ORFC 2025 9 – 10 Jan
This moderated panel conversation features Dorn Cox, a US-based New Hampshire family farmer and open source technologist, and David Bollier, an American commons activist and scholar with the Schumacher Center for a New Economics (US). Cox has long been in the vanguard of using open source technologies to help improve crop yields, soil health, and ecosystem resilience, especially in the face of climate change. His 2023 book, The Great Regeneration, describes the use of free…
This is not a traditional panel and is run as a podcast discussion. It will explore, honour and celebrate experiences, wisdom and intergenerational practices of black and brown people in relation to land justice and presence in the environmental scene. The discussion will reflect on areas such as: professional and personal experiences, intersectionality of marginalisation/exclusion across different backgrounds, identities and abilities; access to land and opportunities working with land; nature connection; heritage and genetic memory.…
Resilience is best described as the ability to respond to change, but many things can affect this ability, and not all are within our control. This interactive session will introduce the concept of resilience as a series of patterns, patterns that we can identify, practice and grow. We’ll explore the internal drivers that push us towards burnout or exhaustion and the feedback loops we’re most responsive to and that affect our ability to prioritise our…
This is a captivating story of black oats lost and found. Gerald Miles spent 20 years searching for the black oats his grandfather grew. Through a connection with a folk musician, another older farmer was found to be still growing these almost extinct oats. We formed a group called Llafur Ni and embarked on a journey to eat these oats for the first time. Discovering that eating oats wasn’t as simple as we thought, we…
This is an opportunity for anyone attending the conference to gather in regional groups for an informal networking session before the evening’s entertainment. It will be a chance to connect with others in broad geographic areas to share experiences of the conference, find out about relevant networks and events and highlight areas of common regional or local interest. Join colleagues/friends from the North, South West, South East or Midlands in England, or from Scotland or…
The Youth Convergence on Land Justice will bring together young people aged 16-24 from across the UK who have a shared interest in discussing issues and opportunities young people face in the realm of land work, from farming to forestry, activism to nature restoration. In workshop form, the convergence will provide a facilitated space for youth representatives from organisations, movements and unions doing innovative work to share learning. We will discuss the potential of intergenerational…
To meditate is to pay attention and be present in the here and now. During this meditation, led by Satish Kumar, we will pay attention to our body posture and our breath, through breathing in, breathing out, smiling, relaxing and letting go. We will pay attention to the four elements of which we are made; earth, air, fire and water and we will do so with gratitude. Please join this session to learn about how…
Urgent action on climate change is needed, and reducing livestock production in the UK is often said to be part of the solution. But should reductions be focused on extensive grazing livestock, as is often argued? This session will bring together recent science with implications for how we understand the climate impacts of meat and dairy from different production systems. By considering this alongside the multiple social and environmental benefits that well-managed grasslands and grazing…
While in the field, farmers pioneer and share innovative regenerative practices, research councils continue to pour millions of pounds a year into tech-heavy, top-down solutions to the challenges faced by agriculture. This session will bring together academic researchers, funders and pioneering farmers to discuss how we can work better together. Through their own experiences of successful participatory research, panellists will explore differences in expectations, timescales and language which pose challenges to collaboration, and discuss what…