Posts by Kate Cooper
#TNOfood on 2nd November: drivers & trends, food issues & solutions
Here is Ellie Richards’ analysis of the content of the conversations that happened at the New Optimists Forum meeting on 2nd November: Analysis_Forum2ndNov2011_EllieRichards
Ellie has done a superb job in analysing the transcripts from over three hours of scientists talking, plus all the blogposts, interviews and tweets.
Her brief was “make something of all this”, with the further instruction to put her thinking into not more than four pages — she did it in three!
She divided the conversational topics into three main categories: (1) Drivers and trends, (2) Food issues and (3) Solutions.
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New Optimists Forum: What’s happened so far
We’ve run three events: on 2nd November, on 9th February (specifically on food poverty) and on 1st March.
The outputs (recordings, transcripts from the conversations, blogposts, interviews, tweets) from these events are analysed under the guidance of Warwick Business School, and will be posted soon.
Meanwhile, here’s a one-pager summary of the impact of the New Optimists Forum: NewOptimistsForum-27thFeb2012.
Top of our impact list is that food and food issues are rising smartly up the agenda in the city. Indeed, there are more than a few intimations that food security will be part of Birmingham’s long-term strategic planning.
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#TNOfood: Why not invite community groups that are already tracking this challenge?
@orangejon asked this question Why not invite community groups that are already tracking this challenge? via twitter during the New Optimists Forum event last night.
We’re hoping that the Food Futures for Birmingham 2050 project will culminate in large-scale open event in early 2013, that is, if we can get funding enough to make it happen. (I’m working on it!)
Is this an event for “community groups that are already tracking this challenge”? I hope so. And where else might they find voice? And who else can make a valuable contribution?
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#TNOfood: what the participants thought important and interesting
The last task the participants did at the New Optimists Forum last night was to answer three questions:
- What is the most interesting or important thing you’ve heard tonight?
- What didn’t you say that you now wish you had?
- What did you expect to hear tonight that you didn’t?
And here are their responses . . . some of which conflict with each other, as you’d expect from the lively minds of a bunch of scientists:
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What’s a decentralised city?
Peter Lewis has just tweeted this:
As I didn’t understand what ‘decentralised city’ could mean, I asked him for an explanation in 140 characters. And, amazingly, he managed to get this meaning over:
More comments anyone? And what might it mean for Birmingham? And for Birmingham in 2050?
#TNOfood on 1st March: Ten scientists, Brum’s strategy boss & an architect
For the third Forum event, a dozen of the finest minds in the West Midlands are joining to talk about food futures for Birmingham in 2050 — on Thursday 1st March from 6pm to around 9pm (twitter #TNOfood).
They’re an impressive bunch. And here’s who they are (from left to right, top to bottom):
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Rob Lillywhite on Farming Today
Warwick Crop Centre scientist Rob Lillywhite, who’s taking part in the New Optimists Forum on Thursday 1st March, was interviewed on this week’s Radio 4 programme Farming Today — you’ve got another seven days to listen to it on iPlayer here.
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A response to “They Moved Like Fish: The Birmingham Riots of August 2011″
Peter Latchford asked for responses to They Moved Like Fish, his intriguingly entitled, insightful interim report how Birmingham City Council responded to the riots of August 2011, commissioned by Council itself. The full report, with recommendations for action will be made in March 2012.
What could the New Optimists contribute? I’ve written a draft response to it: They Moved Like Fish-Draft Response by KateCooper — your comments please!
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In the future, we’ll all work like this?
The table around which eight of us sat and talked about food poverty in Birmingham on 9th February is this one (see left) — about a week later.
The paper tablecloth stayed for several days, a suitable surface for more ideas, more diagrams, more words — as well as the odd coffee ring along with books, yet more papers, the computer, iphone, felt-tips . . .
I didn’t think about ideas-competing-with-meals on my kitchen table until Matthew Green (of @policyworks) and I had a meeting about all this food Forum stuff here t’other day.
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