A recording of the Circular Food Systems Network webinar from 15th September 2023 titled “Indicators to measure circularity: developments & considerations” is now available to view here. The white paper introduced in the webinar, “Circular Food Systems around the world: exploring concepts, ideas and opportunities” can be downloaded here.

This webinar brought together experts to focus on the development and considerations of indicators to measure circularity. The following questions were discussed: can we measure circularity? How would we do that? What are the limitations of using indicators? Are there alternatives to measure circularity of a food system? How important is it to measure circularity – is it necessary or does it defeat the purpose of circularity in food systems?

The webinar included the following:

• Short introduction and presentation of the whitepaper ‘Circular Food Systems around the world’ – by Flavia Casu
• Three presentations of projects funded by the CFS Network
  • Circularity in Integrated Systems: Resource Recovery for Feed, Fuel and (Organic) Fertilizer Self-sufficiency in Ethiopia – by Carlos Brazao Alho
  • Benchmarking nutrient circularity at different scales: Using a food systems perspective – by Marloes van Loon
  • A holistic framework for assessment of circular food systems – by Vicki Burggraaf
• Panel discussion with the project leaders to discuss (the need for) indicators (and possible alternatives) to measure circularity.

Closing Date: 27 September 2023

Location: NZAGRC, New Zealand

The New Zealand Agricultural Greenhouse Gas Research Centre (NZAGRC) is expanding due to increased investment and is seeking a Senior / Principal Science Advisor.

Working across international and domestic spheres, the role will be responsible for the elaboration of complex scientific research and development programmes focussed on reducing agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. The International role will support the NZAGRC Science Team to deliver on the vision and mission of New Zealand’s investment in the Global Research Alliance on Greenhouse Gases (GRA).

The NZAGRC is looking for someone with excellent scientific, communication and relationship skills and a strong familiarity with the workings of government departments and international science and policy fora.

LEARN MORE AND APPLY HERE

(Note: Closing date extended from 20 September 2023)

An updated version of the GRA brochure is now available to download and share. Check it out here or by clicking on the image below.

Preliminary call: Joint Colombia-NZ PostDoc project in Global Research Alliance Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) programme

Overall aim: Understanding the key controlling points of BNI in tropical and temperate systems in relation to N₂O emissions.

This 2-year PostDoc position for researchers from developing countries, is part of a collaboration with the Alliance Bioversity & CIAT (Colombia) and AgResearch (New Zealand) on the role of Biological Nitrification Inhibition (BNI) for reducing N₂O emissions from livestock systems. The project is funded by the New Zealand Government in support of the objectives to the Livestock Research Group of the Global Research Alliance (GRA). The position is primarily based at CIAT campus, located in Cali, Colombia, but will be conducted in close collaboration with researchers in New Zealand.

The project focusses on identifying and quantifying the key control points of BNI in both tropical and temperate systems for maximising reductions in N₂O emissions. It is an interdisciplinary project, involving plant, soil and systems scientists and will use the G x E x M framing to identify key genetic, environmental and management factors and their interactions.

The project will include conceptualisation of this framework, development, and meta-analysis of a quantitative database of information available in global BNI literature, and targeted experimental work to fill key gaps in the knowledge of controls of BNI effects on N₂O emissions.

Register your interest for this position by completing the form HERE.

Closing date: 3 September 2023

Location: Technical University of Munich

See HERE and below for details.

The HoloRuminant Joint Dissemination Network (JDN) consists of 5 projects representing a complementary effort to reduce the environmental and climate footprint of livestock production – while guaranteeing genetic diversity and efficient production in a more constrained environment – by focusing on the mitigation of GHG emissions improving the health and welfare of farmed animals and increasing the sustainability of animal production systems. The project group joins forces to provide an environment to optimize and share efforts.

The network will host a webinar series to showcase the different projects’ results. The series will include three sessions; the first will occur on the 5th of September, 11:00-12:00 CEST. In this session, they will be joined by:

Florence Bedoin and Elise Vanbergue (HoloRuminant): Stakeholders’ views regarding new practices to control microbiome; Birgit Gredler-Grandl & Oscar Gonzalez Recio (Re-Livestock): Animal breeding as a CH4 mitigation strategy and Jeremie Vandenplas (RUMIGEN: ” New breeding tools in a context of climate change”.

Registration details for all webinars can be found HERE.

The second webinar will be on the 19th of September (gut microbiome in monogastric), and the third and final (NGT for PLF traits) on the 3rd of October.