There is a surge of interest in regenerative agriculture as a way of addressing multiple crises relating to climate change, soil and biodiversity. Adopting regenerative farming approaches has the potential to reduce GHG emissions and generate significant environmental and social co-benefits. But what’s the potential for scaling up regenerative agriculture at a national or global scale and how can we achieve it? Our panel of experts and practitioners will explore the potential to scale up regenerative agriculture, the pathways and challenges to scaling up and the policies and government support needed. The discussion will be moderated by Professor Rod Keenan from the University of Melbourne.
This event is the second seminar of the Sustainable Food System project funded by Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute and is co-hosted by Centre for Resources, Energy and Environmental Law and Faculty of Veterinary and Agricultural Sciences.
Speakers:
Professor Rod Keenan, University of Melbourne
Rod has been Professor and Chair of Forest and Ecosystem Sciences at the University of Melbourne since 2005. From 2009-14, he was Director of the Victorian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation Research and since 2020, he has led a cross-university project on Scaling Regenerative Agriculture.
Dr Charles Massy, Severn Park
Charles is the author of the groundbreaking book Call of the Reed Warbler, which explores farmers’ experiences of regenerative agriculture across Australia and his own journey of turning to regenerative farming approaches on his NSW sheep and cattle property over the last 20 years.
Serenity Hill, Open Food
Network
Serenity is a co-founder of the Open Food Network, and a Director of the Open Food Foundation and Open Food Network Australia. She is a regenerative farmer, who is passionate about developing solutions that deal with the multitude of barriers to expansion of ecological farming across the country.
Ross Davey, Central Victorian Regenerative Farmers
Ross is the founder of the Central Victorian Regenerative Farmers group, which is actively involved in the ‘regenerative transition journey’. Ross has a farm between Clunes and Maryborough and until recently also ran a paddock-to-plate lamb business.
Mark Gardner, Regenerative Agriculture consultant, Vanguard Business Services
Mark is a Regenerative Agriculture consultant with Vanguard Business Services in Dubbo, NSW, where he helps farmers to regenerate their land, people and businesses. Mark has an Honours Degree in Agricultural Science from the University of Melbourne.