Hutton Highlights, February 2020

We were challenged recently to capture the essence of the James Hutton Institute in a minute’s worth of video clips and a few headlines: not an easy task with such a broad palette of subjects, impacts and people to cover! The ‘Hutton in a nutshell’ clip can be viewed above. It was put together for a public information day that the main shopping centres in Dundee and Aberdeen were hosting in January and featuring a rolling set of similar ‘infomercials’ on a large video wall in the main shopping courts. As part of the events, shoppers were surveyed by event staff about their awareness of the Institute, its work and in high level terms about their views on climate change, biodiversity loss and food security (if they had any). Climate change resonated as a topic of concern and there was a view that ‘something needs to be done’, and a few were aware of or concerned by biodiversity loss but food security was definitely not on their radar. This may have been a terminology issue, but it could reflect a disconnect between their perception of the global food systems, climate, biodiversity and what’s in our supermarkets and shopping baskets. The video runs to just over a minute and is on Youtube so can be tweeted and shared socially. New Hutton collaboration with Flanders A Memorandum of Understanding has been signed between the Flanders Research Institute for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (ILVO) and the James Hutton Institute to promote cooperation in research on plant crop and soil science, agriculture, ecology, food science, geography and socioeconomic sciences. The MoU was signed during a visit of an ILVO delegation to the Institute’s Dundee site in November with the two institutions looking to cooperate on educational and researcher exchange programmes, EU-funded research projects, and to foster joint work on social challenges, soil health and protein diversification initiatives. ILVO carries out multidisciplinary, innovative and independent research aimed at economically, ecologically and socially sustainable agriculture and fisheries. Through this research, ILVO accumulates fundamental and applied knowledge, which is vital for the improvement of products and production methods for quality control and the safety of end products, and for the improvement of policy instruments as a foundation for sector development and agricultural policy for rural areas in Flanders and beyond. New Hutton video News Highlights Second vertical farming company locates at Hutton Farming technology company Liberty Produce and agri-tech centre Crop Health and Protection (CHAP) have launched the Innovation Hub for Controlled Environment Agriculture (IHCEA) at Hutton’s invergowrie site; the second high-tech vertical growing firm to co-locate there. CHAP and Liberty Produce partnered to develop and build the IHCEA facility with funding from Innovate UK. The facility is a series of self-contained units housing state-of-the-art equipment with a modular structure designed to create a flexible environment for research and development. With integrated cutting-edge LED lighting systems and patented nutrient delivery technologies, this unique research facility will enable collaboration between industry, academia and government to effectively tackle the barriers to widespread adoption of vertical farming. Its purpose is to accelerate the development of sustainable food production year-round through resource- efficient, fully-controlled systems. The IHCEA is a key part of a Future Farming Hub that Liberty Produce are developing to offer a wide range of services, including research and development and CEA training programmes within a commercial demonstrator system, as well as industry and academic collaboration opportunities. The Institute has welcomed the location of this part of the Future Farming Hub in Invergowrie, in the context of its drive to establish Open Science campuses on its sites, facilitated by the creation of the Advanced Plant Growth Centre as part of the Tay Cities Deal. Fraser Black, CHAP Chief Executive, said: “Our venture with Liberty Produce is a prime example of CHAP’s mission to harness game-changing ideas from our creative and innovative partners to solve the problems industry is facing today and tomorrow. This is a progressive step in our ambition to enable the United Kingdom to become a global leader in CEA and augment the production of healthy food in a sustainable way.” As Liberty Produce co-founder and director Zeina Chapman sees it, “vertical farming is not yet sustainable; this partnership to establish the IHCEA and Future Farming Hub at the Hutton marks an advancement of our collective journey towards creating truly sustainable vertical farming technologies. The greater vision of Liberty Produce remains driving innovation that will enable us to meet our global crop requirements without harming the planet.” UK government minister Colin Clark, who opened the IHCEA concurred: “I am pleased to see the opening of this new Innovation Hub at the James Hutton Institute. We know that technological innovation is the future of sustainable agriculture and Scotland is home to world-leading resources and expertise in this field. The Government recognises the importance of this work and remains committed to funding research and development through our modern Industrial Strategy.” It is hoped that the synergy between CHAP, Liberty Produce and the Institute will provide a better understanding of total controlled environment technologies, drive innovation and accelerate the growth of the vertical farming sector in the UK. The 42nd TB Macaulay Lecture, given by Dieter Helm CBE, Professor of Economics at the University of Oxford and Fellow of New College, Oxford is now available to watch online. His discourse looks at how we might achieve a green and prosperous land in the face of multiple challenges including climate change. In the lecture, Professor Helm discusses his radical but tangible plan for positive change, including a summary of Britain’s green assets, looks towards possible futures and an achievable 25-year plan for a green and prosperous country. His bold, generational plan assesses the environment as a whole, explaining the necessity of protecting and enhancing our green spaces and offering a clear, financially sound strategy to put Britain on a greener path. Helm’s arguments expose the economic inefficiencies in our environmental policies and alert to the urgent need for change. Leaving behind the current sterile and ineffective battle between the environment and the economy, he explains how they can be integrated to deliver sustainable, eco-friendly economic growth. “Protecting and enhancing our natural capital are amongst the highest return investments we can make. The costs are almost always low; the benefits are often immediate and can be very high” says Professor Helm. “In an efficient and prosperous economy, the key flaws in markets need to be addressed. Public goods need public money, and pollution needs to be paid for, so all costs are internalised. Instead of paying farmers to simply own land, and the polluted having to pay the polluters to clean up the mess they create, it should be the other way around. The principles of public money for public goods and polluter pays are good economics.” Professor Dieter Helm is a leading economist; specialising in utilities, infrastructure, regulation and the environment. He has expertise in energy, water, communications and transport in the UK and Europe, and was appointed chair of the Natural Capital Committee established to advise the UK Government. He has also assisted the European Commission in preparing the Energy Roadmap 2050, serving as special advisor to the European Commissioner and chair of the roadmap Ad Hoc Advisory Group. Green and Prosperous Land - Watch Dieter Helm’s Macaulay Lecture Presented by the Macaulay Development Trust and the James Hutton Institute, the annual TB Macaulay Lecture honours the vision of Dr Thomas Bassett Macaulay, President and chairman of the Sun Life Assurance Company of Canada, whose benefaction founded the original Macaulay Institute for Soil Research in 1930. He was a descendant of the Macaulays from the isle of Lewis and aimed to improve productivity in Scottish agriculture. His vision continues today in the work of the James Hutton Institute. 4 Hutton Highlights February 2020 5 Comments?