he UK edible horticulture sector relies on seasonal workers to plant, harvest and pack crops. 94% of seasonal workers in the UK are EU nationals. Travel restrictions and quarantines pose unprecedented challenges to recruitment, yet seasonal workers remain essential to ensure food security throughout the pandemic. This project examines the recruitment and experiences of seasonal agricultural migrant workers throughout harvest seasons 2020 and 2021. Using 212 remote qualitative interviews and data analysis, findings will support policy interventions from our policy impact partner - the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs - and other stakeholders for which we will prepare monthly reports including comparative international analysis. Furthermore, we will co-produce with our charity impact partner - New Europeans - information materials adapted to the needs of seasonal migrants. To engage with the wider audiences and inform public views about seasonal migration, we propose a web-based Monitor and a virtual exhibition. The project has 6 key objectives: (1) to provide information in real time on worker recruitment and retention in order to support evidence-based rapid interventions and mitigate risks for UK the food supply; (2) to provide information to limit contagion on farms; (3) to document the experiences of seasonal workers and farmers; (4) to inform decisions on the post-Brexit immigration system in light of possible future pandemics; (5) conceptually, to contribute to theories about the high demand for migrant labour in periods of high unemployment and (6) and to debates on the contributions of low skilled migrants as key workers.

Post Brexit, the UK signalled its intention to diverge from some EU laws relevant to breeding, particularly using biotechnology to improve environmental sustainability and stimulate innovation in these technologies (DEFRA, 2021a). Therefore, DEFRA recently conducted a public consultation exercise on the use of gene editing for crop and livestock breeding to ensure an improved food system that provides abundant, healthy, and sustainable food (DEFRA, 2021b). Research has indeed shown that (1) the implementation and continued use of novel food technologies depend on public acceptance of the technology, and that (2) successful implementations require participatory approaches fostering 'science-in-society' relationships (Bearth and Siegrist, 2016; Bonney et al., 2016). In line with these findings, we will apply a citizen science approach that requires active involvement of volunteers in research. This will be both contributory and collaborative for improving the knowledge of citizen participants on plant breeding and novel breeding methods and supporting the successful integration of these methods into the food chain. Our project aims to address the FSA research theme on novel foods within priority area on future of food systems. The main work packages that make up the project are as follows: WP1 Data Collection Exercise aims to improve participants' knowledge on plant breeding and novel breeding methods, and to understand their expectations and needs regarding a transparent food system that involves gene editing applications. Citizen scientists will first be asked to complete a short survey (pre-test) regarding their risk/benefit perceptions, trust, and knowledge with respect to plant breeding and breeding methods to assess their progress at the end of the project. The data collection exercise will encourage citizen participants to find whether the variety is named on food packaging, and if so to search it on the web. This exercise will help the participants improve their knowledge about the food they eat, breeding history, whether it is cultivated in the UK. The participants will subsequently complete a 5-min online survey each time, consisting of questions about the information they have collected, and any additional information they may want to receive in an ideal, fully transparent food system WP2 Online Platform for Training and Interaction aims to involve citizen scientists in an interactive training and discussion platform. For this purpose, a Microsoft Teams platform will be created for the participants and project team. WP2 will encourage citizen scientists to interact with the team and with each other to share their experiences, questions, and suggestions regarding the data collection exercise and recordings on the online platform, as well as broaden their knowledge on plant breeding and novel methods. WP3 Evaluation aims to evaluate the outcomes of previous WP's with citizen participants through a post-test survey and focus groups. The goal of this collaborative effort is to explore whether participants' knowledge on plant breeding and novel methods has improved, whether/how this improvement has affected their prior beliefs about plant breeding and novel methods, and also to get their input on how to ensure a transparent food system involving successful integration of novel breeding methods. Following WP3, a final project team meeting will be held to share the outcomes of the project with the project partners (i.e., DEFRA, British Society of Plant Breeders) to broaden their understanding of a transparent food system in the context of novel breeding methods, and discuss with them how successful integration of novel breeding methods can be integrated to a transparent food system. *Please note that a reference list including all the references cited in this section and the following sections has been provided as attachment to this application.

Long Term Large Scale - Freshwater Ecosystems (LTLS-FE): Rivers in the United Kingdom have in the past and the present been subjected to a range of pressures due to the release of chemicals and by-products, such as domestic wastewater, acid rain, the application of nutrients and pesticides to soils, and the use of domestic products such as medicines. While some of these pressures (e.g. acid rain, wastewater discharges) appear to have eased over recent decades, others (e.g. pesticides, nutrients) remain and may be increasing. In addition to these pressures, climate change is also expected to impact on the quality of UK rivers, for example by leading to changes in anthropogenic chemical use, by changing the amount of water in rivers and thus how much water is available to dilute chemicals, by making storms and floods more or less frequent, and by changing the volume of chemicals washed into rivers from the land. Climate change could also influence freshwater biodiversity, for example by increasing the exposure of organisms to pulses of toxic chemicals during storms or by increasing the likelihood that UK rivers are invaded by alien species which outcompete native species. The quality and health of UK rivers are of great interest to many groups - the general public who rely on waters for recreation such as swimming and angling, to the regulators who are tasked with improving and then maintaining water quality, and to water companies who partly rely on rivers for drinking water supplies. It is therefore important that we try to understand as well as possible how water quality and health might be affected by future changes in the way society uses chemicals and water, and how these might be further affected by climate change. This is a complex problem, because the factors that drive river quality are many and they will vary over time and from place to place. This project will tackle the problem by developing a model that will use these drivers to predict how chemical inputs, river quality and river health will change in the context of different 'pathways', or scenarios of change in society and climate. By doing this, we will provide a range of 'projections' of future river quality and health. These projections will help scientists and policymakers to understand the main factors controlling river quality and health. This will help them to develop solutions to manage and ameliorate possible changes in the factors that influence river quality and health, with the goal of maintaining and improving the state of UK rivers in a changing world. As well as our projections of possible futures for UK river quality and health, we will make the data and model code available to all at the end of the project. This will provide other researchers with possibilities such as changing the mathematics of the model, adding new chemicals as they emerge, or applying the model to other countries and parts of the world.

'Raising the Pulse (RtP)' is based on the concept that considerable health and environmental benefit would result if we could make it easier for the UK population to eat more UK grown pulses. The pulse best suited to the UK, the faba bean, is naturally high in protein, micronutrients and fibre, and has the lowest environmental impact of all crops, as it can 'fix' nitrogen from the atmosphere with no need for polluting nitrate fertilizers. However, most of the population will not significantly increase their consumption unless they are successfully incorporated into familiar looking and tasting, economic and convenient staple foods, such as bread. This has not been done to date because economic incentives do not exist for producers to supply raw materials with defined end use quality, nor for processors to reconfigure their processing plant to accommodate a new raw material. A major stimulus such as that provided by this study is required to encourage food manufacturers to use UK pulses to satisfy consumer demand for plant-based and pulse-rich foods rather than importing chiefly soy-based ingredients. RtP addresses this market failure by bringing together a consortium to develop feasible routes to market for UK produced foods with added faba beans. The project includes experts in diverse areas, including environment, agriculture, food, nutrition, health and consumer behaviour, who have a demonstrated track record in this area and who will work with industry, government and civil society to tackle five linked challenges: Challenge 1: how can environmental impacts of faba beans grown to meet specific quality standards be minimised? We will conduct extensive field trials to establish growing protocols to maximise the amount of nutrients produced per unit area using the best available genetics, agronomy and post-harvest technologies while making detailed measurements of environmental impacts. Challenge 2: how can faba beans from Challenge 1 be prepared for incorporation into a variety of food products such that they retain the highest possible nutritional value and minimal change in taste? Following successful pilot breadmaking trials conducted to demonstrate feasibility, we will optimise cultivar selection, pre-processing and milling steps to obtain faba bean flours that can be successfully combined with wheat flour to make RtP bread that is an acceptable alternative to conventional bread, but with added nutritional and environmental benefits. Challenge 3: what effects do eating more pulses have on nutritional intake and human health? A human study will be performed using RtP bread to determine nutrient availability and its effects on hunger and health markers. Furthermore, two consumer studies, one in student halls of residence and one in the catering outlets on the University of Reading campus, will be conducted. These will investigate whether faba beans offered as RtP breads and in other foods result in a healthier diet and better nutritional knowledge when information of their benefits is given. Challenge 4: how can understanding of consumer attitudes, preferences and behaviours be used to achieve optimum increase in pulse intake? Addressing this crucial point will involve reviewing evidence, performing focus groups, surveys, choice experiment and test market launch. This will include determination of how RtP bread and related foods are perceived, whether they are liked and, therefore, chosen and whether knowledge of their benefits promotes their consumption. Challenge 5: will combine all data collected across the project to create an over-arching mathematical model of interactions between pulse (particularly faba bean) production, manufacturing and consumption. This model will be used to determine the influence on environment and health of legislation and consumer behaviour and to predict the outcomes of specific interventions to hasten the transition of the UK population to a diet that contains more pulses.

For centuries, human activities have impacted our rivers by shifting the sources and combinations of physical, biological and chemical drivers and pressures. However, our understanding of their impact on ecosystems has been limited by viewing each in isolation and not considering their combined effects. Significant reductions in some regulated pollutants (such as nitrogen and phosphorus) have been achieved in recent decades. However, even with these improvements, we are witnessing declining water quality of our rivers, and the resulting loss of freshwater species and biota. The picture that we see is made evermore complex by the increasing numbers of different types of emerging contaminants of concern (e.g. pharmaceuticals, pesticides, illicit drugs, micro plastics etc.). This means that our freshwater species are being challenged by a bewildering combination of pollutant cocktails (mixtures) whose effects are poorly understood. At the same time, climate-change driven shifts in water quantity (more frequent floods, longer periods of low flow) and warming waters are expected not only to be influencing the function, physiology, abundance and biological timings of freshwater ecological communities directly, but also the delivery and potential toxicity of these cocktails respectively. It is not simply the water pathway that we need to consider, but also the re-mobilisation of contaminants and the changing patterns of exposure that potentially magnify the effects on biota (i.e. organism sensitivity). Our wastewater systems and combined sewer overflows transport these emerging pollutants from our cities and towns into our freshwater environment. Increasing urbanisation and changes in rainfall intensity and its seasonality, different catchment processes all have the potential to increase inputs of these emerging contaminants to the environment and freshwater species that live there. Substantial knowledge gaps remain around the effects of hydro-climatic and land use changes in combination with the different mixtures of chemicals on freshwater species. Our research will address these gaps by embracing the digital revolution through innovative technologies and transformative data analytics to deliver a step change in our knowledge and understanding. Our approach has three strands. The first will turn a spotlight on a typical catchment encompassing rural to urban land uses through rigorous investigations that will deliver high temporal resolution data. This will provide new understanding of acute/event-based impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Secondly, we will use national scale datasets and cutting edge data analytics tools to investigate the impacts of longer-term exposure to pollutant cocktails across the UK on water quality and ecosystem health. This will provide new understanding of chronic/long term impacts on freshwater ecosystems. Thirdly, we will integrate our new evidence base and understanding into a risk-based probabilistic model. The model will allow the exploration of the relationships between environmental change, declining river quality, multiple pollutants and ecosystem impacts. Our research will develop the evidence base to understand changing pollutant sources, delivery pathways and the environmental tolerances and boundaries within which organisms can thrive and flourish (i.e. the ecosystem safe space). Together, MOT4Rivers will inform priorities for policy, regulation and investment to design cost effective programmes of measures to promote and enhance sustainable freshwater ecosystems under a changing climate.