Social media and other forms of online content have enormous potential as a way to understand people's opinions and attitudes, and as a means to observe emerging phenomena - such as disease outbreaks. How might policy makers use such new forms of data to better assess existing policies and help formulate new ones? This one year demonstrator project is a partnership between computer science academics at the University of Aberdeen and officers from Food Standards Scotland which aims to answer this question. Food Standards Scotland is the public-sector food body for Scotland created by the Food (Scotland) Act 2015. It regularly provides policy guidance to ministers in areas such as food hygiene monitoring and reporting, food-related health risks, and food fraud. The project will develop a software tool (the Food Sentiment Observatory) that will be used to explore the role of data from sources such as Twitter, Facebook, and TripAdvisor in three policy areas selected by Food Standards Scotland: - attitudes to the differing food hygiene information systems used in Scotland and the other UK nations; - study of an historical E.coli outbreak associated with venison products to understand effectiveness of monitoring and decision making protocols; - understanding the potential role of social media data in responding to new and emerging forms of food fraud. The Observatory will integrate a number of existing software tools (developed in our recent research) to allow us to mine large volumes of data to identify important textual signals, extract opinions held by individuals or groups, and crucially, to document these data processing operations - to aid transparency of policy decision-making. Given the amount of noise appearing in user-generated online content (such as fake restaurant reviews) it is our intention to investigate methods to extract meaningful and reliable knowledge, to better support policy making.

The UK has a legally binding target of 'net zero' greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions for 2050 (Scotland, 2045) and the Food and Drink sector has a vitally important role to play in helping to achieve this. This must be done while also improving nutrition, protection of ecosystems, reduced risks to soil, water and air quality. Delivery against these ambitious targets will require a range of measures to be adopted across the agri-food supply chain - not just primary producers but also processors, retailers and ultimately consumers. Over the last few decades rapid advances in processes to collect, monitor, disclose, and disseminate information (broadly classified under the concept of 'transparency') have contributed towards the development of entirely new modes of environmental monitoring and governance for supply chains. Unfortunately, existing approaches often suffer from limitations in terms of collection and dissemination of data; over-simplification of supply chains; power dynamics influencing information inclusion/exclusion decisions; and potentially perverse outcomes regarding how the information is used, by whom and to what effect. Given these issues, we need to consider how best to capture information about supply chains in order to document existing sustainability practices in sufficient detail; this is necessary to not only support monitoring and reporting needs of all stakeholders, but also to promote additional pro-environmental behaviours and even re-configuration of the supply chain. Our vision is built around an actionable information ecosystem whose purpose is to deliver transparent sustainability - realised via three pillars that we refer to as: SEE-SHARE-ACT. The first of these encompasses the role of sensors and carbon reporting tools in capturing data about agri-food processes (SEE); the second is a trusted digital platform able to manage sustainability data and report it across supply chain actors(SHARE); the third is the use of data-analytics and machine learning to support decision-making and action (ACT). But what would a trusted infrastructure for transparent sustainability look like, and how would it be framed by (and operate within) its wider environmental, social and economic context? Also - how would such a framework go beyond simply documenting the elements of a supply chain (actors, processes, inputs, outputs) to enable a holistic approach to monitoring, pro-environmental decision-making and action? We have assembled an interdisciplinary team of academics and user organisations spanning the livestock, soft-fruit and brewing sectors to investigate transparent sustainability. Together we will explore the following questions: What datasets, indicators and decision-making processes are relevant to the different actors participating in supply chains to realize sustainable food futures (in the DE)? How do we formulate appropriate vocabularies with which to characterise sustainability practices, their context and rationale, and facilitate data capture and integration? Can we realize a provenance-based sustainability solution for supply chains, operating across a range of technologies and organisational boundaries, that is trusted and able to facilitate pro-environmental decision-making and action? How do we exploit sustainability data assets and ML/AI technologies to inform decision making towards net-zero, resulting in demonstrable changes to practice and behaviour? Answers to these (and the many other questions that will certainly emerge) will lead us to develop prototype solutions that will be evaluated with project partners. Our ambition is to create a means by which farmers and other food and drink supply chain stakeholders can create a more sustainable economy built upon trusted data regarding the lifecycle history of products for enhanced environmental and product safety in (therefore more resilient) food supply chains.

Phytoplankton (algae) are essential in marine ecosystems determining fisheries productivity however around 2% of marine phytoplankton species produce biotoxins that can accumulate in harvested shellfish, posing a threat to human health. Harvesting of shellfish, including mussels, scallops and oysters, is an important part of the UK aquaculture industry worth around £40 million per annum and supporting over 3,000 rural jobs. The harvested shellfish are an important source of protein with markets at home and abroad. There is significant potential to expand this industry, however, harvesting can be halted, particularly in the summer months, due to the presence of harmful algae in the sea which can accumulate in the filter feeding shellfish. Monitoring of water and shellfish for the presence of biotoxins helps determine if it is safe to harvest, and where closure occurs it has been reported to cost a single farm in excess of £160,000 per annum. This consortium brings together three new technologies and world class expertise to provide an early warning, near instant biotoxin detection and a system to protect harvesting sites during harmful algal events. This is a unique opportunity to exploit research three separate developments initially funded by RCUK, allowing their deployment to be expertly utilised through the direct collaboration of shellfish farmer, government regulators and trade associations. The first of the exciting new technologies is the e-mice, so called because although in a single small (6x12x6 cm) electronic instrument we aim to detect all groups of regulated biotoxins with the potential to include other biotoxins which may be regulated in the future. Not so long ago consumer safety was ensured by the use of a mouse bioassay, this has now been replaced by sophisticated analytical detection systems. Currently it takes around 1-week and multiple methods to obtain results however, the e-mice will be developed to provide a format that can be used at a shellfish harvesting site and give instant results supporting rapid management decisions regarding harvesting or protection of the shellfish grounds. Detecting toxicity once it has already accumulated can often limit the management options therefore this collaboration includes the satellite-based early warning system called ShellEye which will help predict harmful algae events and particularly their location with respects to shellfish harvesting areas. Data obtained from satellite imagery will be correlated with phytoplankton monitoring and biotoxin detection in phytoplankton samples. Early warning will then be used to make decisions on when to use the third of the innovative technologies which is the photocatalytic curtain. Also, pioneered under a different RCUK research project, the TiO2-based catalytic pods have specifically been designed to facilitate the treatment of biotoxins and algae in reservoirs in developing countries. The work planned here will explore their optimum configuration for use in a marine environment in a way that will protect harvesting sites, hence the concept of the reactive curtain. The benefits of using this technology is that no chemicals are discharged into the water, the catalyst when illuminated produces high energy, short life hydroxyl radicals which destroy organic molecules and can be active against microorganisms. The project will be underpinned by developing the capacity to produce all the required, phytoplankton, biotoxins and reference material to fully validate the e-mice during development and field use while also supporting photocatalytic optimisation. The culmination of the project will be the development of an integrated management strategy where all partners from industry, the regulators and academics will contribute to a practical close to real-time monitoring and protection of shellfish harvesting areas. This will in turn limit harvesting loses and ensure confidence to support expansion of this aquaculture industry.

The agri-food system, producing 23% of UK emissions, must play a key role in the UK's transition to net zero by 2050, and through leadership in innovation can support change globally. Our Network+ will build on existing and new partnerships across research and stakeholder communities to develop a shared agenda, robust research plans, and scope out future research and innovation. The Network will design and deliver high-reward feasibility projects to help catalyse rapid system transformation to ensure the agri-food system is sustainable and supports the UK's net zero goal, while enhancing biodiversity, maintaining ecosystem services, fostering livelihoods and supporting healthy consumption, and minimising the offshoring of environmental impacts overseas through trade. The radical scale of the net zero challenge requires an equally bold and ambitious approach to research and innovation, not least because of the agri-food and land system's unique potential as a carbon sink. Our title, Plausible Pathways, Practical and Open Science, recognises the agri-food system as a contested area in which a range of pathways are plausible. Success requires that new relationships between natural and social science, stakeholders including industry, government and citizens, be forged in which distributed expertise is actively harnessed to support sectoral transformation. We will use our breadth of expertise from basic research to application, policy and engagement to co-produce a trusted, well-evidenced, and practical set of routes, robust to changing future market, policy and social drivers, to evolve the agri-food system towards net zero and sustainability. Marshalling our many existing stakeholder links, we will review and evaluate current options and use Network funding to catalyse new partnerships through retreats, crucibles, workshops, online digital networking and scoping studies to develop system approaches to transformation, reframe the research agenda and undertake novel research projects. We will co-design productive and creative spaces that enable the research community to engage with a wide range of stakeholders and thought leaders through the following framework: 7 Co-Is who govern the Network but are not themselves eligible for funding; 9 Year-1 Champions (with new appointments after Year 1) dynamically forging new connections across research communities; 11 Advisory Board members tasked with challenging business-as-usual thinking; and regular liaison with other stakeholders.