SCAF’s first annual event welcomed 121 attendees from across institutions, disciplines, and sectors to celebrate ongoing research and explore new collaborative opportunities.  

Hosted at the University of Glasgow’s Advanced Research Centre, the two-day event featured three keynote talks and introduced five of the newly SCAF-funded pump-priming projects, covering research in fields from public health nutrition to religious studies.  The second day acted as an “unconference” for participants to collaborate and develop ideas in smaller working groups. 

Prof Julie Fitzpatrick, Chief Scientific Advisor for The Scottish Government, Prof Chris Pearce, Vice Principal for Research and Knowledge at the Glasgow Centre for Population Health, and Jill Muirie, Public Health Programme Manager at the Glasgow Centre for Population Health contributed three fantastic keynote talks which inspired conversations for the rest of the event – with a strong emphasis on collaboration and excellence in both research and practice. With a total of 27 unique projects, presented as oral and poster presentations, and SCAF’s children’s food future and food lenses exhibitions as a backdrop, the event was a showcase of the latest research related to food in Scotland, with input from academia, industry, charities, NGO and government units.  

Focusing on building collaboration between members, the swap shop workshop focused on leveraging the collective resources and expertise of the community to overcome individual time and workload constraints. To facilitate more efficient and collaborative research efforts, the "research asset map" was created and will be available to view soon. 

At the unconference on day two, we discussed member-elected topics in small groups, stimulating new conversations and initiatives that will be taken forward under the relevant theme banners, including Mapping the Food System, Culture, Heritage & Behaviour, Food Security, Environment & Community and Innovation-led Food Systems Research. We were then joined by David Thomson, CEO of the Food and Drink Federation Scotland, for a webinar on how early career professionals can influence the food system, organized by our ECR group, which was a great end to a pack two days.  

Reflecting on the scope of knowledge and experience in attendance at the event, Prof Emilie Combet, Director of SCAF, commented: 

"What impressed me most was the diversity of expertise gathered - from soil scientists to social researchers, culinary professionals to chemists - all united by their interest in food. This annual event truly showcased the breadth of research linked to food as a research challenge. It provided a unique opportunity for cross-disciplinary dialogue, bringing together perspectives from every facet of the food system." 

Thank you to everyone who presented, contributed and joined in person and online! 

First published: 15 October 2024

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