Strategy Lead, Food & Drink Supply Chain Transition | South of Scotland Enterprise
Supply Chain Transition
With over 16 years of experience in business & public sector leadership, development and, management, I have a proven track record of delivering successful projects, products, and partnerships that create value and impact for our clients and stakeholders. I am passionate about leveraging the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) and food & drink to transform the economy and society of the south of Scotland. I am a board member of the Scotland Food & Drink Partnership, where I contribute to the strategic direction and delivery of the national food and drink strategy. I am also a graduate of the Oxford Artificial Intelligence Programme, where I gained insights and skills on how to apply AI ethically and responsibly in various domains. Additionally, I hold an MFA in Social Critical Artist Practice, which reflects my creative and entrepreneurial spirit and my commitment to values-based leadership.
Woodland Manager | Keltings Copse
Revaluing woodland and agroforestry as systems that can support all our physiological needs, whilst increasing biodiversity.
I manage a 25-acre woodland on Exmoor that is developing products and processes that will re-value woodland and agroforestry as being integral land management practices to support a rural/circular/innovative economy.
Director | Our Food 1200
Finance for building new small farms. Advancing the case for food security in UK food policy.
I am working on three projects at the moment: (1) building three new small farms in Powys to demonstrate the idea of an "affordable farm", (2) designing a financial instrument ("Farmland Trust") to build small farms at scale, (3) working with Prof Tim Lang on presenting the food security agenda across UK.
Director-Founder | EA FESTIVAL LIMITED
Agri-business - how to influence food industry and supply chains to make consumer offerings healthier; New business models enabling transition to regenerative agriculture; Circular business - implementation at different levels of scale - in order to cut food waste and reduce carbon footprints.
I founded a festival called EA Sustain which explores the intersection of Environment, Culture and Entrepreneurship. Since 70% of UK land is dedicated to agriculture, naturally, farming and food are a big part of the discussion. However, the programmes are variegated. Previous speakers have included Helen Browning, Patrick Holden, John Cherry, Jake Fiennes and many farmers, for example. In addition, I co-produce talk series with different partners, e.g., Food Museum, Tate Modern, regularly featuring speakers or authors writing about the importance of transitioning to a healthier food system.
PhD Researcher | Brunel University
The transformation of the Hospitality and Catering Sector.
My career started in the kitchen in Germany where I trained to become a chef. I subsequently worked for twelve years as a chef before studying Nutrition and Health and via an interesting route through the health and wellbeing industry I ended up leading corporate social responsibility projects at the OXO Tower Restaurant, Bar and Brasserie in London before starting my PhD at the UK Food Systems Centre for Doctoral training, where I explore chefs' lived experiences transitioning to food offers lower in food waste and GHGE.
Postgraduate Researcher | University of Reading
Agricultural Food systems, ICT in Agriculture, Climate change and Agriculture
Iam a Postgraduate Researcher at the University of Reading.
Researcher/grower | Perennial Green Manures project, Ecodyfi
innovating systems in horticulture and agriculture to mitigate climate change and increase biodiversity.
I have been researching a system of providing nitrogen to crops by use of trees and shrubs grown in 'bioservice areas'. The bioservice areas increase farm resilience and productivity by providing ecosystem services such as shelter and habitat, but they also produce nitrogen-rich foliage which is applied to cropland. We hope this could have benefits over fertiliser nitrogen and traditional organic methods in reducing greenhouse gases, increasing carbon sequestration and biodiversity and helping farmers benefit economically from tree planting. I have experimented with this technique for my PhD at Bangor University, and subsequently in trials with horticulturalists in mid Wales. Prior to working on Perennial Green Manures i worked as a horticulturalist, specialising in fruit growing and perennial systems, and teaching and writing on sustainable horticulture, at the Centre for Alternative Technology and Garden Organic.
Manager | Nidderdale National Landscape
Changing policy and practice in land management and farming to reduce GHG emissions, increase resilience and enhance biodiversity
I manage the Nidderdale National Landscape team. Our role is to conserve and enhance the Nidderdale National Landscape in partnership with farmers, landowners and a wide range of partner organisations.
Retired academic
Issues concerning sustainable food systems
Just completed the masters course in Sustainable Food Systems at Leeds University. Have PhD from University of Aston on a shift from animal to plant based agriculture in England and Wales (from 1979). Food sci and Biochem BSc. (Leeds). Working life in biological and chemistry based science companies. Mostly concerned with risk management and regulatory compliance. Brought up on a farm. Widely travelled. Now have primary school links as a school governor.
Director | Strategic Innovation Limited
We are embarking on an exciting Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University of Nottingham and Innovate UK, where we hope to deliver data-driven insights for food system transformation through our Think Better World concept. Think Better World is an alliance uniting food stakeholders through Big Data analytics to drive transformational change towards a sustainable food production system. Using cutting edge narrative analytics, we can better understand consumer awareness and attitudes to food system topics, such as soil health, food waste and ultra-processing. We envision that democratising access to consumer insights can pave the way for WHOLE food system innovation to address, and answer key food system sustainability questions. In becoming a member of the AFN Network+ we hope to work directly with the Network, join important discussions, request feedback and data and find members to join our alliance.
We are an innovation consultancy with a passion for sustainability. With a technical focus and a passion for sustainability, our expertise covers multiple sectors, with a particular emphasis on the food, beverage and FMCG industries. We believe these sectors offer the biggest potential to address the world’s most pressing problems of environmental degradation and poor nutrition, whilst delivering economic success. And for this we need innovation at every system’s level.
Assoc. Professor in Behavioural Decision Making | University of Leeds
reducing food waste, promoting food safety behaviours, and implementation of novel food technologies into the food system
My research is on behavioural decision making with a special interest in designing risk (benefit) communications and behaviour change interventions for consumers and businesses in the areas of food waste, food safety, healthy eating, and novel food technologies. I have led and been involved in numerous externally- (both UK and international) and internally-funded research projects. Currently, I'm a Co-I in WP6 of the H3 project. I am also an expert member of the European Consumer Food Waste Forum and FAO Working Group on Leveraging Behavioural Science.
Researcher in Food Systems Transformation | University of Oxford
Food systems, foresight, transformation, and narratives of change
Saher is a Researcher at the Food Systems Transformation Programme with the University of Oxford's Environmental Change Institute and an Environmental Change Research Fellow with Reuben College. She is the Champion of Healthy and Sustainable Diets with the AFN Network. With the Environmental Change Institute, she works on an interdisciplinary portfolio of projects focused on food systems and foresight analysis. She is also the Education Coordinator for Oxford with the Interdisciplinary Food Systems Teaching and Learning (IFSTAL) programme. Previously, she has worked as the Research and Community of Practice Coordinator for the Foresight4Food Initiative.
