Page 23 - Eclipse - RVC Alumni Magazine - Autumn 2020

GENERAL NEWS
The RVC continues to adapt both our campuses and teaching methods to allow us to work and study safely and further changes will inevitably occur throughout the coming months.
A huge thank you to all our staff for the work you are doing to make this
year a success for our students.
If you would like to help and support our students or your fellow alumni, please get in touch: alumni@rvc.ac.uk
Our campuses and teaching adapt to any changes in Government guidelines
and as we go to print, England finds itself in another period of lockdown, albeit slightly less restrictive with UK universities still operational. For more information on the most up to date RVC COVID-19 guidelines, please visit www.rvc.ac.uk/about/coronavirus
Pioneering Food Systems Teaching and Learning programme has first virtual summer school
This summer, a group of
RVC students and staff participated in the first virtual online summer school of
the Interdisciplinary Food Systems Teaching and Learning (IFSTAL) programme, to resounding success. IFSTAL is led by the University of Oxford, with the academic partners University
of Warwick, the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, the School of Oriental and African Studies and the RVC, in collaboration with a
network of over 100 public, private, non-governmental and civil society organisations in the food sector.
The RVC is a founding member and continuous IFSTAL supporter. It is currently represented by Dr Barbara Häsler, Niko Dadios, Dr Louise Whatford and Helena Diffey, with active support from other enthusiastic RVC food system thinkers.
The programme, which has been running since 2015, aims to address the urgent need for food systems changemakers
by offering additional, cross-university training that complements institutional (disciplinary) degrees.
Food system issues are now well recognised both in the UK (e.g.
the £50m ‘Transforming the UK
Food System’ programme), and internationally (e.g. the upcoming
UN Food Systems Summit). Our vision is to learn collaboratively in a dynamic and adaptive network so
that participants can be conceptually and methodologically equipped to understand and explore food system challenges through the benefit of such additional competencies.
With a broader skillset, we expect that graduates can make a positive difference in the food system through active contributions to the complex social, economic, biological, environmental and
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