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  • SmartDairy Midterm Project Meeting

    Julian Worley In October, the SmartDairy team convened in Bologna, Italy, to review the project’s progress, upcoming tasks, and future events. Hosted by the Italian research team, this meeting brought together representatives from all four country teams. The meeting began with introductions as it was the first time some researchers had met in person since…

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  • Climate Change Mitigation along the Food Supply Chain 

    Fabio Bartolini Dairy production is a significant contributor to global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, and there is an urgent need to reduce emissions from this sector. Identifying potential mitigation options and the trajectory of diary system transformation is at the top of policy and academic debates. It was discussed among the agricultural economist communities during…

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  • “Down on the Farm” – the UK Smart Dairy team head out to meet some “smart” dairy farmers.  

    Sara Hall* and Walter Kiptoo Kiplagat* In February 2023, the UK Smart Dairy team led a series of zoom interviews with eight what-we-termed ‘model farmers’, early adopters of climate smart technologies and practices. After these, the research team was invited to visit these dairy farms across the UK, from the West Country to the Lake…

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  • “Dairy is a big power group in Finland” – Experiences from the Finnish Stakeholder Workshop

    Iida Alasentie and Silvia Gaiani The Finnish SmartDairy team with the lead of Ruralia Institute organised a Stakeholder Workshop for the Finnish dairy stakeholders on 8th of March 2023. Many of the participants were experts in research and development but also several dairy company representatives and advisors of food and dairy companies took part in…

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  • “My relationship with cheese is close and warm”: What does ‘downshifting’ of milk mean for consumers?

    Mari Niva and Minna Autio In Western countries, the discourses on dairy production and consumption have historically included a variety of political, economic, nutritional, public health, and risk related concerns. In contemporary societies, dairy products are still loaded with multiple and contrasting expectations and cultural meanings. Depending on the perspective, dairy products can be seen…

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  • How Climate Smart is UK Dairying?

    Zoe Barker Project Partners in the UK have been working with a wide range of dairy industry stakeholders to understand how the industry is innovating to achieve climate change objectives and identify innovations that can be adopted to reduce the carbon footprint of the industry. They have also been discussing these innovations with consumers to…

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