University pledges commitment to sustainable ruminant production

6 February 2015

The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sir Eric Thomas, will officially sign the Global Farm Platform Statement of Intent on Tuesday 10 February.

The University of Bristol has been instrumental in establishing the Global Farm Platform, an international programme on sustainable ruminant production, contributing to food security, sustainability and poverty alleviation.

The initiative currently comprises 15 leading universities and research institutes across six continents, with funding from the Cabot Institute, the Worldwide Universities Network, the Global Innovation Initiative and individual member institutions. The Global Farm Platform uses a worldwide network of model farms to develop transformational solutions to challenges confronting sustainable ruminant production and promote their adoption.

The farms, supported by an international multidisciplinary research consortium, will provide a unique combination of research and practice for diverse ruminant production systems in a wide range of cultural, socioeconomic and climatic zones. They also offer an unrivalled opportunity to carry out high-quality scientific investigation in centres of excellence, allowing members to progress further and faster than would otherwise be possible working as individual institutions.

Members will use the Global Farm Platform to enhance opportunities for the development of large transnational research proposals, the collection and sharing of big data, scientific exchanges and for the application of cutting-edge technologies. The Platform will further provide a unique vehicle for training of early-career researchers.

Global Farm Platform scientists have drafted a Statement of Intent that sets out the vision, mission and plan of the Global Farm Platform. Endorsement of this statement by the partner institutions will signal their commitment and commonality of purpose, and, it is hoped, support applications to national and international governmental and philanthropic funds to deliver transformational science for sustainable ruminant production.

The signing will take place at 5 pm on Tuesday 10 February in Royal Fort House. For more information, please contact Mark Eisler (mark.eisler@bristol.ac.uk) or Michael Lee (michaelrf.lee@bristol.ac.uk).

Further information

The Cabot Institute carries out fundamental and responsive research on risks and uncertainties in a changing environment. It drives new research in the interconnected areas of climate change, natural hazards, water and food security, low carbon energy, and future cities. Its research fuses rigorous statistical and numerical modelling with a deep understanding of social, environmental and engineered systems – past, present and future. It seeks to engage wider society by listening to, exploring with, and challenging stakeholders to develop a shared response to 21st Century challenges.

The Worldwide Universities Network (WUN) is a leading global higher education and research network made up of 18 universities, spanning 11 countries on five continents. WUN draws on the combined intellectual power and resources of its members to create new international research collaborations in areas of global significance under its four Global Challenges. For more information, please contact Susan Jim (susan.jim@bristol.ac.uk).