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There is now a CONTENT FREEZE for Mercury while we switch to a new platform. It began on Friday, March 10 at 6pm and will end on Wednesday, March 15 at noon. No new content can be created during this time, but all material in the system as of the beginning of the freeze will be migrated to the new platform, including users and groups. Functionally the new site is identical to the old one. webteam@gatech.edu
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Atlanta, GA | Posted: July 8, 2016
Brent Verrill, Communications Manager, BBISS
Summary Sentence:
Georgia Tech Research Institute released a report entitled “Urban Food Systems: Workshop Report on the Potential for Growth and Innovation in Commercial Scale Urban Agriculture at the Nexus of Food, Energy, Water, and Transportation Systems.”
Full Summary:
In June 2016, Georgia Tech and the Georgia Tech Research Institute released a report entitled “Urban Food Systems: Workshop Report on the Potential for Growth and Innovation in Commercial Scale Urban Agriculture at the Nexus of Food, Energy, Water, and Transportation Systems.” Sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the report summarizes the findings of two workshops and makes recommendations for funding research within NSF’s new Innovations in Food, Energy, and Water Systems research initiative.
More than conventional agriculture, urban agriculture presents the greatest and most immediate opportunity to fully integrate food, energy, and water systems owing to the proximity of human, industrial, water, power, and transportation resources in cities. But while small scale urban agriculture is growing as a practice, progress at the commercial scale is hampered by many technological and knowledge barriers. The workshops surfaced, and the report conveys, 25 research topics that address barriers to commercial scale urban agriculture and the integration of food, energy, and water systems. Included among the 25 are:
INFEWS Report 3 HorizonsIn June 2016, Georgia Tech and the Georgia Tech Research Institute released a report entitled “Urban Food Systems: Workshop Report on the Potential for Growth and Innovation in Commercial Scale Urban Agriculture at the Nexus of Food, Energy, Water, and Transportation Systems.” Sponsored by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the report summarizes the findings of two workshops and makes recommendations for funding research within NSF’s new Innovations in Food, Energy, and Water Systems research initiative.
More than conventional agriculture, urban agriculture presents the greatest and most immediate opportunity to fully integrate food, energy, and water systems owing to the proximity of human, industrial, water, power, and transportation resources in cities. But while small scale urban agriculture is growing as a practice, progress at the commercial scale is hampered by many technological and knowledge barriers. The workshops surfaced, and the report conveys, 25 research topics that address barriers to commercial scale urban agriculture and the integration of food, energy, and water systems. Included among the 25 are:
The first workshop was held in Atlanta, Georgia on December 8, 2015. A diverse group of urban agriculture practitioners, entrepreneurs, researchers, local government officials, and representatives from utilities and non-profit organizations were asked to share their vision for the future of urban agriculture, and the barriers that might prevent movement from the present state to a future state where urban agriculture can compete with conventional rural agriculture at a commercial scale. In a second workshop held in Washington, D.C. on February 11, 2016, an expanded group was asked to shape the challenges identified in the first workshop into research questions and programs of research through which the NSF could channel research funding. The report captures, organizes, and conveys all the ideas expressed at the workshops, and channels the findings into 25 recommendations that the NSF can use to inform its plans for future investments in its new (as of FY17) Innovations in Food, Energy, and Water Systems (INFEWS) research initiative.
