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Food security is one of the most critical issues facing the world today and as we plan for the future.
As the world’s growing population continues to put pressure on a system already under strain, and with food demand only expected to increase the consequences of food shortages, from price spikes to malnutrition, will be acute.
Furthermore the many problems affecting global food security including changing climate and weather patterns, competition for land, environmental regulations, pests and diseases, inadequate infrastructure and changing consumption patterns, only add to the challenges of providing adequate and stable supply.
Programme
Tickets for the 2015 BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities/UCL Grand Challenges Symposium on Global Food Security are now available via eventbrite.
Outline Programme
Day One: Monday 9th November
12.30 Registration
13.30 Opening Keynote: Prof Pete Smith, Professor of Soils and Global Change, Aberdeen University
14.00 Complexity and Resilience in the Food System
15.30 Coffee
16.00 Food Security: Understanding Food Markets and Trade
17.30 Wrap up
18.00 Networking Reception and Research Poster Display
Day Two: Tuesday 10th November
9.00 Registration
10.00 Opening Keynote: Kelly Stiebel, Project Manager, National Centre for Universities and Business
10.30 Changing Patterns of Food Demand
12.00 Lunch
13.00 Food Policy: Growth v Sustainability (Panel Debate)
14.00 Wrap up
14.30 Networking Reception and Research Poster Display
16.00 Conference Close
The full programme is now also available for download:
Research Catalyst Grants
As part of this years symposium UCL ISR awarded grants of up to £10,000 to UCL researchers conducting innovative and cross-disciplinary research that contributes to the debate on global food security and the sustainable use of natural resources.
- 2015 projects
Congratulations to the winners of this year's Research Catalyst Grants funded as part of the ‘Global Food Security: Adaptation, Resilience and Risk’ symposium theme.
The Research Catalyst Grants support cross-disciplinary research projects at UCL as part of the BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities/UCL Grand Challenges Symposium Series.
2015: Global Food Security
Food security is one of the most critical issues for human health and wellbeing facing the world today and as we plan for the future. As the world’s growing population continues to put pressure on a system already under strain, and with food demand only expected to increase the consequences of food shortages, from price spikes to malnutrition, will be acute.
Furthermore the many problems affecting global food security including changing climate and weather patterns, competition for land, environmental regulations, pests and diseases, inadequate infrastructure and changing consumption patterns, only add to the challenges of providing adequate and stable supply.
Project Title Project Lead UCL Department Food, water, policy and people: evaluating the impacts of climate change and groundwater limitation on food security in NW Bangladesh, to guide policy for adaptation. Dr William Burgess UCL Earth Sciences Changing Agricultural Production and Local Knowledge in Marakwet, Kenya: The Implications for Food Security and Natural Resource Management Prof Henrietta Moore UCL Institute for Global Prosperity The vulnerability of refrigerated food to unstable power supplies Dr Robert Liddiard UCL Energy Institute Closing the waste-energy-food loop - applying anaerobic digestate to urban agriculture
Dr Aiduan Borrion
UCL Civil, Envt & Geomat Eng
Steering group
Many thanks to the steering committee and additional staff from across UCL for their contribution, overall guidance and feedback.
- Prof Raimund Bleischwitz, UCL Institute for Sustainable Resources (chair)
- Dr Ilan Kelman, Institute for Risk and Disaster Reduction
- Prof Jamie MacIntosh, UCL Institute for Security & Resilience Studies
- Jas Mahrra, Institute for Security & Resilience Studies
- Prof Pete Salmonds, Institute for Risk & Disaster Reduction
- Ian Scott, UCL Grand Challenge
- Olivia Stevenson, Public Policy, Office of the Vice-Provost Research
- Prof Richard Strange, Genetics, Evolution and Environment
- Prof Richard Taylor, Geography
- Professor Jeff Waage OBE, London International Development Centre/ SOAS Food Studies Centre
- Dr James Wilson, Dept of Philosophy
- Katherine Welch, Institute for Sustainable Resources
Outputs
- Symposium 2015 outcomes
Presentations
Day 1 Keynote
'Addressing the joint challenges of climate change and food security' by Prof Pete Smith, University of Aberdeen
Session 1 - Complexity and Resilience in the Food System
‘Applying ontologies to resilience in food systems’ by Ruthie Musker
‘Contribution of wild food to the household food security’ by Jeferson Asprilla
‘Capturing socio-technical complexity to navigate within the nitrogen and phosphorus boundaries’ by Dr Lassi Linnanen
‘Fertilizing Solutions on the Water Energy Food Security Nexus from a Sustainable Supply Chain Management Perspective’ by Klaus Krumme & Dr Ani Melkonyan
Session 2 - Food Security: Understanding Food Markets and Trade
‘Understanding the effect of trade restrictions on the network structure of internationally traded food commodities’ by Craig Shenton
‘Agent Based Modelling to analyse food markets and production shocks’ by Davide Natalini
‘Dynamics of the food and energy systems’ by Roberto Pasqualino
‘Water resources transfers through southern African food trade: water efficiency and climate signals’ by Dr Carole Dalin
Day 2 Keynote
Kelly Stiebel, National Centre for Universities and Business
Session 3 - Changing Patterns of Food Demand
'Shifting consumption: encourage behaviour change through awareness-raising’ by Antony Froggatt
‘Changing patterns of food demand: the case of adolescent patterns’ by Elisabetta Aurino
‘Investigating convergence in dietary quality among adolescents in low-and middle-income countries: A cross-cohort comparison’ by Meena Fernandes
‘Dietary intake in India: a data issue?’ by Lukasz Aleksandrowicz