Semantic web, distributed energy, Growing Birmingham . . .
There’s a diagrammatic summary of Forum activities here (includes the list of all the brilliant profs and others involved), plus the April newsletter is now out.
We’ve completed the first, divergent phase of the scenarios we’ve generating about food futures for Birmingham 2050; i.e. what we’ll be eating in here in forty-odd years’ time.
As part of the next convergent phase, we’re running three more Forum events in the next couple of months:
- 11th June in collaboration with the EU Smart-AgriFood project: The semantic web: How it might radically change the food supply chain.
- May-June (date tbd) with the generous support Cofely GDF Suez and the law firm Freeth Cartwright: The impact of distributed energy generation (i.e. the potential impact EBRI technologies)
- 23rd May: We’re also leading a seminar hosted by the Warwick Crop Centre with plant scientists and social scientists on feeding large conurbations/megacities.
And:
- “Growing Birmingham” took a big step forward this week. Medic, allotment holder, foodie Professor Jim Parle and I met with Darren Share, the Parks boss in the city. Darren, representing the biggest landowner in the city and a wealth of horticultural wisdom, as keen as anyone to do his bit to support local food growing, which is brilliant news.
- We submitted a New Optimists response to Places for the Future, a planning document for the city.
- There’s work-in-progress to host a large scale national event, funding permitting, in early 2013 in the city. Working title: Feeding Birmingham: The challenge facing megacities. We’re planning on involving as many youngsters in the city as we can through the talent and energy within the Birmingham Leadership Foundation.