On 13th March 2023, a co-design workshop, using creative practices to facilitate contributions from a range of voices involved in agri-food policy making was held in Edinburgh and online. SRUC hosted the hybrid policy lab which drew together key food and drink sector actors UK-wide, industry bodies, policy makers and government officials. It explored the policy landscape to discover shared interests in what a trusted infrastructure for transparent sustainability data would look like, and how it could be framed by (and operate within) the wider environmental, social and economic context.

The policy lab was part of a collaborative EPSRC funded project called EATS (Enhanced Agri-food Transparent Sustainability, a research project developed together with the Universities of Aberdeen, Dundee and Nottingham). The vision for EATS is to develop an actionable information (analysed data) ecosystem whose purpose is to deliver transparent sustainability. We are considering the role of sensors and carbon reporting tools in capturing data about agri-food processes; developing a trusted digital platform able to manage sustainability data and report it across supply chain actors; and utilising data-analytics and machine learning to support decision-making and action. Leading to decision-making and actionable insights that promote environmental sustainability at supply chain scale.

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