contemporary Scholars Conference which will be held in Des Moines, Iowa, USA in March 2019.

After this initial stage, they will undertake 6 weeks travel on one of the 6 Global Focus Programme (GFP) itineraries to about 6 countries (such as China, US, Brazil, Africa, Eastern Europe, Japan, India, Philippines and others). They will travel in groups of about 8 scholars from different countries, meet farmers, companies and policymakers to get an understanding of the issues, trends and insights into global agriculture, and to see farming in a wide range of sizes, regulatory and climatic conditions. Later, they will travel individually to research their topic of choice. They will be expected to prepare a comprehensive 30 – 35 page report, to be presented to the Nuffield Farming Scholarship Trust, as well as various other Irish and international agricultural forums,” Mr Dooley said. “I am delighted to welcome these new scholars to Nuffield Ireland, and look forward to seeing them develop their full potential, and play an important role for Irish Agriculture, their local community and for Nuffield in the years ahead. This brings to 94 the total number of scholars
who have been awarded Irish Nuffield scholarships since 1996” he said.

Contacts for Press:

Amii McKeever, Chair, Communications Sub Committee 086-8574420

John Tyrrell, Executive Secretary 087-2563501

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