N8 AgriFood academic Prof Bruce Grieve from the University of Manchester co-authored this white paper for the UK Robotics and Autonomous Systems (RAS) Network as part of UK Robotics Week 2018.

N8 AgriFood academics from the Universities of Leeds and Manchester presented at a closed briefing exploring the future of agricultural technologies at the Parliamentary Office for Science and Technology (POST).

The N8 universities are working together on the Net Zero North project, which includes the Grow Smarter initiative which aims to  deliver a thriving, innovative, and integrated net-zero landscape of the future.

Learn more about the various innovation projects N8 AgriFood academics at Lancaster University have been involved with on the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation’s YouTube channel.

The SPIES project has developed a decision support tool for regulatory and industry use that promotes ground-mounted solar parks that are deployed and managed for maximum ecosystem benefits.

Climate change and ecosystem degradation are two of the biggest challenges we face. This policy brief explores how solar parks offer an untapped opportunity to help restore the UK’s ecosystems, as well as providing low carbon energy for all to enjoy.

N8 AgriFood’s innovation platform is an online portal where partners can access the expertise and facilities of the N8 universities. It integrates research ranging from fundamental crop and soil science to state of the art farms to generate transformative solutions for the agrifood sector.

Prof Jess Davies, University of Lancaster is the PI for this two-year interdisciplinary project. Collaborating with the University of Liverpool, the project focuses on the transformative potential of urban greening and food growing.

The Universities of Sheffield and Manchester and sensors company, Fotenix Ltd, are implementing Active Multispectral Imaging (A-MSI) as a quantified control measure in vertical farming, field robotics and portable plant diagnostics.

This White paper explores what is next for agricultural sustainability which is being challenged by resource and labour pressures, ever increasing consumer demand and the consequences of anthropogenic climate change.

This thought leadership article considers the enormous potential of the northern powerhouse cities, which provide affordable and large plots of former industrial land that can be used for sustainable redevelopment.

This report follows an innovation workshop with N8 AgriFood academics and businesses, which considered multi-disciplinary research into new and novel farming systems that could offer year-round, sustainable production of high-quality produce.