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SEFARI Gateway is delighted to provide support for a new Fellowship in collaboration with NatureScot. We are seeking an individual researcher or small team of researchers to undertake a first stage mapping of the evidence base for land use change in a changing climate.

Background

There is increasing awareness of the need for actions to build resilience in land use for an increasingly chaotic climate within and across years, and hunger for evidence-based solutions. Traditional business cases and economic valuations typically compare the costs of action (the intervention) with the status quo or ‘do nothing’ option. In a rapidly changing climate, this is likely to be problematic if the status quo or do nothing options assume a largely stable and predictable climate. This assumption has been taken for granted over the last 50-70 years.

Fellowship

We are seeking a pilot rapid mapping/ scoping exercise to assess the available evidence for:

• Nature-based solutions (NbS) that can help to build resilience towards the risks associated with a warming and more chaotic climate both within and across years, including extreme events and unusual patterns of weather.
• Risks and resilience associated with mainstream land management policy and practice in a warming and more chaotic climate both within and across years, including extreme events and unusual patterns of weather. This will mainly include mainstream for-profit farming and forestry practices. This includes both the risk to production activities (food, feed/fibre) and to other ecosystem services both directly and indirectly (e.g. for neighbouring land or downstream).
• The evidence base to support management interventions and the risks associated with maintaining the status quo or ‘do nothing’ option.

Put another way, the mapping should cover the evidence for ‘what works’, ‘what doesn’t’ and how level the evidence playing field is.

The mapping exercise should be restricted to Scotland or findings that could be applied to Scotland. As well as the risks/resilience associated with the land (farm, forest) itself, we are interested in the risks/resilience arising from that land to surrounding land (e.g. neighbouring land or downstream etc.) – and hence not only how well aggregate costs and benefits have been captured, but also the distribution of them. While not requiring a full cost-benefit analysis, we expect the Fellow(s) to extract evidence on how well the aggregate costs and benefits have been captured, as well as their distribution. The time required to build resilience in biological systems should also be taken into account and where possible, gather information on the costs and benefits of early action or delaying it.

The mapping should clarify the maturity of the evidence, knowledge or technology, including uncertainties such as climate risks. Where possible outputs should comment on the alignment between policy and practice, e.g. regulatory/planning alignment, and relationships to deliver meaningful change for resilience.

A key audience for the work will be Scottish Government’s next Environment Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) Strategic Research Programme. Including, for example, whether new research needs to be directed at the efficacy of NbS or the risks/resilience presented by mainstream farming and forestry practices, (or both), and approaches, such as adaptive learning.  Associated with this, a primary audience is for policy makers, but we recognise that good policy has a practical edge: it must be deliverable.

Five questions might be used to guide the Fellowship. Considering the loss of any asset, including natural capital and nature:

• How bad could this be (under a full range of emission pathways, extreme events and patterns of unusual events)?
• How much does that matter, including who or what does it effect?
• What can we do about it and how much would that cost?
• Have unintended outcomes been considered and who pays when it all goes wrong?
• Is that fair/just?

At this stage the focus is mainly on the amount of evidence that is available and how it is distributed across nature-based solutions and mainstream land management.

Approach

A SEFARI individual Fellow or Fellowship Team would map out the evidence base to support management interventions and the risks associated with maintaining the status quo or ‘do nothing’ option – as outlined above. The successful applicant(s) will iterate an approach to an evidence assessment in agreement with NatureScot, Scottish Government (RESAS) and SEFARI Gateway. Depending on what emerges, some changes to the scope and approach may be required during the project. Outputs would then be sense-checked in a workshop environment, bringing together policy leads, researchers and some practitioners, before completing the final report.

Required Outputs:

• An initial online workshop to bring together key researchers in the Centres of Expertise and Main Research Providers to tap collective knowledge about the evidence base.
• A draft report illustrating the evidence base, covering the issues outlined above. This should include some brief qualitative comments covering the areas highlighted in bold above.
• The draft report will form the basis for an in person (or hybrid) workshop bringing together policy leads and other researchers to sense-check the findings and recommend next steps and approaches, including the potential for adaptive learning (opportunities and barriers).
• A final report.
• A case study for the SEFARI Gateway website.

Duration and Time:

• The deadline for final report from the Fellowship is 28^th February, 2025.
• The distribution of time on the project will be jointly agreed by the Fellow(s), NatureScot and SEFARI Gateway.

Practicalities

The details of the final Fellowship work plan will be iterated and agreed with the successful Fellow(s).

The Fellow(s) should expect to spend the equivalent of up to 28 days (to a maximum total funding of £18,000 for time) on the project, although the exact number of days, their timing, and their pattern through the working week will depend on personal circumstances. We anticipate the Fellowship running for a maximum of ~4 months.

Please note that costs should be submitted net of VAT recovered by the applicant. Applicants should seek advice on appropriate VAT treatment of proposed funding. Travel and subsistence and to support any workshop costs will be agreed and funded separate to the FTE costs, and up to a maximum of £5,000.

Further Details

The central focus of this Fellowship is to the ENRA Portfolio. The Fellowship is open to applicants from staff:

• from any SEFARI Organisation
• ENRA Portfolio Centres of Expertise
• Staff within any UK Higher Education Institution (or Research Institute)
• Please note, you do not need to have been previously funded by Scottish Government via the Portfolio to qualify for SEFARI Gateway funding
• Applicants must have the support of their organisation. Sign-off should be at the level deemed appropriate for each organisation (please talk to your line manager), but Directors/Chief Executives of your Institute (or University school as appropriate) should be made aware.
• The taking of such an opportunity should not result in a candidate going beyond the end of any agreed contract they may have with their employer.
• It is recognised that individual circumstances are different and support levels will vary depending on salary, distance from the opportunity and so on – the support level will be kept under review to try and maintain a fair and equitable competition and process. The organisation of the successful fellow(s) should not expect to meet any costs beyond that paid for by SEFARI Gateway.
• The successful candidate(s) will be expected to contribute to relevant meetings or outputs for the project partners as the Fellowship progresses and to generate knowledge exchange related content for SEFARI Gateway (support will be offered on this).

Applications

Applications should be made to: info@sefari.scot and should include a cover letter (two pages of detail on your suitability or that of the team) and a two-page CV (or up to 6 pages for a team). Decisions on who to Interview will be based solely on this letter and CV(s).

The cover letter should include:

• Why are you interested in this opportunity and what you would hope to get from it?
• What skills and experience would you bring to this role?
• How would you use your current work to underpin the project?
• What would you do to take the learning back into your organisation?

Team-based applications should demonstrate how they propose to manage individual contributions to satisfy the degree of multi-disciplinary integration required and clearly identify a Fellowship Team Lead.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on 1^st November 2024 with interviews to be held within two weeks following from that date.

If you have any questions on this, or any general aspect of the SEFARI Fellowship scheme, please contact Michelle Wilson Chalmers, Manager, SEFARI Gateway at: michelle.wilson@sefari.scot

Spurred in part by Scottish government policies such as the commitment to reach Net Zero by 2045, there has been an increase in investment in land for natural capital purposes in Scotland. This project builds on and provides tools, capacity, and knowledge regarding good community engagement practice for communities and land owner-investors impacted by these land use changes.

We conducted two participatory workshops in locations where green investment and landownership change recently took place. The workshops were designed to identify challenges and opportunities in the community and discuss questions of who is community and what supports are needed for meaningful engagement. Following the workshops we have used the knowledge gained to create a report and a digital storymap that has been shared with communities, landowners, organisations that represent rural communities, and policy makers. These outputs aim to assist community-landowner engagement and identify opportunities for targeted policy and government support.

SEFARI Gateway is delighted to be able to offer a Fellowship in collaboration with Highland and Islands Enterprise, UHI Orkney. We are seeking an individual researcher or small team of researchers to help with supporting the ability of the Island to better shape research for its economic and social resilience.

Background

The origins of this proposal arise from concerns around the distinct challenges and opportunities facing agriculture in Orkney.  During discussions between HIE and various partners, it was noted that Orkney could potentially benefit from a more locally driven approach to research to inform how industry adapts in the face of the multiple but often interrelated changes, climate/extreme weather, disease, invasive species, peatland management, stocking density, demographics, energy security/cost and consumer behaviours.  While the issue extends beyond agriculture, agriculture was seen as a useful focal point for a SEFARI Fellowship

Agricultural research has been frequently conducted in the Island’s by a range of organisations, but this often arrives with no lead-in and with externally driven outcomes.  Therefore, there has been a sense that it has been done to the Island rather than with the Island.  There was a view that more can be gained by ensuring a place-based approach, which would lead to closer academic-industry-community linkages and more enduring relationships that would result in more research becoming applied.

Orkney has proven well suited to being a test bed for research or ‘living laboratory’ given we are small, but not too small, distinct boundaries allow Orkney to measure what flows in and out and the Island has examples of being progressive early adopters of agricultural technology and new practice. The Islands have a variety of farm unit size and mode of operation, an engaged/proactive NFUS branch, strong network of island development trusts (14 islands each presenting their own challenges/opportunities), community-based agriculture initiatives plus localised veterinary practices undertaking research, local processors/small value-add businesses and backed by a supportive local public sector. There is also significant volume of research and innovation already happening around the aligned energy and fisheries sectors and decarbonising in general (European Marine Energy Centre, Scottish Aviation Test Environment and the Islands Deal supported International Centre for Net Zero all established and operational locally). There are three universities present, as well as strong links and research being conducted SEFARI organisations and these are potential linkages across rest of Highlands and Islands area and more nationally offer a wider geographic spread of input and value to research outputs.

Proposal

The Institute for Agronomy and Agriculture at UHI Orkney is currently rethinking its strategy for the future. So far, the Institute’s focus has been on developing Northern crops and markets for them in the Highlands and Islands. It was very successful at doing this and its activities have supported the production of both a diverse range of high provenance food and drink products and the development of supply chains. However, funding opportunities for this type of research are limited and we recognise how difficult it is to sustain a research centre with no teaching, although there is agricultural vocational training at UHI Orkney (the presence of FE and HE at UHI Orkney offers cross-over opportunity in itself).  The thinking is that perhaps the Institute could position itself as a partner to facilitate a Northern test bed working in collaboration with the SEFARI institutes and other universities from the region, across Scotland or UK. The potential for this has already been demonstrated in the past through very successful collaborations between the Agronomy and Agriculture Institute and both the James Hutton and Rowett Institutes over many years facilitated by Scottish Government funding.

The ultimate aim, supported by Highlands and Islands Enterprise, is for Orkney to offer a community-island test bed based on its own research needs for innovation in technology use and new practices, initially focused to agriculture and allied business but ultimately to expand to a range of research to enhance community economic and social research needs.  In time, there is the prospect that permanently based research staff, would work across a range of disciplines and with a variety of institutions.  This might, for example, run commercialisation projects seeking partners/funding to overcome barriers to the practical adoption of existing science. Orkney also welcomes the high-value jobs research can bring even when that research itself is focused on solving remote challenges.

Fellowship

The Fellowship is an opportunity for an early career through to established researcher or a small research team to contribute platform information for a novel area of community/ regional based research development. The successful Fellow(s) will be supported by SEFARI Gateway, HIE, UHI Orkney and OIC. Together we will ensure direct linkages across relevant island organisations and groups as well as to Scottish Government. Findings will also be connected, where relevant, through SEFARI Gateway with those from its other related Knowledge Exchange partnerships.

The aim of the Fellowship is by working in collaboration with Highland’s and Island’s Enterprise, Orkney Islands Council (OIC) UHI Orkney to:

• Collate and summarise current and recently completed research on agriculture and land use within Orkney. Within this a focus on crops (inc. grass) and soils is required.
• Liaise with local government (OIC), agencies, farmers and land managers (and communities) on current and projected research needs.
• Identify, with current research partners in Orkney, future plans for research that will focus to the Island’s agriculture and land use.
• Identify barriers (and potential routes to overcome them) that have previously limited/prevented industry adoption and/or failed to generate desired impact for Orkney’s agricultural sector.
• Contribute to recommendations as to a how research need might be strategically commissioned and coordinated.

In conducting the research, the Fellow(s) will need to ensure awareness of work on how subsidy reform could impact Orkney and for opportunities to align funding towards research and development, supporting the necessary evolution of the industry and specific areas of current interest including healthy, productive and resilient soils and crops (including grass), climate adaptation and mitigation, other regenerative/sustainable agricultural practices.

The Fellow(s) will provide a report and SEFARI Case Study to the partners by 28^th February 2025.

Practicalities

The details of the final Fellowship work plan will be iterated and agreed with the successful Fellow(s).

The Fellow should expect to spend the equivalent of up to 28 days (to a maximum funding of £18,000 for time) on the project, although the exact number of days, their timing, and their pattern through the working week will depend on personal circumstances. We anticipate the Fellowship running for a maximum of 4-6 months.

Please note that costs should be submitted net of VAT recovered by the applicant. Applicants should seek advice on appropriate VAT treatment of proposed funding. Travel and subsistence and to support any workshop costs will be funded separate to the FTE costs and up to a maximum of £5,000.

Further Details

• The Fellowship is open to applicants from staff:

• from any SEFARI Organisation
• ENRA Portfolio Centres of Expertise
• Staff within any UK Higher Education Institution (or Research Institute)
• Please note, you do not need to have been previously funded by Scottish Government via the Portfolio to qualify for SEFARI Gateway funding.

• Applicants must have the support of their organisation (whether SEFARIs, Centres of Expertise, or Higher Education Institutes).
• Sign-off should be at the level deemed appropriate for each organisation (please talk to your line manager), but Directors/Chief Executives of your Institute should be made aware.
• The taking up of such an opportunity should not result in a candidate going beyond the end of any agreed contract they may have with their employer.
• It is recognised that individual circumstances are different and support levels will vary depending on salary, distance from the opportunity and so on – the support level will be kept under review to try and maintain a fair and equitable competition and process. The Institute/portfolio-organisation/HEI of the successful fellow(s) should not expect to meet any costs beyond that paid for by SEFARI Gateway.
• The successful candidate(s) will be expected to contribute to relevant meetings or outputs for the project partners as the Fellowship progresses and to generate knowledge exchange related content for SEFARI Gateway (support will be offered on this).

Applications

Applications should be made to: info@sefari.scot and should include a cover letter (two pages of detail on your suitability or that of the team) and a two-page CV (or up to 6 pages for a team). Decisions on who to Interview will be based solely on this letter and CV(s).

The cover letter should include:

• Why are you interested in this opportunity and what you would hope to get from it?
• What skills and experience would you bring to this role?
• How would you use your current work to underpin the project?
• What would you do to take the learning back into your organisation?

Team-based applications should demonstrate how they propose to manage individual contributions to satisfy the degree of multi-disciplinary integration required and clearly identify a Fellowship Team Lead.

The deadline for applications is 5pm on 18th October 2024 with interviews to be held within two weeks following from that date. The Interviews will be conducted by a panel of SEFARI Gateway, HIE and UHI Orkney representatives.

If you have any questions on this, or any general aspect of the SEFARI Fellowship scheme, please contact Michelle Wilson Chalmers, Manager, SEFARI Gateway at: michelle.wilson@sefari.scot

A multi-million pound programme of strategic research delivered over five years providing science and evidence to support policymakers and its partners. Informed by strong partnerships and the needs of a broad range of stakeholders. Science at the heart of society contributing to the health, wealth and wellbeing of Scotland and beyond.

James is a molecular plant pathologist and plant nematologist at the James Hutton Institute with a focus on potato cyst nematodes.

The 9th edition of The Spark, SEFARI Gateway’s Newsletter, an update on the latest research developments from the Scottish Government’s Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) strategic research programme.

This year's TB Macaulay Lecture will be delivered by globally renowned environmental expert, Professor Gretchen C. Daily on 10th September at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre. In her lecture, she will describe how important it is to understand human dependence on nature, from the material basics such as nutrition, health, climate security and economic security, to the more ethereal concepts of belonging, beauty, and spirit. She will argue that being able to access and action this understanding is crucial when it comes to making the necessary transformations in society and in taking the decisions that are required to secure the biosphere and our human future.

SEFARI Gateway will have a stand at the event, so please come and have a chat with us before the lecture! 

More details and registration are available here.

This year's event focuses on the topic of future of STEM in Scotland. The event includes a speaker’s programme of key note speeches and panel sessions including with MSPs from across the political parties, an exhibition space where you can network with colleagues from across the sector, an awards ceremony for young people, and an early evening reception. 

Further details can be found here. Registration deadline is 17 November.

SEFARI & SEFARI Gateway will have a stand presence, so please come and visit us.

The event will be hosted by Professor Mathew Williams, Chief Scientific Adviser for Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture (ENRA) and will feature keynote addresses, breakout sessions, panel debate, networking and posters.

Objectives of the event:

• The event will provide an opportunity for researchers, including early career researchers, across the Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Research Portfolio to showcase their research and highlight recent research outputs and impact. 
• This networking event will provide a forum for both researchers and policy makers from across the public sector to discuss key cross cutting strategic issues affecting Scotland’s environment, communities and rural economy.
• The event will enable policy colleagues to discuss with the research community policy priorities and potential future evidence needs.
• The event focus will be climate adaption and resilience.

As space is limited, attendance at the event is by invite only.

SEFARI Gateway are supporting the event and coordinating the posters exhibition, where 30 posters, featuring projects from the Strategic Research Portfolio, funded by the Scottish Government’s Rural Environment Science and Analytical Service (RESAS) and addresses key mid to longer-term challenges for Scotland’s environment, agriculture, land use, food and rural communities, will be presented at the event. 

Draft programme is available here.

A video game designed to explain the impact that human activities have on soil health and land use in Scotland was unveiled at Abertay University.

Students from the university’s Professional Masters in Games Development worked with the Scottish Ecological Design Association (SEDA), and scientists from the James Hutton Institute and SEFARI Gateway worked to create ‘Stone & Veil’, an engaging real-time strategy and resource management game.

Set in Northeast Scotland, the game educates players about soil health and land use, as well as the area’s unique mythology, drawing on Pictish heritage.  

The brief set for the team was to help raise awareness and enhance understanding of land use for people who may not be familiar with the topics and the pivotal role of the land in our daily lives.

The game aims to highlight the complex value of land use and the impact of different forms of production on soil health.

By focusing on sustainable ecology, the game allows players to gain a better understanding of how land is deployed, with consequences for the future.

As part of their research, the development team visited the nearby Ardblair Standing Stones and walked part of the Cateran Trail.

Designed to be playable on a tablet or smartphone device, the game will be showcased at conferences and outreach events and hosted on the SEDA Land section of the SEDA website.

Student Marcus Young-Smith said:

“Working on Stone & Veil has been a great learning experience for the team, and we’ve gained a lot of valuable insights throughout the process, from discussing and agreeing the client brief, through to planning, designing and delivering the finished product. I hope that Stone & Veil can help people of different generations to engage with this important topic and the excellent work led by SEDA Land, the James Hutton Institute and SEFARI Gateway.”

SEDA Land is a Scottish registered charity focused on promoting a cultural shift in how we use and value land in Scotland with a view to achieving both a healthy ecology and a dynamic economy. It does this mainly by bringing together leading ecologists, scientists, land managers, and industry leaders, as well as artists, musicians, poets, and storytellers to consider all aspects of rural life – including biodiversity, climate, housing, communities, employment and health.

Founder of SEDA Land, Gail Halvorsen said:

"We have thoroughly enjoyed working with Marcus, Dom, Otto and all the entire Abertay team on the development of 'Stone & Veil’. It has been a fascinating experience, not least because of what it has taught us about the complexities of games development. SEDA Land is always on the look out for new ways of reaching new audiences who might not normally engage with ecological issues, and we are very optimistic that this exciting game will capture the imagination of young Scots."

Professor Lorna Dawson, senior soil scientist at the James Hutton Institute, and Knowledge Exchange Lead for Environment, SEFARI Gateway said:

“The game ‘Stone and Veil’ has in built information about soil, farming and the environment, where the player can gain knowledge of land use change though interactive decision-making play, as well as experiencing exciting challenges through contact with climatic events or the appearance of mythical creatures- both good and bad!”

Read more about the development of the game in the curvedflatlands blog.