RENEW
RENEW
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News

Welcome to the RENEW news page. Here you can find articles from members of the RENEW team and breaking news from the University of Exeter Press team with research updates and collaborations, working towards biodiversity renewal across the UK.

A group of people sat round and point at a big map laid out on a a table

10 April 2024

Partner Forum: Introducing ExCASES

Join us to find out more about ExCASES – one of RENEW’s cross-cutting themes focused on agile, solutions-oriented research. Thursday 16th May 2024, 14:00-15:00, Online This Partner Forum event is your chance to meet the ExCASES team and find out more about their work on rapid, impactful and cross-sectoral ‘missions‘ on challenging questions relating to […]

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A photograph of the National Trust Heelis, event venue.

11 March 2024

Rapid ExCASES mission ideation: from the Biodiversity Parliament to Padlet

How we develop mission proposals to ensure they are interdisciplinary, agile and codesigned… We wanted to give a flavour of what an ExCASES participatory workshop looks like and demonstrate practically how we develop mission proposals to ensure they are interdisciplinary, agile and codesigned. It was also a rare opportunity to collect mission ideas and inputs […]

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A visual illustration by Jackie Wong.

11 October 2023

The first Biodiversity Storytelling Summit at Kew Gardens, London

Above: Cambridge Cottage. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London. Image credit: Kew Gardens Introducing the first Biodiversity Storytelling Summit 2023 Beyond the weathered wooden doors of Cambridge Cottage at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, hanging along the corridors, drawing room and gallery are pictures – botanical illustrations reflecting a “golden century” for plant discovery, collection, and […]

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The National Poetry Day banner image of a tortoise and the word refuge.

4 October 2023

Celebrating National Poetry Day 2023 – Refuge with The Poetry Society

  National Poetry Day There are poetry events all around the country today, and we’re marking the occasion with a new classroom resource – Care Package – for Key Stages 3-5, the Foyle Young Poets (To be announced 1300 05/10/23) of the Year Award Ceremony at Shakespeare’s Globe, and the announcement of the winners of our Stanza Poetry […]

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An image of a family walking in nature

3 October 2023

People of colour in ‘green spaces’: key barriers and the role of academia

People of colour in the UK face systemic barriers in accessing and thriving in natural, academic, and professional ‘green spaces’. When it comes to natural green spaces, people of colour are mainly affected by three types of barriers: structural barriers—e., shortage and/or low quality of nearby accessible natural spaces and often unaffordable costs of visiting […]

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A photograph of people in nature

27 September 2023

The Conservation Careers Podcast with RENEW Co-Director Professor Kevin Gaston

RENEW Co-Director Kevin Gaston discusses his research into personalised ecologies and RENEW’s nature recovery agenda. It’s great to hear Kevin and Nick share their own personal experiences with the natural world, experiences that have shaped Kevin’s career as a writer, teacher and practitioner of conservation biology.   “How do people and nature interact? How does […]

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An image of a deer in a UK park by Nicolas Lyandrou

15 August 2023

Updates from the field with David Bavin and the RENEW ExCASES team

Above: ExCASES deer mission planning, National Trust Heelis. Implementing the first mission The first mission we are currently delivering revolves around deer management. The increase and expansion of deer populations in the UK are, in places, having a significantly detrimental impact on biodiversity and deer welfare, with associated socio-economic costs for people. The spread and […]

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Keble College Oxford, Courtesy of the Agile Initiative

24 July 2023

Reflections from the Agile Summer School

Exploring Scientific and Policy-based Landscapes This meeting marked the first time that the four projects had convened in person, enabling us to compare notes and learn about each other’s structure, goals and – critically – lessons learned so far. Over the course of the week, a group of primarily ECRs learned from each other, alongside […]

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An image of a child and parent feeding ducks on a pond

28 June 2023

The importance of Personalised Ecologies

Exploring Personalised Ecologies This collaborative event was a well-organised workshop held online on 20th June 2023, which introduced over 90 participants to the theory of PE through innovative Mentimeter polls and group feedback coordinated by Peter.  Stemming from discussions was a series of qualitative responses, thoughts, beliefs, and new ideas with suggestions for the real-world […]

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A person sitting in a window ledge looking below.

5 June 2023

Scientists want your view on watching nature through the window

Watching nature through the window might have many benefits – and researchers want you to share your view. The survey comes from the University of Exeter and The Wildlife Trusts as part of 30 Days Wild – the annual challenge which invites people of all ages to connect with nature every single day during the […]

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A picture of a pine cone on a section of a map

24 May 2023

Partner Forum event: What works for inter- and transdisciplinary collaboration?

Thursday 22nd June, 10:00-12:00, Online Interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration – that is, research reaching across disciplines and beyond academia – are key to achieving effective biodiversity renewal, but can be challenging to undertake in practice. RENEW Theme X3: Collaboration in Practice aims to determine the learning about inter- and transdisciplinary working that results from RENEW […]

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A photo of a small lego boat with 'Good ship ExCASES' written on a paper sail

6 March 2023

Launching ExCASES: a rapid solutions generator for biodiversity renewal challenges

Taking on a mission ‘Missions’ are short bursts of focused, collaborative activity (lasting 3-6 months), bringing together multidisciplinary teams of researchers and practitioners to co-create outputs or solutions to a specific problem relating to biodiversity renewal (such as best practice, guidance tools, stakeholder engagement, technical solutions, policy recommendations, conceptual frameworks, etc.). Above: The good-ship-ExCASES sets […]

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A picture of a person sitting in a woodland

22 February 2023

RENEW Event – Perspectives on personalised ecology *Event Now Closed*

Event Information Each of us has a personalised ecology, a set of direct interactions with the natural world that change through the day, the week, the season, and across our lifetimes. The scale and composition of these interactions vary greatly between people and are shaped by opportunities, capabilities and motivations. These personalised ecologies have a […]

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A landscape photograph of scottish highlands

20 February 2023

Partnership’s research will boost UK biodiversity and protect landscapes in critical decade
Researchers at the University of Exeter and the National Trust are joining forces to improve the UK’s biodiversity and manage precious landscapes. In the face of rapid environmental change and declining biodiversity, the two organisations are driving closer collaboration between their research teams to help transform the ways that landscapes are managed and encourage people [...]
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An academic office with a tree canopy displayed on the PC monitors

23 January 2023

NERC RENEW PhD Studentship 2022/23. *Applications closed*

Supervisors Prof Tim Lenton, Director, Global Systems Institute, Geography, University of Exeter. Prof Gail Whiteman, Professor of Sustainability, Business School, University of Exeter. Dr Tom Powell, Global Systems Institute, Geography, University of Exeter. Dr Jesse Abrams, Global Systems Institute, Geography, University of Exeter General Information: The ‘Renewing biodiversity through a people-in-nature approach’ (RENEW) project will work […]

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Trees breaking through sunlight in a wooded area

1 December 2022

The Nature of Business – Report Download

Sharing best practice The majority of UK businesses have plans to address their impact on biodiversity and nature loss, but a lack of guidance and sharing of best practices are barriers to progress, a new report reveals. The Nature of Business report, published by CBI Economics in collaboration with the University of Exeter, presents the findings of a […]

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A microphone in a live enviornment

16 November 2022

Poems inspire at the Biodiversity Parliament
Using poetic licence in research practice Caleb will be starting a creative writing practice-as-research studentship aligned with Theme 2 (Community Action) in January 2023, looking at poetic responses to the science of biodiversity renewal and the role of the poet-educator during the biodiversity crisis. Unbeknownst to many at the Parliament, Caleb was hard at work [...]
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A man holding up a glass sphere to the canopy of the trees in a wooded area

16 November 2022

RENEW Biodiversity Parliament 2022

Hosting a parliament of partnerships The first Parliament took place on 18-19 October in Exeter and brought together the RENEW team and representatives of over 20 partner organisations to workshop pressing questions around people, nature, and biodiversity renewal. Inspired by the Select Committees of Westminster, with a strong focus on deliberative democracy, the event was […]

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A kitchen fully stocked with sauces and pots

16 November 2022

Renewing our relationship to food

Taste with a sense of place Fortunately, on our doorstep we were lucky to find and work with the Ground Up Cookery School, who took us on a journey of discovery on foraged, sustainable, low-waste food options, enabling us to deliver a low-impact conference dinner. Based on the northern edge of Dartmoor National Park, Ground […]

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