Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience - CAWR

Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience - CAWR The Centre for Agroecology and Food Security, Coventry University. We conduct research to contribute

The Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) is driving innovative research on the understanding and development of resilient food and water systems internationally. Food and water security is increasingly threatened by factors such as climate and environmental change, loss of biodiversity, conflict and market volatility. New knowledge, policies and technologies are needed to develop sy

stems that are more resilient to change and which ensure the health of our food and water supplies. Resilient systems are better able to bounce back from stresses caused by longer-term change or short-term events - be it natural processes such as flooding, or human impacts such as war or water pollution incidents. Through its focus on food and water, the Centre’s research develops and integrates new knowledge in social, agroecological, hydrological and environmental processes, as well as the pivotal role that communities play in developing resilience. Unique to this Centre is the incorporation of citizen-generated knowledge - the participation of farmers, water users and other citizens in transdisciplinary research, using holistic approaches which cross many disciplinary boundaries. CAWR also aims to advance resilience and irresilience science through creative work on a new generation of key issues linked to the governance of food systems, hydrological change, urban water, river processes, water quality and emerging pollutants. Research themes and groups:

• Models of resilient food and water systems

• Understanding fundamental processes of resilience and instability in environmental and social systems

• Community self-organisation for resilience

• Policies and institutions to enable resilient food and water systems

• People's knowledge and working beyond the restrictions imposed by academic disciplines (often called transdisciplinarity).

07/09/2026

A new paper from the AGROMIX project, led by Maria Raimondo with ORC’s Rowan Dumper-Pollard cited as a co-author, looks at what influences farmers’ decisions to adopt and maintain agroforestry.

04/09/2026

🌱New Resource: Weeds as Bioindicators🌼

This guide created by The Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR), Landworkers' Alliance and the Organic Research Centre, introduces a practical method for farmers and growers to assess non-crop plants as indicators of soil conditions.

It explains the basics of plant identification, field surveys and assessment of w**d communities, and includes survey sheets to help users infer soil characteristics such as fertility, structure, moisture, nitrogen, phosphorous and potassium levels, and pH.

Inspired by the work of Gerard Ducerf in France, this resource was written by Chris Maughan and Dominic Amos with beautiful illustrations and linocut prints by Alix Villanueva.

Access the guide here: https://agricology.co.uk/resource/w**ds-as-bioindicators-a-farmers-field-guide/

✏️Credit: CAWR/ Alix Villanueva

The OneSTOP and DAISY projects will present their work and engage with visitors at the annual EcoFest in Leamington Spa....
04/09/2026

The OneSTOP and DAISY projects will present their work and engage with visitors at the annual EcoFest in Leamington Spa. Come and join us at the Pump Room Gardens, 10 – 5 tomorrow, Saturday, 5th of September: https://bit.ly/3Sri3U9

03/09/2026

We've got four Green Gown Award category shortlists to tell you about!

Run annually by the EAUC, these awards recognise sustainability achievements across the education sector.

These are the categories for which we have nominations:

🔹2030 Climate Action category:
This nomination recognises our commitment in the 2030 Group Strategy to achieve net zero for scope 1 and 2 emissions and reduce scope 3 emissions by 30% by 2030: https://pulse.ly/xm1htchfh6

🔹Staff Sustainability Champion category:
Over the past 8-12 months, Your Students' Union has established a Sustainability Working Group to support and enhance its delivery, in line with our organisational values of being helpful, inclusive and ethical: https://pulse.ly/efbexs7hzq

🔹Research with Impact category:
Two finalists in this category come from our Research Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR):

Focusing on bracken, a toxic, climate-driven fern that fuels wildfires and releases hazardous compounds, CAWR developed a nature-based solution centred on the endangered Welsh Mountain Pony which reduced the risk/spread of wildfires: https://pulse.ly/hxg05vqy5p

The second nomination is for the design and evaluation of peat-free blocking media. Peat has been a mainstay in horticulture due to its exceptional properties, but its extraction exacerbates climate change, destroys habitats and increases flood risk: https://pulse.ly/b2dlyl0vmy

If you wanted to catch up on any of our previous seminars then take a look at our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.c...
02/09/2026

If you wanted to catch up on any of our previous seminars then take a look at our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/

Francis Rayns and Judith Conroy presented a webinar for Garden Organic members. This was based on CAWR’s NERC funded REP...
31/08/2026

Francis Rayns and Judith Conroy presented a webinar for Garden Organic members. This was based on CAWR’s NERC funded REPAS project that explored citizen science as a way of quantifying environmental contamination. As well as highlighting the problems arising from microplastic contamination some practical tips for managing plastic use were suggested.

Francis Rayns recently attended an open day in Essex to see trials being conducted as part of the project ‘Empowering En...
28/08/2026

Francis Rayns recently attended an open day in Essex to see trials being conducted as part of the project ‘Empowering English farmers to produce peat-free composts for horticulture’. This ADOPT funded work is evaluating different methods of composting willow, a rapidly growing crop that produces biomass which could be more widely used on-farm. Composted willow was an ingredient in some of the growing media blends developed at CAWR for use in pressed blocks.

The OneSTOP and DAISY projects will present their work and engage with visitors at the annual EcoFest in Leamington Spa....
27/08/2026

The OneSTOP and DAISY projects will present their work and engage with visitors at the annual EcoFest in Leamington Spa. Come and join us at the Pump Room Gardens, 10 – 5 on Saturday, 5th of September: https://bit.ly/3Sri3U9

Between 29 June and 3 July 2026, Liliane Binego visited Biovision Africa Trust and the African Institute for Culture and...
27/08/2026

Between 29 June and 3 July 2026, Liliane Binego visited Biovision Africa Trust and the African Institute for Culture and Ecology (AFRICE) in Uganda. Engagement with Biovision Africa Trust focused on strengthening the EU AGROECOLOGY Partnership WGI and assessing agroecology scaling methods in East Africa. Engagement with AFRICE explored opportunities for research collaboration on agroecology-driven ecosystem rejuvenation, indigenous seed revival, and sustainable farming systems.

Professor Dr Ulrich Schmutz, WP11 ‘Agroecology at Scale” lead, of the 300-million, 10-year Agroecology Partnership (AP) ...
26/08/2026

Professor Dr Ulrich Schmutz, WP11 ‘Agroecology at Scale” lead, of the 300-million, 10-year Agroecology Partnership (AP) Horizon Project visited Terre et Cité and the University Paris-Saclay. Both have joined the partnership project and work in WP11. Both can also participate in the 30-million annual calls of the AP partnership.
However, a Coventry University (CU) contribution in the partnership calls is dependent on the new government to sign up and contribute 50% for England to make the partnership work. This is different to the EU Horizon project running the calls where CU and CUAS Ltd. (CU Academic Services Limited) are already in with €5.2 million (leading WP11). For the calls of the partnership funding is 50-50. This means 50% funding from the country (e.g. Ireland, Turkey, or England if signed up) topped up with 50% from the European Union (EU).

Address

Ryton Gardens, Wolston Lane
Coventry
CV83LG

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 5pm

Telephone

+442477651679

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