CALL
Coventry Agroecological Living Lab
Living lab
Coventry is part of the West Midlands metropolitan county governed by the West Midlands Combined Authority, located in central England. It has a population of 345,000 with 1 in 5 people living below the poverty line and is highly urban, but with over 3,000 allotments and other land where food is grown. The Coventry Agroecological Living Lab is an urban and peri-urban LL comprising small commercial growers, other small businesses, community initiatives and a local charity.
These are:
5 Acre Community Farm (CSA)
Cogs (local sustainable retailer incl. local veg.)
Coventry University Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (research centre at the university which initiated the LL)
Coventry University Grounds team (includes food growing in city centre)
Coventry City Council
Feeding Coventry (community led ‘social supermarket’)
Food Union (council allotment initiative)
Garden Organic (local based national organic horticulture charity)
The Pod (community café)
Team Springboard (CSA providing horticultural skills to young people)
Short background information
Aim
Organisational: to share knowledge and skills and to improve local connections. Practical: to grow a wider variety of crops, to cope better with climate change and to improve soil and human health.
Through spring and summer 2023, Coventry University’s Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience held a series of workshops in and around Coventry City to provide a forum for small agroecological food producers and growers in the city to meet share information/ideas. This led to the establishment of the CALL.
Funding structure
During 2022-2023, there was limited funding from the AE4EU European project but there has not been any further external funding for the living lab. Coventry University’s Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience has continued to support CALL with limited staff time and inclusion in further funding proposals.
Achievements
Created and renewed existing relationships between organisations
In 2023, participants took place in common crop trial
Established mechanism for surplus crops to go to social supermarket
Methods, stakeholder engagements and tools
Face to face meetings, visits made by participants to each other’s initiatives/growing spaces. Email communications.
Further information
Information on the AE4EU website about CALL Living Labs (LL) and Research Infrastructures - AE4EU
An academic journal paper with other agroecological living labs in Italy and Netherlands is submitted and currently in review.
Activities
Participation in a common crop trial
Seed and crop swaps between participants
3 collaborative workshops
Training in experimental design
Engagement with City Council
Exploration of further funding options e.g. soil health or plastic pollution in cities
CALL’s first year. Photo credits: Judith Conroy and Ulrich Schmutz.