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Suggested by: Emilie

where: small room

time: 30-45 min conversation in a small group

There is a great opportunity to move early and map the Scottish food sector's challenges to the current and future capabilities of quantum tech, to ensure Scotland is well placed to take advantage of these breakthroughs.

Suggested by: Jack Brennan

Space: anywhere

Activity: introduction to quantum tech and capabilities, then small groups discussing challenges that may map well to these. Seeding ideas for larger workshop a month later.

Suggested by: Sumantra Ray (NNEdPro)

Space: Anywhere

Traditional RCTs are important, but they’re not the only way to generate credible nutrition evidence. Independent practitioners are generating insights every day through real-world practice, yet this knowledge rarely enters academic discourse. How can we build bridges between universities and practitioners to co-create meaningful, publishable evidence, without relying solely on high-cost trials? Let’s explore models like real-world evidence, N-of-1 studies, and practice-based research networks that can transform Scotland’s food and health research landscape

• Data Collection & Sharing

  • How can practitioners capture high-quality, anonymised client data?

  • Can universities provide templates, ethical frameworks, or digital tools for this?

• Partnership Models

  • Co-designed research between SMEs and universities

  • Student placements where MSc/PhD students analyse practitioner-collected data

  • Innovation vouchers / funding streams for SME-academic collaboration

• Impact Beyond Academia

  • How to publish this kind of “hybrid evidence”

  • Policy influence when you don’t have a £2m RCT behind you

  • Building citizen and patient trust with transparent reporting

Upcycling is a key concept in circular food systems, involving the transformation of co-streams, side streams, and by-products from food production into new, safe, and nutritious food products for human consumption. It has gained significant global attention for its role in creating a closed-loop system that conserves natural resources while meeting the demand for new product development.

Promoting upcycling across the Scottish food sector can address sustainability, nutrition, and food security simultaneously, thereby directly contributing to the Good Food Nation outcomes. This discussion is expected to generate practical insights on integrating upcycling into Scotland’s food system, foster cross-sector collaboration, and highlight practical opportunities for innovation in the upcycled food sector.

Suggested by Temitope Akinyemi

Suggested Facilitator: Temitope Akinyemi

Space - Anywhere

The development of a SCAF Dataset sharing website is underway, but first we need to learn:

• what is the structure of the community?

• what prevents data re-use?

• what makes researchers share data?

By participating in this session, you would help shape the website!

Suggested by / presenter: Gian Catalano

Space: anywhere

time: 5 min introduction + 30 minutes conversation

Where: indoor

Research shows that the UK could be carbon-negative if it transitioned to a plant-based food system, as the change would not only eliminate a large share of the country's emissions, but also allow massive amounts of GHGs to be sequestered as most of the land would be able to return to its original state. Today, animal agriculture in the UK is the largest obstacle to reforestation. In Scotland, it is also the leading driver of peat bog degradation. While peatlands are supposed to be net absorbers of carbon, they are today so degraded by overgrazing that they are responsible for 20% of Scotland's total emissions. Animal agriculture is also the leading driver of biodiversity loss, freshwater pollution, and eutrophication. On top of this monumental and multi-faceted pollution, animal farming is heavily subsidised with taxpayer money as it is often not profitable. A huge body of research has also demonstrated the benefits a plant-based food system would have for our health, drastically reducing the number of cancers, strokes and other heart diseases. More research has shown that even if all anthropogenic emissions were stopped today, those from the agriculture sector alone would make it impossible to limit warming to 1.5°C and nearly impossible to limit it to 2°C. Moreover, overall food demand is expected to increase by 50% by 2050, with that for animal-based foods projected to rise by 70%. This increased demand would require an additional 33 million km2 of land, eliminating all of the world's forests and savannas. A plant-based food system isn't just a nice plus, it's an absolute necessity.

Universities don't simply have a significant role to play, they have a responsibility to act. They hold significant cultural capital, shape ethical norms, educate future leaders, and generate much of our knowledge on the climate crisis. Yet by serving animal products, they legitimise a destructive industry. Shifting to fully plant-based catering would set a powerful example for governments and other institutions of genuine climate action. Students are already the demographic most supportive of plant-based solutions, and have a strong tradition of driving social change—just as universities once led the movement to divest from fossil fuels, they can now lead in divesting from an equally destructive industry.

This is why three months ago, like dozens of other universities across Europe recently, we launched a Plant-Based Universities campaign at UofG, calling the university to begin a transition to plant-based catering and follow in the footsteps of fourteen other UK universities including Cambridge, Lancaster, and Newcastle Universities.

Extreme weather, global conflicts, energy costs, and rising inequality are already testing food systems.

This session will explore what resilience really means: not just bouncing back from crisis, but building a food system that can adapt, endure, and thrive.

Discussion could cover:

• Vulnerabilities in current supply chains and production models

• The role of community-led initiatives like growing networks, food pantries, and co-ops

• Balancing self-sufficiency with reliance on imports and global trade

• How innovation, policy, and citizen action can come together to prepare for future shocks

The challenge: if we were building Scotland’s food system from scratch to survive the next 30 years, what would we keep, what would we change, and what new ideas should we test?

Suggested by / Facilitator: Silvia Mourao // DiveIN CDT
Space: Indoor
Time: 45–60 minutes

Suggested by: Michael Pierre Johnson

where: medium room

time: 45-60 mins conversation captured with small proposal templates

In Scotland, achieving such change requires acknowledging the barriers communities face—particularly in more deprived areas. Financial inequality, limited access to affordable fresh food, and a lack of practical cooking knowledge all restrict dietary shifts. Education has consistently proven to be one of the most effective interventions to shift dietary patterns (Wadi et al., 2024), but education alone may not be sufficient without enabling tools.

AI and digital innovation offer new opportunities. Just as the Quit Sense app successfully supported smoking cessation by using AI to detect high-risk moments, similar tools could be designed to promote sustainable diets. Drawing on health psychology research and the Behaviour Change Wheel, such an app could provide tailored educational content, budget-conscious grocery lists, affordable recipes, and strategies to reduce food waste. Making this technology widely accessible and free could empower households across Scotland to eat more sustainably and healthy while respecting cultural preferences.

Suggested by / Facilitator: Antonella Marsella // DiveIn CDT

Space: Indoor

Time: 45–60 minutes

Although 86% of UK people recognise FW as an issue, only 34% see its reduction as a personal priority . This gap between awareness and action signals a critical behavioural failure. There is a great opportunity for social scientists, natural scientist, communities, and practitioners to co-create fresh solutions and map the core issues of household food waste together. for example, how can we combine nutrition insights, storytelling, multicultural recipes, and digital tools (like QR-linked videos) to turn “waste” into value?

Suggested by / presenter: Saihong Li + Space: anywhere

Time: 3-5 minutes intro + 30 minutes conversation

Around a series of stations, you will be invited to have a quick conversation to share experiences, stories, and lessons. There will be prompts (if you need them!) to kick-off a discussion and at each station and you can help to grow a topic, developing branches and leaves for others.

Topics will include, but not limited to, the role of ultra processing, labels and regulation, elevator pitches and disseminating results.

Facilitator: Ali

Session would be around 40 minutes