M-PACE: Establishing an Urban PACE towards Cultivating Healthy Diets for All Communities

背景与挑战：作物传感和机器学习（ML）将与社会科学研究相结合。提供一类新的生产规模PACE工艺开发和作物表型分析技术，同时与社区合作，了解未来PACE产品需求的范围，帮助塑造技术，以满足这些要求，并减轻出现的任何问题。该项目将围绕两个免费场地进行。完美新鲜的建立1,000平方米的生产PACE单位，在阿尔德利边缘，和雷诺大厦，在ID曼彻斯特（IDM）重建的73，与主城市车站相邻的布朗菲尔德场地。技术目标（重定向自Perfectly Fresh）生物科学和工程研究将解决商业级PACE农业如何利用同步的作物和地下成像，通过传感和自动化，以商业上可行的方式交付产品，同时还产生表型数据，以优化作物配方，并最终进行遗传改良育种。通过对输入施加微小的扰动，并通过多变量闭环传感系统监测“涟漪效应”，该研究将展示未来PACE生产如何快速感知、选择和推广作物育种系，以获得新的营养、成熟、处理或风味性状，从而满足供应链需求。（以IDM为中心）凭借市中心的位置，靠近大量的低收入社区和邻近的富裕城市家庭和通勤者，Renold大厦战略性地位于种族和社会多元化的集水区，具有广泛的营养需求和挑战。该研究将试图了解社区希望从PACE产品中获得什么，以及该行业可以服务的供应商的范围，从零售商到餐馆。识别那些健康的特色或外来作物，这些作物目前在当地采购成本高得令人望而却步，或者目前英国供应的感官特性不具吸引力。与当地的CIC，Cracking Good Food & Community Concern以及Farm-Urban & Plantaigo的合作，该研究链将不仅寻求定义这些作物可能是什么，而且还将指导由此产生的PACE流程和供应链以各种方式提供它们，以满足社区群体的不同需求。该项目将围绕IDM中的一个小型PACE单元（类似于Perfectly Fresh中的全尺寸演示器）创建一个中心，用于分享烹饪知识，调查采用PACE农业的社会驱动因素和障碍，并促进新的研究。潜在应用和受益者：预计衍生利益将围绕基础设施中的当地就业和技能提升机会以及为PACE种植设计的新型作物品种的管道，并具有经过验证的潜在市场。该项目是及时的，在IDM重建的黎明到来，形成了一个引人注目的中心，与共同定位的餐饮设施一起，吸引了未来的应用研究和业务。特别是与邻近的国家先进材料中心，例如，智能土壤和共形LED聚合物的图灵中心，用于孵化区域生物技术，数字，材料和健康相关公司，以及Octopus Energy的相邻智能电网示范。该项目已与PhenomUK和UKUAT结盟，他们将作为独立咨询和特定行业的外展合作伙伴。重要的IDM PACE展示也将为社区参与概念的扩展铺平道路，特别是与IDM在英国的战略城市合作伙伴。

Context & Challenge:Crop sensing and machine learning (ML) will be merged with social science research. Delivering a new class of production-scale PACE process development and crop phenotyping technology, whilst engaging with communities to understand the range of future PACE produce needs, helping shape the technologies to meet those requirements and alleviate any concerns arising. The project will be based around two complimentary venues. Perfectly Fresh's established 1,000m2 production PACE unit, at Alderley Edge, and the Renold Building, at the heart of ID-Manchester's (IDM) redevelopment of the 73,000m2 brownfield site adjacent to the main city station.Technology Aims & Objectives (centred at Perfectly Fresh)The bioscience and engineering research will address how commercial grade PACE farming can utilise synchronous above crop and below ground imaging, sensing and automation to enable produce to be delivered, in a commercially viable manner, whilst also yielding phenotypic data to optimising crop recipes and, ultimately, breeding for genetic improvement. Through applying minor perturbations to the inputs and monitoring the 'ripple-effects' via multivariate closed-loop sensing systems, the research will show how future PACE production could rapidly sense, select and promote crop breeding lines for novel nutritional, ripening, handling or flavour traits, and so meet supply-chain demands.Social Science Aims & Objectives (centred at IDM)By virtue of the city centre location, in close proximity to a large number of low-income communities and neighbouring affluent urban households & commuters, the Renold Building is strategically positioned within an ethnically & socially diverse catchment zone, with a broad range of nutritional needs & challenges. The research will seek to understand what communities would want from PACE produce and the breadth of suppliers that the sector could service, from retailers through to restaurants. Identifying those healthy specialty or exotic crops, which are currently prohibitively expensive to source locally or where the organoleptic traits of the current UK supply are unappealing. Working with local CICs, Cracking Good Food & Community Concern, and the SMEs, Farm-Urban & Plantaigo, this research strand will seek not only to define what those crops may be but to guide the resulting PACE processes and supply-chains to deliver them in a range of ways that service the varying needs of community groups. Based around a mini-PACE unit in IDM, akin to the full-scale demonstrator in Perfectly Fresh, the project will create a hub for sharing culinary knowledge, investigating societal drivers & barriers for adopting PACE farming and catalysing new research.Potential Applications and Beneficiaries:Spin-out benefits are anticipated around local employment and upskilling opportunities within the infrastructure as well as a pipeline of novel crop varieties designed for PACE growing and with a proven potential market. The project is timely, coming at the dawn of the IDM redevelopment and, forming a high-profile centrepiece, alongside co-located catering facilities, to draw in future applied research & business. Especially with the neighbouring National Centre for Advanced Material, e.g., for smart soils and conformal LED polymers, the Turing Hub, for incubating regional biotech, digital, materials and health related companies, and Octopus Energy's adjacent smart-grid demonstrator.The project has been aligned to PhenomUK and UKUAT and they will act as independent consulting and sector-specific outreach partners. The prominent IDM PACE showcase will also pave the way for extension of the community engagement concepts, especially with IDM's strategic city partners across the UK.