The Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience (CAWR) is a flagship research centre at Coventry University. CAWR, through its focus on food and water, develops and integrates new knowledge in social, agroecological, hydrological and environmental processes, as well as the pivotal role that communities play in developing resilience.
Today, the Centre is a thriving community of scholars and practitioners made up of 58 staff and 55 PhD students – roughly equal numbers of men and women from different parts of Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Europe. And from its initial location on the main campus of Coventry University, CAWR is now based at Ryton where its offices and laboratory facilities are surrounded by organic gardens, fruit tree orchards, and organically farmed land that supplies vegetables to nearby town dwellers.
CAWR is an intellectually challenging and stimulating place. Our transdisciplinary research brings together a unique mix of natural and social sciences, and combines them with the local knowledge of farmers, water users, and other citizens. We use participatory research methods, which recognise the value of citizen knowledge and expertise. Our research not only lives up to traditional academic measures of excellence such as rigour, originality, and reliability. It also aims to solve real-world problems and have a positive impact on environment and society. Walking the talk of transdisciplinary ways of knowing and participatory research is certainly not easy – more needs to be done in the future! But in the past four years, CAWR’s community of practice has grown in confidence and started to make a difference through its transformative ways of working and thinking. Now the largest centre for agroecology research in the world, CAWR and its partners are generating a rich harvest of hope for the future.
Study with us
Postgraduate Research Programme
As a Doctoral Training Centre we offer bespoke training to our PhD students. Tailored work shops are run every year taking advantage of the breadth of knowledge and varied research areas of our staff. A Summer School also takes place with a strong focus on writing as well as sessions on surviving the PhD and time management. Learn more about this community.
Taught Masters programme
The MSc in Agroecology, Water and Food Sovereignty is structured according to the thematic pillars of our Centre’s research vision and is a multi and transdisciplinary course. Students are introduced to a range of different practical and theoretical approaches to equitable and sustainable food and water systems, crucial to environmental sustainability. See some our former students responding to some frequently asked questions.
For more information contact: study.cawr@coventry.ac.uk
Resources by the Centre for Agroecology, Water and Resilience
About CAWR
- Focus on CAWR – Special Edition Brochure
- Agroecology Now
- Finance for Agroecology: More than just a dream [Infographic]
- Postgraduate Study at CAWR
- Stabilisation Agriculture: Exploring regenerative agroecological relationships in fragile environments
Projects
- Investigating stakeholder perspectives on the role of the semi-wild pony in maintaining biodiversity and agricultural sustainability in the uplands of Wales [Questionnaire]
- The Garden Organic Members’ Experiments Programme [Citizen Science Brochure]
- Thriving Hive Beekeepers and scientists working together to help hives thrive
- Transition pathes to sustainable legume-based systems in Europe
Publications
- A call to focus on farmer intuition for improved management decision-making
- A Five-Point Framework for Reading for Social Justice
- Agroecology Now: Connecting the dots to enable agroecology transformations
- Analysis of Funding Flows to Agroecology-CAWR-CIDSE
- Bonding, Bridging and Linking
- Farming Matters: Agroecology and feminism
- Food Sovereignty, Agroecology and Biocultural Diversity
- Land Management [BOND Publication]
- Nourishing Life – Territories of life and food sovereignty
- Place-Based Pathways to Sustainability: Exploring alignment between geographical indications and the concept of agroecology territories in Wales
- Play in Farming [BOND-ECGBL Publication]
- Policies for Family Farming: The case of Portugual and Spain [BOND Publication]
- Regulatory Framework: The future of Europe’s food and landscapes
- Resources to inspire a transformative agroecology: A curated guide
- Rethinking Biodiversity and Locality: Poland and Czech Republic [BOND Publication]
- Rethinking CAP: The case of Romania, the Republic of Moldovia and France [BOND Publication]
- Rethinking Regenerative Food Systems: The case of Hungary and Croatia [BOND Publication]
- Synthesis Report: The future of Europe’s foods and landscape [BOND Publication]
- The Barn: Stories of Collective Action
- The Prefigurative Power of Urban Political Agroecology
- Urban Agriculture in the Food-Disabling City
- Youth Forum: A vision for the future
Books
- Everyday Experts: How people’s knowledge can transform the food system
- Lume: A method for the economic-ecological analysis of agroecosystems
- Shifting from Industrial Agriculture to Diversified Agroecological Systems in China
- The milk crisis in India: The story behind the numbers