Institutes aim to boost environment and farm data

Gaining greater access to the latest publicly funded environmental and agricultural research carried out in Scotland will be encouraged and simplified with the launch of a one-stop-shop for information flow and knowledge exchange, it has been claimed.

SEFARI aims to improve access to environmental and agricultural data. Picture: Scott Barbour/Getty Images

Scottish Environment, Food & Agriculture Research Institutes – to be known as SEFARI – is a collective group, working across six of Scotland’s research centres with the aim of improving the availability of information on, and connections between, areas such as the environment, land, food, agriculture and rural communities.

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By organising events and conferences and encouraging wider conversations to promote and utilise research findings, the group hopes to encourage better links and a two-way flow of knowledge between researchers and the businesses, charities, communities and policy-makers seeking to access scientific findings.

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The organisation said that examples of relevant work included the latest information on how improving animal health could result in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from livestock, the role peatland played in releasing stored carbon into the atmosphere and understanding the trade-offs and challenges in achieving both a healthy diet, and fewer greenhouse gas emissions.

The collective consists of Moredun Research Institute, Scotland’s Rural College, the James Hutton Institute, the Royal Botanic Garden in Edinburgh, Biomathematics & Statistics Scotland and the Rowettt Institute.

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