Academy of Contemporary Food Wales

Although the Academy of Contemporary Food Wales will be housed in the Willows building on the campus in the short-term, the hope is that the bid made by the University and Ceredigion County Council to the Mid Wales Growth Deal will be approved so that the centre can then be established in an iconic building on the campus in due course.

The Academy of Contemporary Food Wales will:

  1. offer undergraduate, postgraduate and short courses that develop an understanding of, and creative response to the key issues of our time in respect to food – specifically, climate change, biodiversity, diet and health, local economy/community prosperity and food security/sovereignty;
  2. act as a hub for food education in the region, providing a strategic forum with partner organisations to assist in the direction and co-ordination of all aspects of food training in the region;
  3. cement a strategic partnership between Higher and Further Education in the region where the Academy offers theoretical understanding at HE level to underpin practical education at FE level and FE offers practical education to augment applied learning at HE level;
  4. draw upon the substantial practical experience and intellectual and physical capital that exists in the region in respect of sustainable and regenerative food in terms of farming and growing, secondary production and hospitality;
  5. establish a “knowledge bank” for food and farming – an up-to-date and continuously evolving treasury of research and writing on contemporary food and collator of projects and initiatives on food with a specific emphasis on a comprehensive and up to date picture of activity in Wales;
  6. develop facilities for use by the community, schools, third sector agencies and industry partners in relation to initiatives around contemporary food as outlined above and act as a focus for liaison and collaboration around all aspects of the food system;
  7. respond to opportunities for ongoing academic research across the food chain in terms of nutrition/health, climate impact, biodiversity etc;
  8. inform and assist food education in schools and the implementation of the new curriculum with specific regard to UWTSD’s role in teacher education;
  9.  deliver tangible benefits to the town of Lampeter and the county of Ceredigion in terms of economic activity and community prosperity;
  10. in fulfilling the above, establish the Academy as a leader in the field central to policy development in Wales and the UK and with the capacity to inform and interact with initiatives on an international level.