On Tuesday 26th April 2022 at 4:30pm, Professor Julie Ingram will present her inaugural professorial lecture at the University of Gloucestershire’s Park campus. Entitled ‘Unpacking the multiple meanings of innovation for sustainable agriculture: the who, what, how and why?’ Julie’s lecture has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic as she gained Professorial status in October 2020.
Julie began her association with CCRI in 2000 when she started her ESRC funded PhD ‘’Agricultural advisers and the transition to sustainable soil management in England: an analysis of the role of knowledge and knowledge processes’. Since its completion Julie has forged her academic career contributing to multiple European, international and UK focussed research projects that aim to support the transition towards sustainable agriculture (e.g on topics of soil management, biodiversity, water quality, bioenergy crops, digital agriculture).
She regularly publishes academic articles and has twice been awarded ‘Paper of the year’ in the Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension. She has received the ‘Research and Scholarship’ award from the University of Gloucestershire and in 2018 was awarded an OECD CRP Research Fellowship at the University of Queensland and in Indonesia. She serves on several journal editorial and advisory boards, is a long-term member of the International Farming Systems Association steering committee, and acts as been an expert reviewer for EU research programmes, UKRI, and the Newton Fund prize.
Julie’s lecture will explore the role innovation can play in addressing the many challenges facing agri-food systems and society as a whole. Climate change, land and water degradation, loss of biodiversity and food insecurity and injustice, call for a transformation in agriculture. Researchers are re-thinking the role of innovation in this transformation and asking: what is innovation, who innovates and why, in what direction should it go, and how can it be supported and achieved at scale?
Julie will unpack these questions, showing that the way we think about innovation has evolved in response to calls for more sustainable agriculture, and in recognition that innovation is a social as well as a technical process. She will reflect on how this shift mirrors her own career and research interests. The different perspectives used to understand, not only how farmers innovate or adopt innovations, but also the role of the systems (policies, supply chains etc) in which they operate, will be explored.
Regarding her forthcoming lecture, Julie says “Innovation is a bit of a buzz word, and often conjures up images of high-tech solutions. This lecture is an opportunity to broaden the discussion and share the many great examples of farmer-led and collaborative innovation processes, that I have come across on my career”
The lecture will be free to attend, but booking via the University of Gloucestershire’s EventBrite page is essential. As with all the University activities, we continue to be mindful of running events with COVID-19 safety in mind. We encourage the wearing of face coverings when moving around busy areas on campus, although you will not be required to wear one inside the lecture if you prefer. We ask all guests and staff to take a lateral flow (asymptomatic) test before attending, and to not attend should that be positive or you are experiencing any symptoms. The lecture theatre is well ventilated, and hand sanitising stations will be available for your use.
You can find more of Julie’s academic output on the University of Gloucestershire’s Research Repository.
