Displaying 1 - 10 of 3093
I was delighted to receive an invitation to the Westminster reception, Insights from the HFSS Policy Evaluation, held on 3 September 2025. The event presented exciting findings from the High Fat, Salt and Sugar (HFSS) research, part of the DIO (Diet and Health Inequalities) Food project, funded through the Transforming the UK Food System for Healthy People and a Healthy Environment programme (UKRI, Global Food Security, BBSRC, ESRC, MRC, NERC, Defra, DHSC, Innovate UK and FSA). This project evaluates how restrictions on promoting less healthy foods in retail environments can reduce diet
Researchers, policymakers, and stakeholders gathered at Our Dynamic Earth, Edinburgh, for the ENRA Science, Evidence and Policy Conference 2025, hosted by the Scottish Government’s Chief Scientific Adviser for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA), Professor Mat Williams. This year’s conference on the 3rd October focused on the draft ENRA Research Strategy 2027–2032, which sets out a mission-led approach to building collaboration, enhancing impact, and ensuring that research investment continues to deliver benefits for Scotland’s environment, people, and economy. Throughout the
If there is one thing that we can all agree on when it comes to sustainable diets it is…well, nothing at all. That is one of the most striking – and useful – findings of our recent research into what is stopping us changing what we eat to help tackle climate change. We gave people 43 different statements on the issue to rank according to how much they agreed or disagreed in a way that reflected their personal views. Everything from “to save this planet we need to change our diets” to “a proper dinner really needs meat” and “climate change is a hoax so I’ll eat what I want”. This is a proven
SEFARI Gateway (Scotland’s Centre of Expertise for Knowledge Exchange and Innovation) drives knowledge exchange and innovation at the science–policy interface, ensuring research addresses Scotland’s urgent climate, biodiversity, and food security challenges. Through specialist advisory groups, fellowships, and cross-sector partnerships, Gateway links research outputs to policy and practice, maximising impact across government priorities. Our projects demonstrate tangible benefits for Net Zero targets, biodiversity protection, public health, land use and communities, and food system resilience
Venue: Edinburgh Training and Conference Venue, 16 Saint Mary's Street, Edinburgh EH1 1SU Programme: 12:30 – 14:00 Buffet lunch / SEFARI PhD student poster session 14:00 – 15:00 Science for Life Lecture by David G Farquhar FRGS 15:00 – 15:30 Discussion & prize-giving for SEFARI PhD student showcase 15:30 Close The event is free to attend, however spaces are limited. Please register by using the following link by Friday the 17th October - Science for Life Lecture Tickets, Fri, Oct 24, 2025 at 12:30 PM | Eventbrite
This study investigated whether peatland restoration increases liver fluke (Fasciola hepatica) risk to livestock. Conducted in Shetland with NatureScot and local crofters, the research combined diagnostic testing (faecal egg counts), habitat surveys, and molecular testing of mud snails (Galba truncatula). Restored peatlands were found to be acidic, waterlogged, and largely mud-free, making them unsuitable for the snail host. Consequently, infection risk on restored sites was low, with fluke presence confined to marginal grazing areas such as paths and drains. The research demonstrates that
We show how much Scotland’s climate has already changed and how it may potentially change in the future, including extremes what this means for Scotland’s Natural Capital. Outputs achieved substantial impact through raising awareness amongst policy teams, agencies and businesses. It achieved capacity building within policy teams and politicians and associated conceptual change though recognition of urgency for action due to improved understanding of the scale of change and spatial and temporal variability of climate impacts and consequences. There is instrumental change evidenced by the
SPICE (Social Prescribing for Improving Communities’ Eating Practices) explores the feasibility of embedding a brief, MAP-informed (Motivation–Action–Prompts model) healthy eating intervention within Aberdeen’s social prescribing service. Co-designed with Link Practitioners and informed by GP questionnaires, as well as interviews with community food providers and their service users, the intervention addresses food insecurity and poor diet through person-centred, non-judgmental conversations. This poster presents the co-design process and resulting intervention plan, showing how practitioner
Living Labs (LL) seek to enable people living in remote, rural and island communities to tackle place-based challenges. Through an inherently action-based and participative approach, the research supports dialogue between different layers of governance. LLs respond to the needs of communities and aim to understand the effectiveness of interventions implemented in them, revealing new insights into well-known problems and including lesser heard voices. Impacts include working with Urras Thiriodh (Tiree Community Development Trust) to model the relationship between population change and the
The assessment of carbon stores, flood mitigation potential and bird, bat and small mammal occurrence within characteristic upland farmland, semi-natural and natural habitats is allowing the multiple environmental benefits arising from different habitats on upland farms to be better understood. A particular focus has been put on the innovative use of acoustic sensors and camera-traps to assess biodiversity and digital sensors to monitor water levels. The value of these approaches has been recognised by others involved in large-scale habitat restoration (such as Forestry & Land Scotland, the